संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 367 of 4582

Abhanga 367

English: Let (them) do tapa and other sādhanā — some achieve gōrāñjana.

When others pursue tapa, gōrāñjana, ātma-sthiti, uttama-mukti — and you have to recognize this register
When we go to dance at the Pandhari-cauk — and you accept this alternative
When the mukti-as-aim is nindya for Hari's dāsas — and you receive this radical-claim

The verse

करोत तपादि साधनें । कोणी साधो गोरांजनें ॥१॥ आम्ही न वजों तया वाटा । नाचूं पंढरीचोहटां ॥ध्रु.॥ पावोत आत्मिस्थति । कोणी म्हणोत उत्तम मुक्ति ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे छंद । आम्हां हरिच्या दासां निंद्य ॥३॥ ॥ स्वामीस सद्गुरूची कृपा जाली ॥ - अभंग ४

Literal translation

English: Let (them) do tapa and other sādhanā — some achieve gōrāñjana. We will not go on those paths — we will dance at the Pandhari-cauk. Let (them) attain ātma-sthiti — some say uttama-mukti. Tuka says: that chand — for us, Hari's dāsas, is nindya. (Colophon: the master received the sad-guru's grace — abhang 4.)

मराठी: करोत तपादि साधनें — कोणी साधो गोरांजनें. आम्ही न वजों तया वाटा — नाचूं पंढरीचोहटां. पावोत आत्मिस्थति — कोणी म्हणोत उत्तम मुक्ति. तुकाराम म्हणतां — छंद — आम्हां हरिच्या दासां निंद्य. (कोलोफोन: स्वामीस सद्गुरूची कृपा जाली — अभंग ४.)

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
करोत तपादि साधनें "let (them) do tapa and other sādhanā"
कोणी साधो गोरांजनें "some — achieve gōrāñjana (yogic-fusion)"
आम्ही न वजों तया वाटा "we — will not go on those paths"
नाचूं पंढरीचोहटां "we will dance at the Pandhari-cauk"
पावोत आत्मिस्थति "let (them) attain ātma-sthiti"
कोणी म्हणोत उत्तम मुक्ति "some say uttama-mukti"
छंद आम्हां हरिच्या दासां निंद्य "that chand (fad) — for us — Hari's dāsas — is nindya"

What it means

A we-Hari-dāsas-refuse-other-paths abhang. Three claims:

  1. करोत तपादि साधनें — कोणी साधो गोरांजनें — आम्ही न वजों तया वाटा — नाचूं पंढरीचोहटांlet them do tapa-sādhanā, some achieve gōrāñjana — we won't go those paths — we'll dance at the Pandhari-cauk. The opening-refusal: let others pursue tapa-sādhanā or gōrāñjana (yogic-fusion / yogic-techniques); we go a different way — dancing at Pandhari-cauk. (Cauktown-square / public-place. Dancing at the cauk is kīrtan-and-dance, the public-bhakti expression. Compare 363 easy-foot-path; same anti-difficult-route register.)

  2. पावोत आत्मिस्थति — कोणी म्हणोत उत्तम मुक्तिlet them attain ātma-sthiti — some say uttama-mukti. The radical-secondary-refusal: let others attain ātma-sthiti (self-state) and uttama-mukti (best-liberation); that's their pursuit, not ours. The Vārkarī-bhakta does not aim at mukti as the highest-goal.

  3. तुका म्हणे छंद — आम्हां हरिच्या दासां निंद्यTuka says: that fad — for us, Hari's dāsas, is nindya. The radical-closing: that fad / fashion (of seeking ātma-sthiti, uttama-mukti) — for Hari's dāsas — is nindya (despicable, blameworthy). We don't want mukti; we want Hari-dāsa-status. (Compare 165 we don't want mukti, we want His dāsa-position; same anti-mukti register.)

The colophonस्वामीस सद्गुरूची कृपा जाली - अभंग ४ — opens the next four abhangs (368-371) as the sad-guru-grace clusterthe dream-initiation of Tukaram by Bābājī Caitanya. 0367 thus concludes the prior thread and introduces the next.

[T]

For someone today

This abhang names the Hari-dāsa-different-aim register:

  1. Let others pursue tapa, sādhanā, gōrāñjana*. Karōta tapādi sādhanē. Don't critique others' paths; let them pursue what they pursue*.

  2. We dance at the Pandhari-cauk*. Nācūm Pandharī-cauhaṭām. The Vārkarī-alternative: public-kīrtan-and-dance at Pandhari. Not solitary tapasya; not yogic-techniques; but the dance at the public-square*.

  3. Mukti / ātma-sthiti / uttama-mukti is nindya for Hari's dāsas*. Chand āmhām haricyā dāsām nindya. The radical-claim: we don't aim at mukti; we aim at Hari-dāsa-status. Mukti is despicable to the Hari-dāsa because it would end the dāsa-relationship; the dāsa wants relationship, not absorption*.

For today: let others pursue their tapa-sādhanā paths; let your aim be Hari-dāsa-status, not mukti; dance at the Pandhari-cauk if that's your way; recognize that mukti-as-aim is nindya for the dāsa.

This abhang is core to Vārkarī self-understanding: we are dāsas, not mukti-seekers; we dance, we don't tapasya. The cauk-imagepublic, communal, embodied — is the Vārkarī-frame.

मराठी: ही ओवी Hari-dāsa-different-aim register नाव सांगते:

  1. Others ला tapa, sādhanā, gōrāñjana* करू द्या. करोत तपादि साधनें. Others चे paths critique करू नका; त्यांना त्यांचं करू द्या*.

  2. आम्ही Pandhari-cauk* ला नाचतो. नाचूं पंढरीचोहटां. Vārkarī-alternative: Pandhari ला public-kīrtan-and-dance. Solitary tapasya नाही; yogic-techniques नाही; पण public-square मधलं dance*.

  3. Mukti / ātma-sthiti / uttama-mukti — Hari च्या dāsas साठी nindya*. छंद आम्हां हरिच्या दासां निंद्य. Radical-claim: आम्ही mukti aim करत नाही; Hari-dāsa-status aim करतो. Dāsa ला mukti nindya कारण ते dāsa-relationship संपवेल; dāsa ला relationship हवं, absorption नाही*.

आज: Others ला त्यांचे tapa-sādhanā paths करू द्या; तुमचं aim Hari-dāsa-status असू द्या, mukti नाही; Pandhari-cauk ला नाचा तुमचा way असेल तर; Mukti-as-aim dāsa साठी nindya ओळखा.

Vārkarī self-understanding ला core: आम्ही dāsas, mukti-seekers नाही; आम्ही नाचतो, tapasya नाही. Cauk-imagepublic, communal, embodiedVārkarī-frame.

Where this applies

Related verses