Abhanga 328
Chasing the ultimate truth through pure argument only leads you in circles, so let a genuine teacher's direct guidance dissolve your pride and self-importance instead of demanding proof.
The verse
शोधिसील मूळें । त्याचें करीसी वाटोळें ॥१॥ ऐसे संतांचे बोभाट । तुझे बहु जाले तट ॥ध्रु.॥ लौकिका बाहेरी । घाली रोंखीं जया धरी ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे गुण । तुझा लागलिया शून्य ॥३॥
Literal translation
If you search the mūḷa — you'll make vāṭōḷa. Such are the saints' bobhāṭa — your many taṭa formed. Outside the laukika — places (you) in rōkhī, whoever is dharī. Tuka says: your guṇa — falling into śūnya.
मराठी: शोधिसील मूळें — त्याचें करीसी वाटोळें. ऐसे संतांचे बोभाट — तुझे बहु जाले तट. लौकिका बाहेरी — घाली रोंखीं जया धरी. तुकाराम म्हणतां — गुण — तुझा लागलिया शून्य.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| शोधिसील मूळें | "if you search themūḷa(roots)" |
| त्याचें करीसी वाटोळें | "you will makevāṭōḷa(round-of-it / circle)" |
| ऐसे संतांचे बोभाट | "such are thebobhāṭa(shouts) of saints" |
| तुझे बहु जाले तट | "your manytaṭa(fences) — formed" |
| लौकिका बाहेरी | "outside thelaukika" |
| घाली रोंखीं जया धरी | "places (you) inrōkhī— whoever isdharī(held)" |
| गुण तुझा लागलिया शून्य | "yourguṇa— falling — intośūnya" |
What it means
A short root-searching-warning abhang. Three claims:
-
शोधिसील मूळें — त्याचें करीसी वाटोळें — if you search roots, you'll make a round-of-it. The opening-warning. Searching the roots (= attempting tarka-investigation, searching for the metaphysical-source, demanding-explanation) — will lead you in circles (vāṭōḷa — round-trip, going-round-without-arriving). The mūḷa is not accessible by searching.
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ऐसे संतांचे बोभाट — तुझे बहु जाले तट — such are the saints' shouts — your many fences formed. The recognition-of-saints' warnings. Saints havebobhāṭa(shouted) — you havetaṭa(fences / banks / boundaries) — many of them — formed. The boundary-formations are themselves the symptom of the search.
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लौकिका बाहेरी — घाली रोंखीं जया धरी — outside the laukika — places in rōkhī, whoever is dharī. The saint's orientation. The saintplaces(the held-one) inrōkhī(afocused-attention / a rebuke / a marking) —outside the laukika(the public-frame).Whoever is held by the saint is placed-outside-the-laukika. (Rōkhī— adirect-address, a marking-out, a focused-pointing.)
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तुका म्हणे गुण — तुझा लागलिया शून्य — your guṇa — falling-into-śūnya. The closing-claim. Your guṇa (qualities) — fall intośūnya(zero / void). (Reading: if you search the roots, the qualities you have collapse into śūnya; or: the goal is the śūnya-fall of your guṇa — i.e., the dissolving of guṇa-attached-self into śūnya-state.) (Compare 250 I-and-mine stayed distant; 295 no sañcita for the bhakta; same dissolution-claim.)
[T]
For someone today
Trying to argue your way down to the ultimate root of things only leads you in circles — you never actually arrive. The saints have already warned about this, and the walls people build to defend their positions are themselves a sign of this fruitless kind of searching. A genuine saint does not care for public approval; instead, such a teacher pulls you outside worldly opinion and gives you direct, focused attention. In the end, your sense of personal qualities and ego simply dissolves into emptiness — that dissolving, not more argument, is the real point of arrival.
मराठी: मुळाशी जाऊन तर्काने शोध घेण्याचा प्रयत्न केला, तरी तो केवळ गोल गोल फिरवतो — त्यातून कधीच खरा ठाव लागत नाही. संतांनी हे आधीच सांगितले आहे, आणि लोक आपली मते सिद्ध करण्यासाठी जे कुंपण उभे करतात, तेच या निष्फळ शोधाचे लक्षण असते. खरा संत लोकलौकिकाची पर्वा करत नाही; तो तुम्हाला जगाच्या मतांच्या बाहेर काढून थेट, एकाग्र लक्ष देतो. शेवटी तुमचा गुणांचा अभिमान, अहंकार शून्यात विरघळून जातो — अधिक वाद-विवाद नव्हे, तर हेच खरे गंतव्य आहे.
Where this applies
- Searching roots → vāṭōḷa. Don't tarka-investigate.
- Fences are symptoms of wrong-search. Saints have warned.
- Saint places you outside-the-laukika in rōkhī. Real-orientation.
- Guṇa falls-into-śūnya. Realization-state.