Abhanga 464

Drop your fear and entanglement, remember that your very self is shaped by God, and prove your devotion by living it at the root rather than talking about it.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A throw-rukā-untie-the-knot women-bhakta abhang. Continuation of the women-bhakta-dance cluster. Rāṇḍē — literally low-woman / outsider-woman; here used as aninner-addressto the bhakta-self or to a woman-companion in the dance. (Compare 0383 Khasama-ahamkāra-dādulā; the rāṇḍē register is Tukaram'sbridal-mystic / sakhī-danceidiom.) Four claims:

1. टाक रुका चाल रांडे — कां गे केली गोवी — पुसोनियां आलें ठाव म्हणोनि देतें सिवी — throw rukā, cala, rāṇḍē — why have you made gōvī? — came to the place, therefore curse. The opening-call: throw therukā(coin / fee); walk on,rāṇḍē; why have you madegōvī(entanglement / knotting)?; having asked-around, you came to this place — that's why I curse you. Affectionate-curse to the entangled-bhakta.

2. आतां येणें छंदें नाचों विनोदें — नाहीं या गोविंदें माझें मजसी केलें — now in this chand, dance vinōda — what isn't from Govinda — He made me my-self. The Govinda-made-me-myself claim: now in thischand(rhythm), let's dance withvinōda(playful-amusement); what (in me) is not from thisGovinda?; He has made me-as-myself. The bhakta is Govinda-made-self.

3. कोरडे ते बोल कांगे वेचितेसी वांयां — वर्ते करूनि दावीं तुझ्या मुळीचिया ठाया — dry words, why spend in vain — show by making — at muḷīcyā ṭhāya. The show-by-doing rule: don't spend dry-words in vain; show byvart-karūnī(acting / making it real); at themuḷīcyā ṭhāya(root-place). Action at the root-place, not dry-words elsewhere.

4. याजसाठीं म्या डौर धरियेला हातीं — तुका म्हणे तुम्हा गांठी सोडायाची खंती — therefore I held the ḍaura in hand — Tuka says: for you, gāṭhī sōḍāyācī khamtī. The closing-claim: for this reason, I have held theḍaura(drum) in my hand; Tuka says: for you all,gāṭhī sōḍāyācī khamtī(the difficulty is in untying-the-knot). The bhakti-drum is for the knot-untying.

[T]

For someone today

Tukaram speaks here as if scolding a friend caught up in worry and complication: throw away the coin of your fear, stop tangling yourself in doubts and questions, and just walk forward into the dance. He reminds you that your very self has been shaped by Govinda, so there's nothing in you that is separate from God, not one part left untouched by Him. Stop wasting your breath on dry words and explanations; prove your devotion by actually living it at the root of who you are, not by talking about it elsewhere. He says he has picked up the drum to help loosen the knot that everyone struggles to untie in their own heart.

मराठी: तुकाराम इथे जणू एखाद्या मैत्रिणीला समजावत आहेत, जी काळजी आणि गुंत्यात अडकली आहे: भीतीचं नाणं फेकून द्या, शंका आणि प्रश्नांमध्ये स्वतःला गुंतवू नका, आणि नुसतं पुढे नाचत चला. ते आठवण करून देतात की तुमचं स्वतःचं अस्तित्वच गोविंदाने घडवलेलं आहे, त्यामुळे तुमच्यात असं काहीच नाही जे देवापासून वेगळं आहे. कोरडे शब्द आणि स्पष्टीकरणं वाया घालवू नका; तुमची भक्ती प्रत्यक्ष कृतीतून, तुमच्या मुळाशी जगून सिद्ध करा, इतरत्र बोलून नाही. ते म्हणतात की प्रत्येकाच्या मनात असलेली गाठ सोडवण्यासाठी त्यांनी स्वतः हातात डफ धरला आहे.

Where this applies

• Throw rukā, walk; no gōvī. Anti-entanglement.
• Govinda made me my-self. Non-dual claim.
• Show-by-making at root-place. Anti-dry-words.
• Ḍaura for knot-untying. Bhakti-drum.

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