Abhanga 324
Tukaram says that faith, not cleverness or argument, is what lets him truly know God's inner secret. He compares his hold on God to a tortoise's grip — once a tortoise takes hold, it does not let go — and he promises to keep God held like that within himself, refusing to let the connection ever break. He wants a meeting of gazes, an intimate eye-to-eye closeness, not just a private inner feeling. And he closes with a striking claim: simply thinking of God constantly, with no other action required, is itself an act of service.
The verse
तुझें वर्म ठावें । माझ्या पाडियेलें भावें ॥१॥ रूप कासवाचे परी । धरुनि राहेन अंतरीं ॥ध्रु.॥ नेदी होऊं तुटी । मेळवीन दृष्टादृष्टी ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे देवा । चिंतन ते तुझी सेवा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Your varma — known. By my bhāva — fallen. The rūpa like the kāsava — holding, I will remain in antara. Won't let tūṭi happen — will join with dṛṣṭā-dṛṣṭi. Tuka says: deva — cintana is your sevā.
मराठी: तुझें वर्म ठावें — माझ्या पाडियेलें भावें. रूप कासवाचे परी — धरुनि राहेन अंतरीं. नेदी होऊं तुटी — मेळवीन दृष्टादृष्टी. तुकाराम म्हणतां — देवा — चिंतन ते तुझी सेवा.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| तुझें वर्म ठावें | "yourvarma(secret) (is)ṭhāvē(known)" |
| माझ्या पाडियेलें भावें | "by mybhāva— fallen / come-to-me" |
| रूप कासवाचे परी | "therūpalike thekāsava(tortoise / kūrma)" |
| धरुनि राहेन अंतरीं | "holding — I will remain inantara" |
| नेदी होऊं तुटी | "won't lettūṭi(cut / break) happen" |
| मेळवीन दृष्टादृष्टी | "will join withdṛṣṭā-dṛṣṭi(sight-with-sight)" |
| देवा चिंतन ते तुझी सेवा | "deva —cintanais yoursevā" |
What it means
A kāsava-grip and cintana-sevā abhang. Three claims:
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तुझें वर्म ठावें — माझ्या पाडियेलें भावें — your varma is known — fallen by my bhāva. The bhakta's claim. The deva's varma (secret-vital-spot) is known to the bhakta; it has fallen (= come to him) by his bhāva. Bhāva accesses the varma. (Compare 173 force does not catch Hari; sama-bhāva catches; 308 bhāva makes the pratimā the deva.)
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रूप कासवाचे परी — धरुनि राहेन अंतरीं — rūpa like the kāsava — I will hold in antara. The kāsava-grip image. Kāsava — tortoise — has strong-grip (or kūrma-avatāra — Vishnu's tortoise-incarnation). The bhakta will grip the deity within antara (interior) like the kāsava grips. Once held, the kāsava does not let go.
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नेदी होऊं तुटी — मेळवीन दृष्टादृष्टी — won't let tūṭi happen — will join with dṛṣṭā-dṛṣṭi. Tūṭi (cut, break) — won't happen. Dṛṣṭā-dṛṣṭi — sight-with-sight (eye-meeting-eye). Will join (= join the bhakta's gaze with the deity's gaze, eye-with-eye).
-
तुका म्हणे देवा — चिंतन ते तुझी सेवा — Tuka says: deva — cintana is your sevā. The closing-claim. Cintana — constant-thinking, contemplation, holding-in-mind. Cintana is your sevā. (Compare 281 action with to-the-deva orientation = sevā; here, cintana is itself the sevā.)
[T]
For someone today
Tukaram says that faith, not cleverness or argument, is what lets him truly know God's inner secret. He compares his hold on God to a tortoise's grip — once a tortoise takes hold, it does not let go — and he promises to keep God held like that within himself, refusing to let the connection ever break. He wants a meeting of gazes, an intimate eye-to-eye closeness, not just a private inner feeling. And he closes with a striking claim: simply thinking of God constantly, with no other action required, is itself an act of service.
मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की तर्क किंवा युक्तिवाद नव्हे, तर भावच त्यांना देवाचे खरे गुपित उमजवून देतो. ते आपली देवाशी असलेली पकड कासवाच्या पकडीशी तुलना करतात — एकदा कासवाने धरले की ते सोडत नाही — आणि ते वचन देतात की देवाला असेच आत मनात धरून ठेवतील, हा संबंध कधीही तुटू देणार नाहीत. त्यांना डोळ्यांशी डोळे भिडवणारी, अगदी जवळची भेट हवी आहे, केवळ आतल्या आत वाटणारी भावना नव्हे. आणि शेवटी ते एक ठळक गोष्ट सांगतात — देवाचे सतत चिंतन करणे, अजून काहीही न करता, हीच खरी सेवा आहे.
Where this applies
- Bhāva accesses the deity's varma. Tarka cannot.
- Kāsava-grip in the antara. No-tūṭi holding.
- Dṛṣṭā-dṛṣṭi — gaze-with-gaze. Active meeting.
- Cintanaissevā. Democratized service.