Abhanga 379
See through every disguise the divine wears, keep pursuing closeness anyway even at real cost, and trust that when your mind truly meets God's, the resulting inner joy belongs to God as much as to you.
The verse
चाले झडझडां उसंतूनि वाट । पाहे पाळतूनि उभा तो चि नीट वो ॥१॥ दावी बहुतांच्या बहुवेषपंथें । गुणातीतें खेळ मांडियेला येथें वो ॥ध्रु.॥ उगा राहे कां मारिसी कंकर । मात वाढविसी उत्तरा उत्तर वो ॥२॥ मिठी घालीन या जीवाचिया त्यागें । नाहीं ठाउकी पडिलीं तुझीं सोंगें रें ॥३॥ तुज मज काय सोयरीक ऐसी । नंदानंदन या थोरपणें जासी रे ॥४॥ मन मिनलें रे तुका म्हणे मना । भोग अंतरींचा पावे नारायणा वो ॥५॥
Literal translation
Walks fast brushing-aside the path — watches from pāḷat — He stands nīṭa. Shows to many — many forms, many paths — guṇātīta has set up the khēḷa here. Stay quiet — why throw kankara — increasing māta back-and-forth? Will embrace by jīva-tyāga — your forms not unfamiliar to me. What sōyarīka between you and me? — Nanda-nandana, you go in thōrapaṇa. Tuka says: mana has met mana — bhōga of antara — Nārāyaṇa enjoys.
मराठी: चाले झडझडां उसंतूनि वाट — पाहे पाळतूनि उभा तो चि नीट. दावी बहुतांच्या बहुवेषपंथें — गुणातीतें खेळ मांडियेला येथें. उगा राहे कां मारिसी कंकर — मात वाढविसी उत्तरा उत्तर. मिठी घालीन या जीवाचिया त्यागें — नाहीं ठाउकी पडिलीं तुझीं सोंगें. तुज मज काय सोयरीक — नंदानंदन या थोरपणें जासी. तुकाराम म्हणतां — मन मिनलें — भोग अंतरींचा पावे नारायणा.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| चाले झडझडां उसंतूनि वाट | "walks — fast — brushing-aside the path" |
| पाहे पाळतूनि उभा तो चि नीट | "watches from pāḷat — He stands nīṭa" |
| दावी बहुतांच्या बहुवेषपंथें | "shows to many — many forms many paths" |
| गुणातीतें खेळ मांडियेला येथें | "guṇātīta — has set up the khēḷa here" |
| उगा राहे कां मारिसी कंकर | "stay quiet — why throw kankara (stones)?" |
| मात वाढविसी उत्तरा उत्तर | "increasing the māta — back-and-forth" |
| मिठी घालीन या जीवाचिया त्यागें | "I will embrace — by jīva-tyāga" |
| नाहीं ठाउकी पडिलीं तुझीं सोंगें | "your forms — not unfamiliar to me" |
| तुज मज काय सोयरीक ऐसी | "what sōyarīka — between you and me?" |
| नंदानंदन या थोरपणें जासी | "Nanda-nandana — you go in thōrapaṇa" |
| मन मिनलें मना | "mana has met mana" |
| भोग अंतरींचा पावे नारायणा | "bhōga of antara — Nārāyaṇa enjoys" |
What it means
A gōpī-rōṣa-with-Krishna abhang. Six claims:
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चाले झडझडां उसंतूनि वाट — पाहे पाळतूनि उभा तो चि नीट — walks fast, brushing-aside the path — watches from ambush, stands straight. The opening-image: Krishna walks-fast and brushes-aside the path; but watches frompāḷat(ambush) — and stands straight (= visible). He plays at hide-and-watch.
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दावी बहुतांच्या बहुवेषपंथें — गुणातीतें खेळ मांडियेला येथें — shows to many many forms, many paths — guṇātīta has set up the khēḷa. The many-forms-claim: He shows many people many forms via many paths; the guṇātīta (beyond-guṇa) has set up the play here. The bahu-vēṣa-pamtha is His khēḷa.
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उगा राहे कां मारिसी कंकर — मात वाढविसी उत्तरा उत्तर — stay quiet — why throw stones — increasing matter back-and-forth. The playful-chiding: stay quiet — why are you throwing stones (kankara)? — increasing the māta (matter, exchange) back-and-forth. The gōpī addresses Krishna directly; playful-rebuke.
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मिठी घालीन या जीवाचिया त्यागें — नाहीं ठाउकी पडिलीं तुझीं सोंगें — will embrace by jīva-tyāga — your forms not unfamiliar. The resolve: I will embrace You by giving-up-life; yoursōngē(disguises) — are not unfamiliar to me. I see through your forms; I will embrace at the cost of life.
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तुज मज काय सोयरीक ऐसी — नंदानंदन या थोरपणें जासी — what kinship between you and me — Nanda-nandana, you go in big-status. The complaint: what kinship is this — Nanda-nandana, you go around in yourthōrapaṇa(big-status). The gōpī chides Krishna's grand-airs.
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तुका म्हणे मन मिनलें — भोग अंतरींचा पावे नारायणा — Tuka says: mana met mana — antara-bhōga, Nārāyaṇa enjoys. The closing-resolution: mind has met mind; the bhōga (enjoyment) of the antara (inner) — Nārāyaṇa enjoys. The gōpī-Krishna meeting is mind-meeting-mind, with inner-bhōga the deva enjoys.
[T]
For someone today
Tukaram writes in the playful, teasing voice of a gopi speaking to Krishna, who moves quickly, hides, and watches from concealment, showing himself in countless forms and disguises to different people. She scolds him lightly for playing these games and stringing the exchange along, but she is not fooled, she knows all his disguises and vows to embrace him even at the cost of her own life. She protests that his greatness, as Nanda's celebrated son, seems to keep him distant from her, and asks what real kinship they even share. Yet the verse resolves that tension at the end, when one mind truly meets another mind, the deep inner joy of that meeting belongs to God as much as to the one who loves him.
मराठी: तुकाराम इथे एका गोपीच्या खट्याळ, प्रेमळ स्वरात कृष्णाशी बोलतात, जो झरझर चालतो, लपून बघतो, आणि वेगवेगळ्या लोकांना वेगवेगळ्या रूपांत आणि सोंगांत दिसतो. ती त्याला हलकेच रागावते की तो असे खेळ का खेळतो आणि गोष्ट लांबवत का नेतो, पण ती फसत नाही, त्याची सगळी सोंगं तिला माहीत आहेत आणि ती म्हणते की स्वतःचा जीव देऊनही ती त्याला मिठी मारेल. नंद्याचा लाडका मुलगा असल्याचं त्याचं मोठेपण त्याला तिच्यापासून दूर ठेवतंय असं वाटून ती तक्रार करते, आणि विचारते की खरंतर आपल्यात कसलं नातं आहे. पण शेवटी हा ताण निवळतो, जेव्हा एक मन खरोखर दुसऱ्या मनाला भेटतं, तेव्हा त्या भेटीचा आतला आनंद जितका प्रेम करणाऱ्याचा आहे तितकाच तो देवाचाही आहे.
Where this applies
- Hide-and-watch deva. Play-image.
- Bahu-vēṣa-pamthaisguṇātīta'skhēḷa. Many-forms.
- Playful-chide is allowed. Gōpī-mode.
- Jīva-tyāgaembrace, knowing allsōngē. Resolve.
- Manameetsmana;antara-bhōga is His. Inner-meeting.