Abhanga 354

Standing still while God absorbs an attack, and seeing rank and division as God's temporary play rather than final truth, dissolves the sting of persecution and reveals a nearness that was there all along.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A non-dual Vaiṣṇava-Vedānta + Mambaji-Gosavi-context abhang. The colophon मंबाजी गोसावी यांनीं स्वामीस पीडा केली — Mambaji Gosavi tortured the master — situates this in the Mambaji Gosavi persecution of Tukaram (a famous biographical episode where the rival Gosavi physically and verbally abused Tukaram). The next abhangs (355, 356) are the direct-response within this episode. Five claims:

1. देव आड जाला — तो भोगिता मी उगला — deva became the āḍa — He is the enjoyer; I am silent. Āḍa — the one-who-stands-between, the shield, the obstructor. In the persecution-context: deva became the shield — He is the one bearing it; I am silent (the bhakta is freed from carrying). Allśiṇaofśubha-aśubha(good-and-bad) is removed — the bhakta no longer feels the strain of duality.

2. जीवशिवाचें भातुकें — केलें क्रीडाया कौतुकें — कैचीं येथें लोकें — हा आभास अनित्य — the jīva-śiva-bhātukē was made for play in kautuka — whence here are people — this is anitya-ābhāsa. The non-dual claim: jīva and śiva — were made as bhātukē (toys / dolls) for play; whence here arepeople— this isanitya-ābhāsa(impermanent-appearance). The people-as-real-and-separate is illusion.

3. विष्णुमय खरें जग — येथें लागतसे लाग — वांटिले विभाग — वर्णधर्म हा खेळ तयाचा — Viṣṇu-maya truly the jaga — here lāga is set — divided portions — varṇa-dharma is His khēḷa. The Vaiṣṇava-non-dual frame: the jaga is Viṣṇu-maya in truth; the marks (lāga) and the varṇa-dharma divisions are His khēḷa (play). The caste-divisions are deva's play, not eternal-essence. (Compare 337 yāti-kuḷa apramāṇa; same anti-essential-caste move, here in non-dual register.)

4. अवघी एकाची च वीण — तेथें कैचें भिन्नाभिन्न — वेदपुरुष नारायण — तेणें केला निवाडा — all is one's vīṇa — where is bhinna-abhinna there — Veda-puruṣa Nārāyaṇa made the nivāḍā. All isone's vīṇa(loom); where is bhinna-abhinna (different-not-different)? The Veda-puruṣa Nārāyaṇa made thenivāḍā(decree). The non-dual nivāḍā is by Nārāyaṇa.

5. प्रसादाचा रस — तुका लाधला सौरस — पायापाशीं वास — निकट नव्हे निराळा — prasāda-rasa — Tuka obtained saurasa — vāsa at feet — near — not separate. Tuka obtained the savory prasāda-rasa; vāsa (residence) at the feet — is near, not separate. The closing-claim of proximity: not nirāḷā (separate); near.

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For someone today

This abhang comes from the episode in which the rival Gosavi Mambaji tormented Tukaram. Tukaram's response is to step back and let God stand between him and the attack — God bears the brunt of it while Tukaram himself simply stays quiet, no longer feeling the strain of what is good or bad happening to him. He sees the whole world as a divine play, with even caste and social rank being nothing more than roles God has assigned for the game, not eternal truths. In that deeper vision, everything is woven from a single thread, so there is really no such thing as separate or different — persecutor and persecuted alike are part of the same fabric. Having tasted this grace, Tukaram finds himself dwelling close to God's feet, not at a distance but right there beside him.

मराठी: ही ओवी मंबाजी गोसावींनी तुकारामांचा छळ केला त्या प्रसंगातील आहे. तुकारामांचा प्रतिसाद असा आहे की ते बाजूला होतात आणि देवालाच त्या हल्ल्याच्या मध्ये उभे राहू देतात — देवच त्याचा भार सोसतो, तर तुकाराम स्वतः शांत राहतात, बरे-वाईट याचा ताण त्यांना जाणवेनासा होतो. संपूर्ण जग हा देवाचा खेळ आहे असे त्यांना दिसते, जात-पात आणि सामाजिक स्थानसुद्धा या खेळासाठी देवाने दिलेल्या भूमिकाच आहेत, शाश्वत सत्य नव्हे. या सखोल दृष्टीत सगळे एकाच धाग्यातून विणलेले असते, त्यामुळे वेगळेपणा किंवा भिन्नता खरी उरतच नाही — छळ करणारा आणि छळ सोसणारा दोघेही एकाच वस्त्राचे भाग असतात. या कृपेचा अनुभव घेतल्यावर तुकाराम स्वतःला देवाच्या चरणांजवळ, दूर नव्हे तर अगदी जवळ, वास करताना पाहतात.

Where this applies

• Deva as āḍa during attack. Silent-enjoyer-frame.
• Viṣṇu-maya world; varṇa-dharma as khēḷa. Non-dual unmasking.
• All one vīṇa — bhinna-abhinna not real. Non-dual frame.
• Vāsa at feet — near, not separate. Intimacy-within-non-duality.

Related verses

• Abhanga 4532 — The Lord embraces everyone without asking their status, and the devotion of his devotees p
• Abhanga 898 — What the saints once warned about has come true: honest conduct is fading, wrongdoing is c
• Abhanga 4555 — A true encounter with God proves that plain, steady closeness to him outweighs any amount
• Abhanga 4273 — If your time, money, and attention flow easily to everything except God and genuine goodne