Abhanga 435

Tukaram is at his boldest here. He says devotion has turned him and his fellow devotees into something like village strongmen who no longer cower before aggressive spirits or hostile forces. When a challenger shows up to test him, he does not waver: he speaks only what his deity gives him to say, and trusts those words completely. He declares that standing this way, nothing can reach or harm him. And rather than get dragged into endless arguing, he says the real way to win is to quiet the disturbance firmly and bring the contest to a close.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A short bhakta-as-village-bully-against-bhūtas abhang. Four claims:

1. आम्ही जालों गांवगुंड — अवघ्या पुंड भूतांसी — we have become gāva-guṇḍa — for all puṇḍa-bhūtas. The opening-claim: we (the bhakta-band) have become gāva-guṇḍa (village-bully / strong-arm);for all the puṇḍa-bhūtas (mighty-spirits / aggressive-ghosts).Bhakta-as-defender-against-spirit-attack.

2. दुसरें तें खेळों आलें — एका बोले तो मियां — another came to play — what one says, that I. The self-claim: if another comes tokhēḷō(play / contest); what one says (= what the deva says) — that I (am). I-am-the-deva's-mouthpiece.

3. अवघियांचा येऊं लाग — नेदूं अंग शिवाया — everyone's turn comes — won't let body be touched. The defense-claim: let everyone's turn come; we won't letanga(body) be touched. No one touches the bhakta-body in this stance.

4. तुका म्हणे खुंटूं नाद — जिंतूं वाद सर्तीनें — Tuka says: silence the nāda — win vāda by sartī. The closing-resolve: silence thenāda(noise / drumbeat / chant of the opposing-spirits); win thevāda(dispute) — bysartī(compulsion / forced-contest). Silence-and-victory-by-contest.

[T]

For someone today

Tukaram is at his boldest here. He says devotion has turned him and his fellow devotees into something like village strongmen who no longer cower before aggressive spirits or hostile forces. When a challenger shows up to test him, he does not waver: he speaks only what his deity gives him to say, and trusts those words completely. He declares that standing this way, nothing can reach or harm him. And rather than get dragged into endless arguing, he says the real way to win is to quiet the disturbance firmly and bring the contest to a close.

मराठी: इथे तुकाराम अत्यंत निर्भय बोलतात. भक्तीने त्यांना आणि त्यांच्या साथीदारांना जणू गावगुंडासारखे बनवले आहे, जे आता कुठल्याही आक्रमक शक्तींना घाबरत नाहीत. कोणी आव्हान द्यायला आले तरी ते डगमगत नाहीत, तर आपल्या देवाने जे सांगितले तेच बोलतात आणि त्या शब्दांवर पूर्ण विश्वास ठेवतात. या भूमिकेत उभे राहिल्यावर कोणीही त्यांना स्पर्श करू शकत नाही, असे ते सांगतात. आणि व्यर्थ वादात अडकण्याऐवजी, गोंधळ ठामपणे शांत करून वाद निर्णायकपणे संपवणे हाच खरा विजय आहे, असे तुकाराम म्हणतात.

Where this applies

• Bhakta as gāva-guṇḍa against bhūtas. Don't be timid.
• You speak what deva speaks. Mouthpiece.
• Body protected. Don't doubt.
• Silence noise; win by sartī. Active-silencing.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2374 — Rather than scattering devotion among many lesser deities who demand offerings, Tukaram sa
• Abhanga 2377 — This detailed meditation on Vitthal standing on a brick at Pandharpur, out of love for his
• Abhanga 2387 — Accept whatever life brings with reverence, and place the burden on God rather than carryi
• Abhanga 2402 — For today: happily take rebirths — IF among the Paṇḍharī-Vārkarīs ; Hari-dāsas' company is