Abhanga 334

Tukaram admits here, with total honesty, that he lets himself be called God's servant, but that his real longing is modest, nothing grand. He confesses that he doesn't actually have the deep substance that title implies — so he asks God to do what he himself cannot, to make real what he only calls himself. His mouth chatters on, he says, but without real feeling behind the words it is just empty noise, like a hollow drum. With wry self-mockery he adds: if there's one thing I truly know how to do, it's put on a good show.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A short honest-self-recognition abhang. Three claims:

1. म्हणवितों दास — मज एवढी च आस — I get-myself-called dāsa — I have only this much āsa. The opening-honesty. I let-myself-be-called-dāsa (= take the title-of-servant). I have only-this-muchāsa(= my whole desire is just this much, this small claim). The self-claim is modest: I am called dāsa, I have only this much aspiration.

2. परी ते अंगीं नाहीं वर्म — करीं आपुला तूं धर्म — but no varma in body — you do your dharma. The honest-confession. No varma (secret-substance) in my body — I am thedāsa-in-name, but thedāsa-substance is missing.Therefore, you (deva) do your-dharma—I cannot earn this; you must do it. (Compare 304bring-to-anubhava what you make me speak; same petition fordeva to make-real what bhakta cannot.)

3. बडबडितों तोंडें — रितें भावेंविण धेंडें — babble with mouth — empty ḍhēṇḍē without bhāva. The honest-self-critique. I babble with the mouth (mouth-only speech). Like an emptyḍhēṇḍē(a hollow-tube / drum) without bhāva. (Compare 256 empty-stones-in-a-hopper without Viṭṭhal-coin; 304 salt-jīva-sampādaṇī-guṇa-kanyā-putra.)

4. तुका म्हणे बरा — दावूं जाणतों पसारा — bara — I know-how to show pasāra. The closing-self-irony. Pasāra — display, spread, pretentious-arrangement. Bara — good (sarcastic). Good — I know-how-to-show-pasāra. (I am good at) the display, the spread, the pretentious-show. Self-irony: I excel at the form-without-substance.

[T]

For someone today

Tukaram admits here, with total honesty, that he lets himself be called God's servant, but that his real longing is modest, nothing grand. He confesses that he doesn't actually have the deep substance that title implies — so he asks God to do what he himself cannot, to make real what he only calls himself. His mouth chatters on, he says, but without real feeling behind the words it is just empty noise, like a hollow drum. With wry self-mockery he adds: if there's one thing I truly know how to do, it's put on a good show.

मराठी: तुकाराम इथे अगदी प्रामाणिकपणे कबूल करतात की ते स्वतःला देवाचा दास म्हणवून घेतात, पण त्यांची खरी आस अगदी छोटी, साधी आहे. त्या पदवीला साजेसे खरे सत्त्व आपल्यात नाही, हे ते मान्य करतात — म्हणून जे स्वतः करू शकत नाहीत ते देवानेच करावे, आपण नुसते नाव घेतो तेच त्याने खरे करावे, अशी विनंती करतात. तोंडाने बडबड चालते, पण त्यामागे खरा भाव नसेल तर ती पोकळ ढोलक्यासारखी रिकामी असते, असे ते म्हणतात. आणि शेवटी स्वतःचीच खिल्ली उडवत म्हणतात — एक गोष्ट मात्र मला नक्की जमते, ती म्हणजे नुसता देखावा उभा करणे.

Where this applies

• Take title only as dāsa-in-name; āsa is small.
• Recognize missing-varma in body; petition deva.
• Empty-ḍhēṇḍē without bhāva = hollow-noise.
• Self-irony: I excel at pasāra-display.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2374 — Rather than scattering devotion among many lesser deities who demand offerings, Tukaram sa
• Abhanga 2377 — This detailed meditation on Vitthal standing on a brick at Pandharpur, out of love for his
• Abhanga 2387 — Accept whatever life brings with reverence, and place the burden on God rather than carryi
• Abhanga 2402 — For today: happily take rebirths — IF among the Paṇḍharī-Vārkarīs ; Hari-dāsas' company is