Abhanga 422

When a real opportunity or moment of deep feeling arrives, throw yourself into it fully instead of staying lukewarm, because such a moment does not come twice.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A deva-plays-in-anga-no-coolness-at-lābha-kāḷa abhang. Four claims:

1. अंगीं देवी खेळे — कां रे तुम्हासी न कळे — कोणाचे हे चाळे — सुख दुःख न मनितां — devī plays in anga — why don't you understand — whose cāḷē — sukha-duḥkha not minded. The opening-puzzle: thedevīplays in the body; why don't you all understand? — whose tricks are these? — (in this state)sukha-duḥkhaare not minded. Possession-state transcends pleasure-pain.

2. मीं तों आतां येथें नाहीं — ओळखी वचनाच्या ठायीं — पालटाचा घेई भाव — खरें लोपे ना — I am not here now — recognition in vacana's place — take pālaṭā of bhāva — true doesn't perish. The exchange-claim: I am not here now; recognition (of me) is in the place ofvacana(= my speech); take thepālaṭā(change / exchange) ofbhāva; the true does notlōpē(perish). Self-vacated; speech is the recognition-marker; bhāva-exchange is real exchange; truth survives.

3. आपुलाले तुम्ही पुसा — सोवा एव्याच सरिसा — थिरावल्या कैसा काय जाणों विचार — ask your own — same kind alike — when settled, how, what vicāra. The self-questioning-rule: each ask their own; the same-kind alike; when settled (in possession-trance), whatvicāra(analysis / reflection) is possible? No analytical-vicāra possible in possession; ask each-his-own.

4. तुका म्हणे लाभकाळ — तेथें नसावें शीतळ — मग तैशी वेळ कोठें जाते सांपडों — Tuka says: lābha-kāḷa — don't be śītaḷa — when else such vēḷā found? The closing-urgency-claim: at thelābha-kāḷa(profit-time / opportunity-time) — don't beśītaḷa(cool / lukewarm); when else will such avēḷā(occasion) be found? Don't waste the opportunity-window; be hot, not cool.

[T]

For someone today

Tukaram describes a state so full of the divine that ordinary pleasure and pain stop mattering, and asks why others fail to see what is happening. In that state, he says, he himself steps aside; what people can recognize is only his speech, and the exchange of feeling that passes through it is real, not pretend, and it does not fade. He adds that this is not something you can fully explain to someone else through analysis; each person has to test and know it for themselves. The verse closes with real urgency, because a moment of true opportunity does not repeat: when it comes, do not stay lukewarm, throw yourself into it fully, because you don't know when such a chance will come again.

मराठी: तुकाराम अशा एका अवस्थेचे वर्णन करतात जिथे भक्तिभाव इतका भरून येतो की सुखदुःखाचे भानच उरत नाही, आणि इतरांना हे का समजत नाही असा प्रश्न ते विचारतात. या अवस्थेत, ते म्हणतात, आपण स्वतः जणू बाजूला होतो; लोकांना जे ओळखता येते ते फक्त आपले शब्दच असतात, आणि त्यातून वाहणारी भावाची देवाणघेवाण खरी असते, ती ढोंग नसते आणि ती मावळत नाही. शिवाय हे नुसत्या विचाराने दुसऱ्याला पूर्णपणे समजावता येत नाही; प्रत्येकाने स्वतः अनुभवून पाहावे लागते. शेवटी तुकाराम कळकळीने सांगतात की खरा संधीचा क्षण पुन्हा येत नाही, म्हणून तो आला की थंडपणा दाखवू नये, तर पूर्णपणे झोकून द्यावे, कारण अशी संधी पुन्हा कधी मिळेल हे कोणालाच माहीत नाही.

Where this applies

• Devīplays inanga. Bodily-presence.
• Sukha-duḥkha not minded. Possession transcends.
• Self vacated; speech is marker. Don't expect return-self.
• Bhāva-exchange; truth survives. Real-exchange.
• Lābha-kāḷa— nośītaḷa. Don't waste.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2448 — The easiest path to God is repeating divine names with love at home, right where you are,
• Abhanga 2464 — For today: Pāṇḍuranga is sukha-rūpa ; no wandering, no shaving, no sādhana-pressure ; Chan
• Abhanga 2477 — Like a child too absorbed in play to notice how tired he is, let go and trust the parent c
• Abhanga 2481 — Pandharpur surpasses even the greatest pilgrimage cities because people there set aside pr