Abhanga 679
The purest happiness lives in the shared, decorated, ordinary life of devotion among devotees, and a true devotee wants the relationship itself, not liberation from it.
The verse
सोलीव जें सुख अतिसुखाहुनि । उभें हें अंगणीं वैष्णवांच्या ॥१॥ वृंदावन सडे चौक रंग माळा । नाचे तो सोहोळा देखोनियां ॥ध्रु.॥ भूषणमंडित सदा सर्वकाळ । मुद्रा आणि माळ तुळसी कंठीं ॥२॥ नामओघ मुखीं अमृताचें सार । मस्तक पवित्र सहित रजें ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे मोक्ष भक्तचिया मना । नये हा वासना त्याची करी ॥४॥
Literal translation
The sōlīva sukha — beyond ati-sukha — stands in the angaṇa of Vaiṣṇavas. Vṛndāvana — saḍē, cauka, ranga-māḷā — dances at the sōhōḷā on-seeing. Bhūṣaṇa-maṇḍita — always — mudrā and māḷā — tuḷasī at kaṇṭha. Nāma-ōgha in mouth — amṛta-sāra — mastaka pure with raja. Tuka says: mōkṣa — to the bhakta's mana — does-not-come — does-not-make-it-his-vāsanā.
मराठी: सोलीव सुख — अति-सुखाहुनि — Vaiṣṇavas च्या अंगणी उभें. वृंदावन-सडे-चौक-रंग-माळा — सोहोळा देखून नाचे. सदा भूषण-मंडित — मुद्रा-माळ-तुळसी कंठीं. नाम-ओघ मुखीं — अमृताचं सार — मस्तक-पवित्र राजें-सहित. Tuka म्हणे: मोक्ष-भक्ताच्या मना न-ये — त्याची-वासना नाही करी.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| सोलीव जें सुख अतिसुखाहुनि | "sōlīva — sukha — beyond ati-sukha" |
| उभें हें अंगणीं वैष्णवांच्या | "stands — angaṇa — Vaiṣṇavas" |
| वृंदावन सडे चौक रंग माळा | "vṛndāvana — saḍē, cauka, ranga-māḷā" |
| नाचे तो सोहोळा देखोनियां | "dances — sōhōḷā — on-seeing" |
| भूषणमंडित सदा सर्वकाळ | "always — bhūṣaṇa-maṇḍita" |
| मुद्रा आणि माळ तुळसी कंठीं | "mudrā, māḷā, tuḷasī — at kaṇṭha" |
| नामओघ मुखीं अमृताचें सार | "nāma-ōgha in mouth — amṛta-sāra" |
| मस्तक पवित्र सहित रजें | "mastaka pure — with raja" |
| मोक्ष भक्तचिया मना नये | "mōkṣa — to bhakta's mana — doesn't come" |
| हा वासना त्याची करी | "doesn't make this — his vāsanā" |
What it means
A sōlīva-sukha-Vaiṣṇavas-angaṇa-vṛndāvana-saḍē-mudrā-māḷā-tuḷasī-mōkṣa-not-vāsanā abhang. Vaiṣṇava-hagiography-and-mōkṣa-rejection register. Five claims:
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सोलीव सुख — अति-सुखा-हून — Vaiṣṇavas-च्या-अंगणी उभें. Sōlīva-sukha-claim. Thesōlīva sukha(peeled-bare sukha — sukha-with-the-husk-removed, thepurest essential sukha);beyond ati-sukha (beyond-extreme-sukha);stands in the angaṇa (courtyard) of Vaiṣṇavas. Pure-sukha-in-Vaiṣṇavas'-courtyard. (The sōlīva image: like a peeled-fruit, stripped of skin — pure-essence.)
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Vṛndāvana-saḍē-cauka-ranga-māḷā — सोहोळा देखून नाचे. Vṛndāvana-and-rangōli-claim. Theangaṇahasvṛndāvana(the tulasī-shrine),saḍē(sprinkled-with-cow-dung-water for purification),cauka(the square design),ranga-māḷā(rangōli-strands); dances on-seeing thesōhōḷā(celebration). Vaiṣṇava-angaṇa-as-festival-place; the sōlīva-sukha dances when it sees this.
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भूषण-मंडित — मुद्रा-माळ-तुळसी कंठीं. Vaiṣṇava-marks-claim. Always-bhūṣaṇa-maṇḍita(adorned with ornaments); mudrā (the conch-disc-marks, the upadeśa-mudrās);māḷā(thejapa-mālā, the prayer-rosary); tuḷasī at the neck (the tulasī-māḷā, sign of Vaiṣṇava-initiation).Mudrā-mālā-tuḷasī as Vaiṣṇava-marks.
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नाम-ओघ मुखीं — अमृत-सार — मस्तक-पवित्र-राजें. Nāma-and-pavitra-claim. Nāma-ōgha (nāma-flow) in the mouth — the amṛta-sāra (essence of nectar);the mastaka (head) pure with the raja (dust — i.e., the dust of saints' feet, or the sacred-Pandharī-dust).Pure-Vaiṣṇava-with-nāma-and-dust-of-feet.
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Tuka: मोक्ष — भक्ताच्या-मना न-ये — वासना नाही. Mōkṣa-rejection-claim. Mōkṣa (liberation)—to the bhakta's mana doesn't come;(the bhakta) does-not-make-it-his-vāsanā (longing).Mōkṣa-is-not-the-bhakta's-pursuit. (This is one of the strong Vārkarī claims: the bhakta does not seekmōkṣa; he seeks the relation, the courtyard, the company.)
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For someone today
Tukaram paints a picture of a Vaishnav household courtyard: the tulasi shrine, the swept and decorated ground, the rangoli, the joy that makes everyone dance at the celebration. The devotees wear their sacred marks and tulasi beads, keep the name of God flowing from their mouths like nectar, and carry the sacred dust on their heads. Then comes the surprising turn: this bhakta does not even want liberation. Moksha does not enter his mind, and he does not make it something to long for. The point is that the purest happiness is not found in solitary escape from the world, but in the shared, ordinary, decorated life of devotion lived together, and that a true devotee's goal is the relationship itself, not release from it.
मराठी: तुकाराम वैष्णवांच्या अंगणाचे चित्र रेखाटतात, तुळशी वृंदावन, सडा घातलेले अंगण, चौक-रांगोळी, आणि उत्सव पाहून सगळे नाचतात असा आनंद. भक्त आपले टिळे-मुद्रा आणि तुळशीची माळ धारण करतात, मुखात अमृतासारखे नामाचे ओघ ठेवतात आणि मस्तकावर पवित्र रज धारण करतात. मग एक आश्चर्यकारक वळण येते, हा भक्त मोक्षही मागत नाही. मोक्ष त्याच्या मनात येतच नाही, आणि तो त्याची वासनाही करत नाही. सगळ्यात शुद्ध सुख एकांतात जगापासून पळून जाण्यात नसून, एकत्र जगलेल्या साध्या, सजवलेल्या भक्तिमय जीवनात असते, आणि खऱ्या भक्ताचे ध्येय नातेच असते, त्यातून सुटका नव्हे, हाच यातील संदेश आहे.
Where this applies
- Sōlīva-sukha. Pure-essence.
- Vaiṣṇava-angaṇa. Festival-place.
- Mudrā-māḷā-tuḷasī. Vaiṣṇava-marks.
- Mōkṣanot bhakta'svāsanā. Mōkṣa-rejection.