संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 341 of 4582

Abhanga 341

This abhang names the failure-of-alertness frame and bhāva-as-rescue:

When not-being-alert lost the good — and you have to recognize this register
When forgetting the nāma grew the samsāra — and you accept this consequence
When bhāva found the nāva (boat) — and you receive this rescue-rule

The verse

नव्हतों सावचित । तेणें अंतरलें हित ॥१॥ पडिला नामाचा विसर । वाढविला संवसार ॥ध्रु.॥ लटिक्याचे पुरीं । वाहोनियां गेलों दुरी ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे नाव । आम्हां सांपडला भाव ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: I was not sāvacita; thereby the hita (good) was lost. The nāma was forgotten — I grew the samsāra. In the city of falsity — I was carried far. Tuka says: the nāva — to us, bhāva found.

मराठी: नव्हतों सावचित — तेणें अंतरलें हित. पडिला नामाचा विसर — वाढविला संवसार. लटिक्याचे पुरीं — वाहोनियां गेलों दुरी. तुकाराम म्हणतां — नाव — आम्हां सांपडला भाव.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
नव्हतों सावचित "(I) was not sāvacita (alert)"
तेणें अंतरलें हित "thereby — hita (good) was amtaralē (lost / fell-away)"
पडिला नामाचा विसर "fell — vismaraṇa (forgetting) of the nāma"
वाढविला संवसार "(I) grew the samsāra"
लटिक्याचे पुरीं वाहोनियां गेलों दुरी "in the laṭikyā-purī (city of falsity) — was carried far"
नाव आम्हां सांपडला भाव "the nāva (boat / name) — to us — bhāva found (it)"

What it means

A failure-of-alertness and bhāva-as-rescue abhang. Four claims:

  1. नव्हतों सावचित — तेणें अंतरलें हित — not sāvacita — hita lost. Sāvacita — alert, attentive, awake. The failure of alertness causes the loss of the hita (the good, the welfare). Antaralē — fell away / became distant. The good was at-hand but lost-by-inattention.

  2. पडिला नामाचा विसर — वाढविला संवसार — forgot the nāma — grew the samsāra. The primary-failure: forgetting the nāma. The consequence: the samsāra grew. Samsāra-growth is the fruit of nāma-forgetting.

  3. लटिक्याचे पुरीं — वाहोनियां गेलों दुरी — in the city of falsity — was carried far. Laṭikyā-purī — the city of the false / the city of falsities. I was carried far there. The false-city carries one far from the hita.

  4. तुका म्हणे नाव — आम्हां सांपडला भाव — Tuka says: the nāva (boat) — bhāva found us. The closing-rescue. Nāva has a beautiful double-meaning: (1) the nāva = the boat (the boat-across-samsāra); (2) the nāma = the name. Tukaram is playing on the nāva-nāma double. The bhāva found-us-the-boat. The bhāva-discovers-the-boat-back*.

[T]

For someone today

This abhang names the failure-of-alertness frame and bhāva-as-rescue:

  1. Failure of alertness loses the hita*. Navhatōm sāvacita — tēṇē antaralē hita. The good was at-hand — inattention lost it. The first-fault is failure-of-attention*.

  2. Forgetting the nāma grows the samsāra*. Paḍilā nāmācā visara — vāḍhavilā samsāra. The forgetting of the nāma is the direct-mechanism of samsāra-growth. Don't let nāma-smaraṇa lapse*.

  3. The laṭikyā-purī* carries you far. Laṭikyācē purīm vāhōniyā gēlōm durī. The city-of-falsity (= the world's untruth-zones) carries you far from the hita. Recognize the laṭikyā-purī when you are in it*.

  4. Bhāva finds the nāva (boat) for you. Tukā mhaṇē nāva — āmhām sāmpaḍalā bhāva. The bhāva (devotion-feeling) is what discovers the rescue-boat / re-finds the name. When you have lost the hita through inattention, bhāva is the recovery-mechanism*.

For today: recognize that inattention has cost you the hita; recognize that nāma-forgetting grew the samsāra; recognize that the laṭikyā-purī carries you far; cultivate bhāva — it finds the boat back.

This abhang is encouraging despite confessional opening: the failure is real, but the bhāva is the recovery-mechanism. The closing sāmpaḍalā bhāva is grace-claim — bhāva found us, not we found bhāva.

मराठी: ही ओवी failure-of-alertness frame and bhāva-as-rescue नाव सांगते:

  1. Sāvacita नसण्याने hita* हरवतं. नव्हतों सावचित — तेणें अंतरलें हित. Good at-hand होतं — inattention ने हरवलं. First-fault failure-of-attention*.

  2. Nāma विसरण्याने samsāra* वाढतं. पडिला नामाचा विसर — वाढविला संवसार. Nāma चं forgetting samsāra-growth चा direct-mechanism. Nāma-smaraṇa lapse नका*.

  3. Laṭikyā-purī तुम्हाला दूर वाहून नेतं. लटिक्याचे पुरीं वाहोनियां गेलों दुरी. World's untruth-zones तुम्हाला hita पासून दूर नेतात. Laṭikyā-purī मध्ये असाल — ओळखा.

  4. Bhāva nāva* (boat) शोधून देतो. नाव — आम्हां सांपडला भाव. Bhāva (devotion-feeling) rescue-boat discover करतो / name re-find करतो. Inattention ने hita हरवलं असेल — bhāva recovery-mechanism*.

आज: Inattention ने hita हरवलं ओळखा; nāma-forgetting ने samsāra वाढलं ओळखा; Laṭikyā-purī दूर वाहून नेतं ओळखा; bhāva cultivate करा — boat back शोधून देतो.

Confessional opening असूनही encouraging: failure real, पण bhāva recovery-mechanism. Closing सांपडला भाव — grace-claim — bhāva ने आम्हाला शोधलं, आम्ही bhāva नाही.

Where this applies

Name Bhakti

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