संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 678 of 4582

Abhanga 678

Sheer delight in what you love, expressed simply and repeatedly, can dissolve suffering even when its full greatness stays beyond your grasp.

When the trividha-tāpa is gone and the mind has become un-mana — and you accept this image
When I don't know the mahimā; Tukyā-bandhu's mudra — and you receive this final acknowledgement

The verse

बरवा बरवा बरवा रे देवा तूं । जीवाहूनी आवडसी जीवा रे देवा तूं ॥१॥ पाहातां वदन संतुष्ट लोचन । जाले आइकतां गुण श्रवण रे देवा ॥ध्रु.॥ अष्टै अंगें तनु त्रिविध ताप गेला सीण । वर्णितां लक्षण रे देवा ॥२॥ मन जालें उन्मन अनुपम ग्रहण । तुकयाबंधु म्हणे महिमा नेणें रे ॥३॥

Literal translation

Baravā baravā baravā — rē devā tūm — jīvāhūnī āvaḍasi jīvā — rē devā tūm. Looking vadana — santuṣṭa lōcana — became — listening guṇa — śravaṇa. Aṣṭa-anga tanu — trividha-tāpa — sīṇa gone — describing lakṣaṇa rē devā. Mana became unmana — anupama grahaṇa — Tukyā-bandhu says: mahimā nēṇē rē.

मराठी: बरवा-बरवा-बरवा रे देवा तूं — जीवा-हूनि आवडसि जीवा रे देवा तूं. Vadana पाहतां — santuṣṭa lōcana — gun-श्रवण ऐकतां. अष्ट-अंग-tanu — त्रिविध-ताप-सीण गेला — वर्णितां lakṣaṇa रे देवा. Mana जालें unmana — अनुपम-ग्रहण — Tukyā-bandhu म्हणे: महिमा नेणें रे.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
बरवा बरवा बरवा रे देवा तूं "baravā (good) — three-fold — rē devā tūm"
जीवाहूनी आवडसी जीवा रे देवा "jīvā-hūnī āvaḍasi jīvā — more-loved-than-jīva by jīva"
पाहातां वदन संतुष्ट लोचन "looking vadana — santuṣṭa lōcana"
जाले आइकतां गुण श्रवण "śravaṇa — became — listening guṇa"
अष्टै अंगें तनु "aṣṭa-anga tanu"
त्रिविध ताप गेला सीण "trividha-tāpa — sīṇa gone"
वर्णितां लक्षण "describing lakṣaṇa"
मन जालें उन्मन "mana — unmana"
अनुपम ग्रहण "anupama grahaṇa"
तुकयाबंधु म्हणे महिमा नेणें रे "Tukyā-bandhu says — mahimā nēṇē"

What it means

A baravā-rē-devā-jīvāhūnī-āvaḍasī-jīvā-trividha-tāpa-gēlā-mana-unmana-Tukyā-bandhu abhang. Chant-form-in-praise register. Four claims:

  1. बरवा-बरवा-बरवा रे देवा — जीवा-हूनि आवडसि जीवा. Opening-superlative-claim. Three-foldbaravā(good);more-loved-than-the-jīva by the jīva itself. (Thejīvāhūnī āvaḍasi jīvāphrase is a beautiful self-recursive paradox: thejīvaloves Him more than itself; He ismore-jīvathan thejīva.)

  2. Vadana पाहतां — santuṣṭa lōcana; गुण श्रवण ऐकतां. Face-and-qualities-claim. Looking at thevadana(face) — thelōcana(eyes) becomesantuṣṭa(satisfied); listening to theguṇa— happens byśravaṇa. Eyes-and-ears-engaged.

  3. अष्ट-अंग tanu — त्रिविध-ताप गेला सीण — वर्णितां lakṣaṇa. Trividha-tāpa-claim. Aṣṭa-anga (eight-limbed body) — the trividha-tāpa (three-fold heat: ādhyātmika (from-self), ādhibhautika (from-beings), ādhidaivika (from-fate / divine)) — the sīṇa (fatigue / suffering) gone;while describing Your lakṣaṇa. Three-fold-tāpa-removed-by-describing-the-lakṣaṇa.

  4. मन जालें unmana — anupama grahaṇa — Tukyā-bandhu: महिमा नेणें. Closing-unmana-claim. Mana (mind) became unmana (un-mind, mind-beyond-mind);anupama grahaṇa(unparalleled grasp); Tukyā-bandhu says:mahimā nēṇē(I-don't-know-the-greatness). Mind-becomes-no-mind-and-the-greatness-can't-be-known. (The unmana-state is the classical-yoga-vocabulary for the mind beyond-thought.)

[T]

For someone today

This is a burst of pure delight rather than an argument. Tukaram sings that God is good, good, good, more dear to him than his own life, and that just looking at that beloved face and hearing his qualities spoken of satisfies the eyes and ears completely. He says that describing God's marks and nature alone dissolves the threefold suffering the body and heart carry. By the end his mind moves past ordinary thinking into a state beyond mind, and even then he admits he still cannot grasp the full greatness of what he loves. The lesson is that devotion can be simple joy, not a puzzle to be solved, and that praising what you love is itself a kind of relief.

मराठी: ही ओवी युक्तिवाद नसून शुद्ध आनंदाचा उमाळा आहे. तुकाराम गातात की देव बरवा, बरवा, बरवा आहे, जीवाहून अधिक प्रिय आहे, आणि त्या प्रिय मुखाकडे नुसते पाहणे आणि त्याचे गुण ऐकणे डोळे आणि कान पूर्ण तृप्त करते. ते म्हणतात की देवाच्या लक्षणांचे वर्णन करण्यानेच शरीर आणि मनाला भोगावा लागणारा त्रिविध ताप नाहीसा होतो. शेवटी मन सामान्य विचारांच्या पलीकडे जाते, तरीही ते कबूल करतात की आपल्या प्रिय व्यक्तीचा पूर्ण महिमा अजूनही समजत नाही. भक्ती म्हणजे सोडवायचे कोडे नसून साधा आनंद असू शकतो, आणि जे आवडते त्याचे कौतुक करणे हाच एक प्रकारचा दिलासा असतो, हाच धडा यातून मिळतो.

Where this applies

Bhakti

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