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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 675 of 4582

Abhanga 675

This abhang names the vakta-śrōtā-aphorism register:

When the speaker is bound-by-āśā and the listener's mind is in fear — and you have to recognize this register
When both are lōbhī (greedy); the bhajan is vain — and you accept this image
When like measure, like sack; both empty — and you receive this final aphorism

The verse

आशाबद्ध वक्ता । धाक श्रोतयाच्या चित्ता ॥१॥ वांयां गेलें तें भजन । उभयतां लोभी मन ॥ध्रु.॥ बहिर्मुख एके ठायीं । तैसें जालें तया दोहीं ॥२॥ माप तैसी गोणी । तुका म्हणे रितीं दोन्ही ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: Āśā-baddha vaktā — dhāka in the śrōtā's citta. The bhajana went vain — both have lōbhī mana. Bahirmukha in one place — so-it-became for both. Māpa taisī gōṇī — Tuka says: both — ritī (empty).

मराठी: आशा-बद्ध वक्ता — श्रोत्याच्या चित्ती धाक. भजन वायां गेलें — दोघांचंही लोभी मन. एके ठायीं बहिर्मुख — तसं दोघांना झालं. माप तशी गोणी — Tuka म्हणे: दोघं रितीं.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
आशाबद्ध वक्ता "āśā-baddha — vaktā"
धाक श्रोतयाच्या चित्ता "dhāka — śrōtā's citta"
वांयां गेलें तें भजन "vāyām gēlē — that bhajana"
उभयतां लोभी मन "ubhayatām — lōbhī mana"
बहिर्मुख एके ठायीं "bahirmukha — in one place"
तैसें जालें तया दोहीं "so-it-became — for both"
माप तैसी गोणी "as the māpa, so the gōṇī"
तुका म्हणे रितीं दोन्ही "Tuka — both — ritī (empty)"

What it means

A āśā-bound-vaktā-fear-in-śrōtā-bhajan-vain-māpa-taisī-gōṇī abhang. Vakta-śrōtā-aphorism register, in just four short lines. This is one of Tukaram's gem-aphorisms — sharp and complete.

  1. आशा-बद्ध वक्ता — श्रोत्याच्या चित्ती धाक. Opening-diagnostic-claim. The vaktā (preacher / kīrtana-speaker) is bound by āśā (hope-of-reward, desire-for-honor); the śrōtā (listener) has dhāka (fear / anxiety) in their citta (mind). Both-sides-bound-by-something-other-than-bhāva.

  2. वांयां भजन — दोघांचंही लोभी मन. That-bhajan-vain-claim. The bhajana goes vāyām (in vain); both have lōbhī mana (greedy minds — the speaker greedy-for-honor, the listener greedy-for-its-own-protection or worldly-benefit). Both-greedy-bhajan-vain.

  3. बहिर्मुख एके ठायीं — तसं दोघांना. Bahirmukha-claim. Like one who is bahirmukha (turned-outward, away-from-the-Self) in one place — so it becomes for both. Both-turned-outward. (When one of the two — speaker or listener — is bahirmukha*, the other is automatically dragged into the same.)

  4. माप-गोणी — दोघं रितीं. Māpa-gōṇī-aphorism. Like the māpa (measure / measuring-vessel), so the gōṇī (sack); Tuka says: both — ritī (empty). Empty-measure-gives-empty-sack: when the measure is empty (no real-bhāva in the speaker), the sack (the listener) gets nothing. (This is a beautiful concrete-proverb: the merchant's māpa and the buyer's gōṇī are correlated — what doesn't enter the measure can't enter the sack.)

[T]

For someone today

This abhang names the vakta-śrōtā-aphorism register:

  1. Speaker bound-by-āśā; listener's mind in fear. Both-bound-diagnostic.

  2. Both are lōbhī; bhajan is vain. Both-greedy-bhajan-vain.

  3. One bahirmukha — both turn outward. Bahirmukha-contagion.

  4. Empty measure, empty sack. Māpa-gōṇī-aphorism.

For today: the bhajan is real only when neither speaker is āśā-baddha nor listener is in dhāka; if the vaktā is greedy-for-honor and the śrōtā is fearful-of-loss, both are lōbhī; the māpa and gōṇī — both empty.

This abhang is Tukaram's vakta-śrōtā-aphorism register — one of the sharpest critiques of bhajan-as-trans-action. Compare 0586 fruit-discrimination-and-hard-completion; same fruit-discrimination but here applied to the bhajan-relation. The māpa-taisī-gōṇī image is a profound concrete-proverb of bhakti-pedagogy.

मराठी: ही ओवी vakta-śrōtā-aphorism register नाव सांगते:

  1. वक्ता आशा-बद्ध; श्रोत्याच्या चित्ती धाक. Both-bound-diagnostic.

  2. दोघांचं मन लोभी; भजन वायां. Both-greedy-bhajan-vain.

  3. बहिर्मुख — दोघं turn-outward. Bahirmukha-contagion.

  4. Māpa-गोणी — दोघं रितीं. Māpa-gōṇī-aphorism.

आज: Bhajan real असतो जेव्हा वक्ता āśā-baddha नसतो आणि श्रोता dhāka-त नसतो; जर vaktā honor-साठी-greedy आणि śrōtā loss-fear-त, दोघं lōbhī; माप-आणि-गोणी — दोघं रितीं.

Tukaram च-vakta-śrōtā-aphorism-register — Bhajan-as-transaction च्या sharpest critiques पैकी एक. 0586 fruit-discrimination-and-hard-completion compare; तीच fruit-discrimination पण इथे bhajan-relation-ला applied. Māpa-taisī-gōṇī image bhakti-pedagogy च-profound concrete-proverb.

Where this applies

Bhakti

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