Abhanga 534
Some real joy cannot be spoken, only shared silently between two who truly know each other, and once you have that, even the promise of liberation stops mattering.
The verse
काय सांगों तुझ्या चरणांच्या सुखा । अनुभव ठाउका नाहीं तुज ॥१॥ बोलतां हें कैसें वाटे खरेपण । अमृताचे गुण अमृतासी ॥ध्रु.॥ आम्ही एकएका ग्वाही मायपुतें । जाणों तें निरुतें सुख दोघें ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे आम्हां मोक्षाचा कांटाळा । कां तुम्ही गोपाळा नेणां ऐसें ॥३॥
Literal translation
What can I say of the sukha of Your feet — anubhava You don't have. Speaking — how feels khare-paṇa? — amṛta's guṇa for amṛta. We — one-by-one — gvāhī — māya-pute — both know nirutē sukha. Tuka says: we have kāmṭāḷā of mokṣa — why You — Gopāḷa — don't know?
मराठी: काय सांगों तुझ्या चरणांच्या सुखा — अनुभव ठाउका नाहीं तुज. बोलतां हें कैसें वाटे खरेपण — अमृताचे गुण अमृतासी. आम्ही एकएका ग्वाही मायपुतें — जाणों तें निरुतें सुख दोघें. तुकाराम म्हणतां — आम्हां मोक्षाचा कांटाळा — कां तुम्ही गोपाळा नेणां ऐसें?
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| काय सांगों तुझ्या चरणांच्या सुखा | "what say — sukha of feet?" |
| अनुभव ठाउका नाहीं तुज | "anubhava — not known to You" |
| बोलतां हें कैसें वाटे खरेपण | "speaking — how feels khare-paṇa?" |
| अमृताचे गुण अमृतासी | "amṛta's guṇa — for amṛta" |
| आम्ही एकएका ग्वाही मायपुतें | "we one-by-one — gvāhī — māya-pute" |
| जाणों तें निरुतें सुख दोघें | "know — nirutē sukha — both" |
| आम्हां मोक्षाचा कांटाळा | "we — kāmṭāḷā of mokṣa" |
| कां तुम्ही गोपाळा नेणां ऐसें | "why You — Gopāḷa — don't know?" |
What it means
A You-don't-have-anubhava-of-Your-feet-mokṣa-irritation abhang. Continues 0533's bhakta-knows-better register but with a stronger claim: even You don't know-Your-own-feet-sukha; and we have-disgust-for-mokṣa. Three claims:
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काय सांगों तुझ्या चरणांच्या सुखा — अनुभव ठाउका नाहीं तुज — what say of the sukha of Your feet — anubhava You don't have. The opening-claim: what can I say of thesukhaof Yourcaraṇa?; theanubhava(experience) — You do notṭhāukā(know, be-aware-of). You-don't-experience-Your-own-feet. The bhakta-claims-deva-can't-experience-what-the-bhakta-experiences.
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बोलतां हें कैसें वाटे खरेपण — अमृताचे गुण अमृतासी — आम्ही एकएका ग्वाही मायपुतें — जाणों तें निरुतें सुख दोघें — speaking — how feels khare-paṇa? — amṛta's guṇa for amṛta — we one-by-one gvāhī — māya-pute — both know the nirutē sukha. The witness-claim: speaking — how does it feel likekhare-paṇa(truth)? (= words can't carry the true-feeling); amṛta's guṇa (qualities) are for amṛta only(= the immortal-nectar's qualities can only be experienced by the immortal-nectar-itself);we — one-by-one — are gvāhī (witnesses);māya-pute(mother-and-child); both know — thatnirutē(true) —sukha. The bhakti-pair (mother-deva and child-bhakta) are the only mutual-witnesses to the true-sukha. Bhakta-and-deva-as-mother-child-witnesses.
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तुका म्हणे आम्हां मोक्षाचा कांटाळा — कां तुम्ही गोपाळा नेणां ऐसें — Tuka says: we have kāmṭāḷā of mokṣa — why don't You know, Gopāḷa? The closing-mokṣa-disgust-claim: Tuka says: we havekāmṭāḷā(irritation, disgust, weariness) formokṣa; why don't You know this,Gopāḷa? Mokṣa-disgust-and-charge-of-not-knowing. Bhakti-priority over mokṣa is so-deep that the bhakta hasdisgustfor mokṣa; and the bhakta is surprised the deva doesn't recognize this. (Compare na-māngēm-mokṣa register; here the disgust is named.)
[T]
For someone today
Tukaram says even God cannot fully know the joy that comes from touching his own feet in devotion, because that kind of joy cannot be put into words, only the thing itself truly knows its own sweetness. Yet between a devotee and God, like a mother and her child, there is a silent, shared knowing of that real joy. He goes further still: he has grown tired of even wanting liberation, and wonders aloud why God, who knows him so well, has not noticed that about him.
मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की तुझ्याच पायांच्या सुखाचा खरा अनुभव तुला स्वतःलाही नाही, कारण असं सुख शब्दांत सांगता येत नाही, ती गोष्ट फक्त तीच स्वतःच खरेपणाने जाणते. पण भक्त आणि देव, आई आणि मूल यांच्याप्रमाणे, त्या खऱ्या सुखाचे एकत्र, शांतपणे साक्षीदार असतात. तुकाराम पुढे जाऊन सांगतात की त्यांना मोक्षाचाही कंटाळा आला आहे, आणि त्यांना आश्चर्य वाटतं की गोपाळाला हे का कळत नाही.
Where this applies
- You don't know Your-feet-sukha. Bhakta-unique.
- Amṛta-guṇaforamṛta. Words-fail.
- Māya-pute witnesses. Mutual-witness.
- Mokṣa-kāmṭāḷā. Bhakti-above-mokṣa.