संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 677 of 4582

Abhanga 677

English: I have come-out by my own kartavya — left-samsāra-around with the jīva.

When the act has separated samsāra and the jīva — and you have to recognize this register
When butter and buttermilk are now two — they cannot rejoin — and you accept this image
When the pearl is shown — the shell stays in its place — and you receive this final image

The verse

बाहिर पडिलों आपुल्या कर्तव्यें । संसारासि जीवें वेटाळिलों ॥१॥ एकामध्यें एक नाहीं मिळो येत । ताक नवनीत निवडीलें ॥ध्रु.॥ जालीं दोनी नामें एका चि मथनीं । दुसरिया गुणीं वेगळालीं ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे दाखविल्या मुक्ताफळीं । शिंपले चि स्वस्थळीं खुंटलिया ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: I have come-out by my own kartavya — left-samsāra-around with the jīva. One-from-the-other doesn't come-back together — tāka and navanīta are separated. Two nāmas came from one mathana — different now in different guṇa. Tuka says: when the mukta-phaḷa is shown — the śimpalē stays-pinned in its own place.

मराठी: आपल्या कर्तव्याने बाहिर पडलों — जीवें संसारासि वेटाळिलों. एका-त-दुसरें मिळून येत नाही — ताक-नवनीत निवडलें. एकाच मथनीं दोन नांवे झालीं — दुसऱ्या गुणीं वेगळालीं. Tuka म्हणे: मुक्ता-फळ दाखविल्यानंतर — शिंपले स्व-स्थळीं खुंटतो.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
बाहिर पडिलों आपुल्या कर्तव्यें "bāhira paḍilōm — by my kartavya"
संसारासि जीवें वेटाळिलों "samsāra — jīva — vēṭāḷilōm (left-around)"
एकामध्यें एक नाहीं मिळो येत "one — to-one — doesn't miḷōm yēta (come-back together)"
ताक नवनीत निवडीलें "tāka-navanīta — nivaḍilē (separated)"
जालीं दोनी नामें एका चि मथनीं "two names — from one mathana (churning)"
दुसरिया गुणीं वेगळालीं "different — in different guṇa"
दाखविल्या मुक्ताफळीं "shown — mukta-phaḷa (pearl)"
शिंपले चि स्वस्थळीं खुंटलिया "śimpalē — sva-sthaḷa — khuṇṭaliyā (stays-pinned)"

What it means

A bāhira-paḍilōm-samsāra-vēṭāḷilōm-tāka-navanīta-mukta-phaḷa-Tuka abhang. Vedānta-discrimination-image register. The structure is two compact images:

  1. बाहिर पडलों कर्तव्यें — संसार-jīva वेटाळिलों — एका-त-दुसरें मिळून येत नाही — ताक-नवनीत निवडलें. Buttermilk-butter-image. I have come-out by my own kartavya (act, deliberate-doing); with the jīva, I have vēṭāḷilōm (left-around — circumambulated-and-departed) samsāra; one-from-the-other doesn't come-back together; tāka (buttermilk) and navanīta (butter) are nivaḍilē (separated). Once-the-churning-has-separated-them, butter-and-buttermilk-cannot-rejoin. (The mathana — churning — image: when the jīva churns samsāra-experience deliberately, the butter — pure-essence — rises and the buttermilk-stuff falls away; they do not rejoin*.)

  2. दोन नांवे एकाच मथनीं — दुसरिया गुणी वेगळालीं — मुक्ता-फळ दाखविल्यावर — शिंपले स्व-स्थळी खुंटली. Pearl-shell-image. Two names came from one mathana; different now in different guṇa; when the mukta-phaḷa (pearl, the liberated-fruit) is shown; the śimpalē (shell / oyster) stays-pinned-fixed in its own place. Pearl-shown-shell-stays: when the pearl is taken out, the empty shell stays-fixed in the water-bed; the pearl-and-shell don't rejoin.

[T]

For someone today

This abhang names the buttermilk-butter-and-pearl-shell discrimination register:

  1. Once you've come-out by your own kartavya, samsāra-and-the-jīva are separated. Mathana-act.

  2. Buttermilk and butter — now two; they do not rejoin. Tāka-navanīta-image.

  3. Two names from one churning; now in different guṇa. One-source-two-results.

  4. Pearl shown, shell stays in its place. Mukta-phaḷa-image.

For today: the kartavya (deliberate-act) is the mathana — the churning that separates; once-separated, the butter (pure-essence) and buttermilk (residue) cannot rejoin; the pearl (the mukta-phaḷa) is taken out, the shell stays in its place. The bhakta has come-out — samsāra and the jīva are no-longer-mixable.

This abhang is Tukaram's Vedānta-discrimination-image register — one of the most-precise viveka statements in concrete-image. Compare 0564 sphaṭika-doesn't-take-color; same viveka-image but here the image is dynamic-separation (churning) not static-non-staining. The pearl-shell image is classical-Vedānta vocabulary.

मराठी: ही ओवी buttermilk-butter-and-pearl-shell discrimination register नाव सांगते:

  1. Kartavya-ने बाहिर पडलं की samsāra-jīva वेगळे. Mathana-act.

  2. ताक-नवनीत आतां दोन; मिळून येत नाही. Tāka-navanīta-image.

  3. एकाच मथनीं दोन नांवे; आतां वेगळे. One-source-two-results.

  4. मुक्ता-फळ दाखविल्यावर शिंपले स्व-स्थळीं खुंटली. Mukta-phaḷa-image.

आज: Kartavya (deliberate-act) हें mathana — separating-churning; Separated झाल्यावर butter (pure) आणि buttermilk (residue) मिळून येत नाही; Mukta-phaḷa बाहेर — शिंपले-स्थळी खुंटतो. Bhakta बाहिर पडला — samsāra आणि jīva आतां mixable नाही.

Tukaram च-Vedānta-discrimination-image-register — Most-precise viveka statements concrete-image-त पैकी एक. 0564 sphaṭika-doesn't-take-color compare; तीच viveka-image पण इथे image dynamic-separation (churning) not static-non-staining. Pearl-shell image classical-Vedānta vocabulary.

Where this applies

Bhakti

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