संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 563 of 4582

Abhanga 563

English: Dīpa — search andhakāra — bhēṭa aghaṭita.

When the bhakta names three impossible-meetings — and you have to recognize this register
When Viṣṇu-dāsa don't fear kalikāḷa or mirage — and you accept this assurance
When grass-can't-cover-fire is the closing claim — and you receive this image

The verse

दीप घेउनियां धुंडिती अंधार । भेटे हा विचार अघटित ॥१॥ विष्णुदास आम्ही न भ्यो कळिकाळा । भुलों मृगजळा न घडे तें ॥ध्रु.॥ उधळितां माती रविकळा मळे । हें कैसें न कळे भाग्यहीना ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे तृणें झांके हुताशन । हें तंव वचन वाउगें चि ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: Dīpa — search andhakāra — bhēṭa aghaṭita. Viṣṇu-dāsa — don't fear kalikāḷa — mṛga-jaḷa — not. Māti throwing — ravi-kaḷā maḷē? — bhāgya-hīna. Tuka says: tṛṇa — hutāśana — vacana — vāugē.

मराठी: दीप घेउनियां धुंडिती अंधार — भेटे हा विचार अघटित. विष्णुदास आम्ही न भ्यो कळिकाळा — भुलों मृगजळा न घडे तें. उधळितां माती रविकळा मळे — हें कैसें न कळे भाग्यहीना?. तुकाराम म्हणतां — तृणें झांके हुताशन — हें तंव वचन वाउगें चि.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
दीप घेउनियां धुंडिती अंधार "with dīpa — search andhakāra"
भेटे हा विचार अघटित "bhēṭa — aghaṭita"
विष्णुदास आम्ही न भ्यो कळिकाळा "Viṣṇu-dāsa — don't fear kalikāḷa"
भुलों मृगजळा न घडे तें "mṛga-jaḷa — deluded — not happens"
उधळितां माती रविकळा मळे "throwing māti — ravi-kaḷā maḷē?"
हें कैसें न कळे भाग्यहीना "how — not kaḷē — bhāgya-hīna?"
तृणें झांके हुताशन "tṛṇa — covers — hutāśana"
हें तंव वचन वाउगें चि "vacana — vāugē"

What it means

A three-impossible-images-bhakta-doesn't-fear abhang. Logical-impossibility register. Three claims:

  1. दीप घेउनियां धुंडिती अंधार — भेटे हा विचार अघटित — dīpa — search andhakāra — bhēṭa aghaṭita. The first-impossibility-image: with a dīpa (lamp) — searching for andhakāra (darkness); would such a bhēṭa (meeting) — be aghaṭita (impossible, never-happens)? Lamp-can't-find-darkness. Light-and-darkness-can't-meet.

  2. विष्णुदास आम्ही न भ्यो कळिकाळा — भुलों मृगजळा न घडे तें — Viṣṇu-dāsa — don't fear kalikāḷa — mṛga-jaḷa — not. The application-claim: we Viṣṇu-dāsa don't fear kalikāḷa (the kali-age, the dark-age); being bhulō (deluded) by mṛga-jaḷa (mirage / illusion-water) — doesn't happen for us. Just-as-darkness-can't-meet-light, kalikāḷa-can't-frighten-us, mṛga-jaḷa-can't-delude-us.

  3. उधळितां माती रविकळा मळे — हें कैसें न कळे भाग्यहीना — तुका म्हणे तृणें झांके हुताशन — हें तंव वचन वाउगें चि — throwing māti — ravi-kaḷā maḷē? — bhāgya-hīna — Tuka says: tṛṇa — hutāśana — vacana vāugē. The second-and-third-impossibility-images: throwing-up māti (dust) — does the ravi-kaḷā (sun's-rays) get maḷē (muddied / dirtied)?; how is this not kaḷē (known) to the bhāgya-hīna (luckless / fortuneless)? — Tuka says: tṛṇa (grass / hay) covers the hutāśana (fire-eater = fire) — that vacana (claim, statement) is vāugē (in vain / wrong). Three impossibilities: lamp-can't-find-darkness; dust-can't-muddy-sun's-rays; grass-can't-cover-fire. Bhakta is sun-and-fire; kalikāḷa-and-imitators-and-mirage are dust-and-grass and darkness-with-lamp*.

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For someone today

This abhang names the three-impossible-images-bhakta-fearless register:

  1. Lamp-can't-search-darkness; light-and-dark can't meet. Dīpa andhakāra — aghaṭita. Light cancels darkness; you can't find darkness with a lamp. Use-this-image-of-impossibility.

  2. Viṣṇu-dāsa don't fear kalikāḷa or mṛga-jaḷa*. Viṣṇu-dāsa — kalikāḷa nakō — mṛga-jaḷa nakō. The dāsa is light; kalikāḷa is darkness; they can't meet. Don't-fear-the-impossible-meeting*.

  3. Dust-can't-muddy-sun; grass-can't-cover-fire. Māti — ravi-kaḷā — tṛṇa — hutāśana. Two more images: small-things-can't-affect-large-pure-things. Recognize-the-bhakta's-immunity.

For today: the bhakta is light, sun, fire; the world's small-things (kalikāḷa, mirage, imitators) are darkness, dust, grass; they cannot reach the bhakta. Don't-fear-the-impossible-meeting.

This abhang is Tukaram's bhakta-immunity-by-three-images register — the aghaṭita-bhēṭa claim is precise. Compare 0521 strong's-ankita-bhakta-baḷavanta; same fearless register but here with the impossibility-images. The tṛṇa-hutāśana image is folk-wisdom: hay-cannot-cover-fire; the fire eats it.

मराठी: ही ओवी three-impossible-images-bhakta-fearless register नाव सांगते:

  1. Dīpa andhakāra शोधू शकत नाही; light-and-dark meet नाही. दीप अंधकार — अघटित. Light darkness cancel करतो; lamp ने darkness शोधता येत नाही. Impossibility-image वापरा*.

  2. Viṣṇu-dāsa kalikāḷa किंवा mṛga-jaḷa चं भय नाही. विष्णु-दास — कळिकाळ नको — मृग-जळ नको. Dāsa light; kalikāḷa darkness; meet होत नाही. Impossible-meeting-fear नका*.

  3. Māti sun मळवू शकत नाही; tṛṇa fire झाकू शकत नाही. माती — रविकळा — तृण — हुताशन. दोन अधिक images: small-things large-pure-things-affect करू शकत नाहीत. Bhakta-immunity ओळखा*.

आज: Bhakta light, sun, fire; world च small-things (kalikāḷa, mirage, imitators) darkness, dust, grass; ते bhakta पर्यंत reach करू शकत नाहीत. Impossible-meeting-fear नका.

Tukaram च-bhakta-immunity-by-three-images-register — Aghaṭita-bhēṭa claim precise. 0521 strong's-ankita-bhakta-baḷavanta compare; तीच fearless register पण इथे impossibility-images सोबत. Tṛṇa-hutāśana image folk-wisdom: hay-fire-cover-नाही; fire त्याला खातं.

Where this applies

Mortality / Vairāgya Name Bhakti

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