Abhanga 601
True atonement is not an outward rite but an inward one: shave the mind of ego, let remorse be your bath, and offer your very self as the sacrifice.
The verse
एक वेळ प्रायश्चित्त । केलें चित्त मुंडण ॥१॥ अहंकारा नांवें दोष । त्याचें ओस पाडिले ॥ध्रु.॥ अनुतापें स्नानविधि । यज्ञसिद्धी देहहोम ॥२॥ जीवशिवा होतां चुका । तेथें तुका विनटला ॥३॥
Literal translation
One time prāyaścitta — citta-muṇḍana done. Ahamkāra — dōṣa — its — ōsa made. Anu-tāpa — snāna-vidhi — yajña-siddhi — deha-hōma. Jīva-śiva — cuka — Tuka — vinaṭalā.
मराठी: एक वेळ प्रायश्चित्त — केलें चित्त मुंडण. अहंकारा नांवें दोष — त्याचें ओस पाडिले. अनुतापें स्नानविधि — यज्ञसिद्धी देहहोम. जीवशिवा होतां चुका — तेथें तुका विनटला.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| एक वेळ प्रायश्चित्त | "one-time prāyaścitta" |
| केलें चित्त मुंडण | "citta-muṇḍana done" |
| अहंकारा नांवें दोष | "ahamkāra — name dōṣa" |
| त्याचें ओस पाडिले | "its — ōsa made" |
| अनुतापें स्नानविधि | "anu-tāpa — snāna-vidhi" |
| यज्ञसिद्धी देहहोम | "yajña-siddhi — deha-hōma" |
| जीवशिवा होतां चुका | "jīva-śiva — cuka" |
| तेथें तुका विनटला | "Tuka — vinaṭalā" |
What it means
A one-time-prāyaścitta-citta-muṇḍana-deha-hōma abhang. Bhakti's-re-imagining-of-Brahminical-rituals register. Three claims:
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एक वेळ प्रायश्चित्त — केलें चित्त मुंडण — one-time prāyaścitta — citta-muṇḍana done. The opening-claim: one-timeprāyaścitta (atonement, the formal-rite-of-purification);citta-muṇḍana(mind-shaving, mind-tonsuring) done. The Brahminical-prāyaścitta-rite is replaced by the citta-muṇḍana (shaving the mind / removing the mental-attachments). (The muṇḍana — head-shaving — is part of the standard prāyaścitta; here Tukaram replaces head-shaving with mind-shaving.)
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अहंकारा नांवें दोष — त्याचें ओस पाडिले — ahamkāra — dōṣa — its — ōsa made. The ahamkāra-deserted-claim: thedōṣa(defect) with the name ahamkāra; its (house) was madeōsa(deserted, ruined). Ahamkāra-house-emptied-out.
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अनुतापें स्नानविधि — यज्ञसिद्धी देहहोम — जीवशिवा होतां चुका — तेथें तुका विनटला — anu-tāpa — snāna-vidhi — yajña-siddhi — deha-hōma — jīva-śiva — cuka — Tuka — vinaṭalā. The re-imagined-rituals-and-fixing-claim: byanu-tāpa(remorse-fire), thesnāna-vidhi(bathing-rite is performed); yajña-siddhi (sacrifice-completion) is the deha-hōma (body-offering-into-fire);when jīva-śiva (the individual-soul-and-deva, or Tukaram and Śiva-Hari)madecuka(mistake, disjoint, gap); there Tukavinaṭalā(got-entangled, got-fixed-in). Brahminical-rituals re-imagined: anu-tāpa = snāna; deha = hōma; ahamkāra-house-emptied = prāyaścitta; the place-where-jīva-and-śiva-disjoin is where-Tuka-is-fixed-in. Bhakti-re-imagining-of-rituals.
[T]
For someone today
Tukaram takes the old rites of atonement, head-shaving, ritual bathing, and animal sacrifice, and turns each one inward. The real prayascitta is not shaving your head but shaving your mind clean of ego. The real bath is the burning remorse you feel when you know you have done wrong. The real offering into the sacrificial fire is your own body and self, given over completely. Once the house of ego stands empty, that is the true purification, and it is exactly at the point where you and God feel most apart that Tuka plants himself and stays.
मराठी: तुकाराम जुन्या प्रायश्चित्ताच्या विधींना, मुंडण, स्नान, यज्ञ, आतल्या बाजूने वळवतात. खरं प्रायश्चित्त म्हणजे डोकं मुंडण नव्हे तर मन मुंडण, म्हणजे अहंकार साफ करणं. खरं स्नान म्हणजे केलेल्या चुकीचा मनात होणारा जळजळीत पश्चात्ताप. खरा यज्ञ म्हणजे स्वतःचं शरीर आणि अस्तित्व पूर्णपणे अर्पण करणं. अहंकाराचं घर रिकामं झालं की खरी शुद्धी होते, आणि जिथे जीव आणि देव यांच्यात अंतर जाणवतं तिथेच तुका ठाम उभा राहतो.
Where this applies
- When you feel you must punish yourself outwardly for a mistake instead of actually changing your heart
- When you go through religious ritual out of habit but skip the honest remorse underneath it
- When you sense a painful distance between yourself and God and don't know what to do with that feeling
- When you are ready to give up your ego rather than just perform a symbolic act of humility