Abhanga 360
English: As the mātā hears the auspicious vārtā of the son — thus let my mana be — singing-and-hearing Hari-guṇa.
The verse
पुत्राची वार्ता । शुभ ऐके जेवीं माता ॥१॥ तैसें राहो माझें मन । गातां ऐकतां हरिगुण ॥ध्रु.॥ नादें लुब्ध जाला मृग । देह विसरला अंग ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे पाहे । कासवीचें पिलें माये ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: As the mātā hears the auspicious vārtā of the son — thus let my mana be — singing-and-hearing Hari-guṇa. The mṛga — was lured by the nāda — forgot the body. Tuka says: see — the kāsavī's chick — māya.
मराठी: पुत्राची वार्ता शुभ ऐके जेवीं माता — तैसें राहो माझें मन — गातां ऐकतां हरिगुण. नादें लुब्ध जाला मृग — देह विसरला अंग. तुकाराम म्हणतां — पाहे कासवीचें पिलें माये.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| पुत्राची वार्ता शुभ ऐके जेवीं माता | "as the mātā (mother) hears the auspicious vārtā (news) of the son" |
| तैसें राहो माझें मन | "thus let my mana be" |
| गातां ऐकतां हरिगुण | "singing-and-hearing Hari-guṇa" |
| नादें लुब्ध जाला मृग | "the mṛga — was lured by the nāda" |
| देह विसरला अंग | "forgot — the deha-anga (body)" |
| पाहे कासवीचें पिलें माये | "see — the kāsavī's chick — māya (mother)" |
What it means
A famous pure-attention-on-Hari-guṇa abhang. Three analogies:
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पुत्राची वार्ता शुभ ऐके जेवीं माता — तैसें राहो माझें मन — गातां ऐकतां हरिगुण — as mother hears son's auspicious news — thus my mana — singing-hearing Hari-guṇa. The mother-hearing-son's-news analogy: when a mother hears auspicious news of her son, all her attention concentrates; so let my mana be — toward Hari-guṇa. Maternal-attention is the model of pure-attention.
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नादें लुब्ध जाला मृग — देह विसरला अंग — deer was lured by the nāda — forgot the body. The deer-lured-by-sound analogy. The deer hearing the hunter's nāda (perhaps a flute or piparī) — becomes so absorbed that it forgets the body. (In folk-tradition, deer are caught by music — the nāda-mōha of the deer.) Mind-absorbed-in-Hari-guṇa-nāda forgets body.
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तुका म्हणे पाहे — कासवीचें पिलें माये — Tuka says: see — the kāsavī's chick — māya. The tortoise-mother-and-chick analogy. In folk-natural-history, the tortoise-mother (kāsavī) is said to nourish her chicks by gaze (dṛṣṭi) — not by physical-feeding but by visual-attention. The kāsavī-pilē-māya image is a famous Sant-tradition image of mother-attention as the nourishment-channel. (Used by Jñānadev, Eknath, and Tukaram.)
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For someone today
This abhang names the pure-attention-on-Hari-guṇa frame:
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Let your mana* be like the mother hearing the son's auspicious news. Putrācī vārtā śubha aikē jēvīm mātā. Maternal-attention is the model: all-concentrated, eager, fully-receiving. Let your attention to Hari-guṇa be like that*.
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Be the deer lured by the nāda*, forgetting the body. Nādēm lubdha jālā mṛga — dēha visaralā anga. The deer's absorption in the nāda is total — body forgotten. Let Hari-guṇa-nāda absorb you so the body is forgotten*.
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Be like the kāsavī's chick, nourished by the mother's gaze*. Kāsavīcē pilē māya. The mother-tortoise's gaze nourishes the chick at a distance. The deva's gaze (kṛpā-dṛṣṭi) nourishes the bhakta in a similar distance-spanning way. Receive the gaze-nourishment*.
For today: attend to Hari-guṇa as mother hearing son's news; let nāda-absorption forget body; receive the deva's gaze-nourishment as the tortoise-chick receives the mother's.
This abhang is one of Tukaram's most-quoted on pure-attention. The triple-analogy (mother, deer, tortoise) gives three different angles on attentive-receiving. The kāsavī-pilē-māya image is especially distinctive in the Sant-tradition.
मराठी: ही ओवी pure-attention-on-Hari-guṇa frame नाव सांगते:
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माय पुत्राच्या शुभ-वार्ता ऐकते तसं तुमचं mana* ठेवा. पुत्राची वार्ता शुभ ऐके जेवीं माता. Maternal-attention model: all-concentrated, eager, fully-receiving. Hari-guṇa कडे तसं attention असू द्या*.
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नादाने लुब्ध झालेला मृग — body विसरतो. नादें लुब्ध जाला मृग — देह विसरला अंग. Mṛga ची absorption nāda मध्ये total — body विसरला. Hari-guṇa-nāda ने तुम्हाला absorb करू द्या — body विसरेल.
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Kāsavī च्या पिल्लाला माय गाझ ने पोसते — तसं व्हा. कासवीचें पिलें माये. Mother-tortoise चा gaze — दूरून पिल्लाला nourishes. Deva ची kṛpā-dṛṣṭi bhakta ला तशीच distance-spanning way ने nourishes. Gaze-nourishment receive करा.
आज: Hari-guṇa कडे माय-puttra-शुभ-vārtā सारखं attend करा; Nāda-absorption ने body विसरू द्या; Tortoise-chick माते-च्या-gaze ने पोसतं तसं deva ची gaze-nourishment receive करा.
Tukaram च्या pure-attention वर most-quoted पैकी एक. Triple-analogy (mother, deer, tortoise) — attentive-receiving चे तीन angles. Kāsavī-pilē-māya image especially distinctive Sant-tradition मध्ये.
Where this applies
- Mother-hearing-son's-news. Maternal-attention.
- Deer-lured-by-nāda, body-forgotten. Sound-absorption.
- Tortoise-mother gazes at chick. Gaze-nourishment.