Abhanga 520

Tukaram commits to sweeping clear the neglected path of the saints and beating the drum of devotion loudly and joyfully against the spiritual decline of the age.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A Vaikuṇṭha-vāsī-on-mission-sweep-saints'-path abhang. Tukaram's most direct mission-statement: he is from Vaikuṇṭha, came for-this-purpose, will sweep the overgrown saints' path, will beat the bhakti-drum against the kalikāḷa. Four claims:

1. आम्ही वैकुंठवासी — आलों या चि कारणासी — बोलिले जे ॠषी साच भावें वर्ताव्या — we are Vaikuṇṭha-vāsī — came for this kāraṇa — what ṛṣi spoke to be lived in sāca-bhāva. The opening-mission-claim: we areVaikuṇṭha-vāsī(Vaikuṇṭha-dwellers, residents of the deva's-abode); we have come for this verykāraṇa(purpose, reason); what theṛṣi(sage) spoke — to be lived insāca-bhāva(true-stance, real-conviction). Vaikuṇṭha-dwellers-on-mission-to-live-the-ṛṣi-teachings.

2. झाडूं संतांचे मारग — आडरानें भरलें जग — उच्छिष्टाचा भाग शेष उरलें तें सेवूं — sweep saints' mārga — āḍa-rānē filled world — ucchiṣṭa-bhāga śēṣa remained — consume. The sweep-and-consume-claim: sweep (jhāḍūm) thesamta'smārga(path); the world is filled withāḍa-rānē(untrodden-thicket, overgrowth); theucchiṣṭa-bhāga(leftovers) — whatśēṣa(remained) — we will consume. Active-clearing-of-the-saints'-overgrown-path.

3. अर्थे लोपलीं पुराणें — नाश केला शब्दज्ञानें — विषयलोभी मन साधनें बुडविलीं — purāṇa lost by artha — destroyed by śabdajñāna — viṣaya-lōbhī mind drowned sādhanā. The diagnosis-of-decline: thepurāṇa(sacred-narratives) arelōpalī(effaced, hidden) byartha(= meaning-grubbing, hair-splitting interpretation, profit-motive); destroyed byśabdajñāna(word-knowledge, mere verbal-learning); theviṣaya-lōbhī(sense-greedy) mind hasbuḍavilī(drowned)sādhanā(spiritual-practice). Three-causes-of-decline: artha-grubbing, word-knowledge, sense-greed.

4. पिटूं भक्तिचा डांगोरा — कळिकाळासी दरारा — तुका म्हणे करा — जेजेकार आनंदें — beat bhakti-ḍāngōrā — darārā to kalikāḷa — Tuka says: make jay-jay-kāra in ānanda. The closing-offensive-strategy: we willpiṭūm(beat, strike) thebhakti-ḍāngōrā(drum-of-devotion, war-drum-for-bhakti); darārā (terror, fear-induced) to kalikāḷa; Tuka says: makejay-jay-kāra(cry-of-victory) inānanda(joy). Bhakti-as-active-counter-offensive-with-drum-and-jaya-cry.

[T]

For someone today

Tukaram says he and others like him come from Vaikuntha itself, sent into the world for one purpose: to live out what the sages taught with real, true conviction. He describes the saints' path as overgrown with neglect and commits to sweeping it clear, living on whatever is left over after others have taken their share. He diagnoses why devotion has declined: sacred teachings get lost in hairsplitting interpretation, reduced to mere words, and people's minds are drowned in craving for sense pleasures instead of real practice. His answer isn't to retreat quietly. He calls for beating the drum of devotion loudly enough to strike fear into the spiritual decline of the age, and to celebrate that fight with joy, not grim duty.

मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की आम्ही वैकुंठवासी आहोत, आणि याच एका कारणासाठी या जगात पाठवले गेलो आहोत, ऋषींनी जे सांगितलं ते खऱ्या भावनेने जगून दाखवण्यासाठी. संतांचा मार्ग दुर्लक्षामुळे झाडीझुडपांनी भरून गेला आहे असं सांगत ते तो मार्ग झाडून स्वच्छ करण्याची आणि इतरांनी घेतल्यावर जे उरेल तेच सेवन करण्याची तयारी दाखवतात. भक्ती का ऱ्हासाला गेली याचं निदानही ते करतात, पवित्र शिकवण शब्दच्छलात हरवते, नुसत्या शब्दज्ञानाने नष्ट होते, आणि विषयलोभी मन खऱ्या साधनेला बुडवून टाकतं. यावर उपाय म्हणून ते शांतपणे मागे हटत नाहीत, ते भक्तीचा डांगोरा इतक्या जोरात पिटण्याचं आवाहन करतात की कलियुगाला धाक बसावा, आणि हा लढा उदास कर्तव्यभावाने नव्हे तर आनंदाने साजरा करावा.

Where this applies

• Vaikuṇṭha-vāsī mission. Origin-and-purpose.
• Sweep saints'-path. Active-restoration.
• Three-causes of decline. Diagnose.
• Bhakti-ḍāngōrā darārā. Offensive-counter.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2464 — For today: Pāṇḍuranga is sukha-rūpa ; no wandering, no shaving, no sādhana-pressure ; Chan
• Abhanga 2494 — Living in devotion turns an ordinary day into a festival and removes the fear of birth and
• Abhanga 4481 — Tukaram promises that sincerely calling on the Lord's name, knowingly or unknowingly, with
• Abhanga 4482 — Tukaram teaches that no ritual equals sincerely speaking the Lord's name, that self-center