संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 681 of 4582

Abhanga 681

Devotion that arises without need or fear, simply and spontaneously, is more honest than devotion used as a transaction for worldly gain.

When no-real-cause for trouble; just sahaja-ātha-vana came to mind — and you have to recognize this register
When not dying, no hāni; nothing perishable to trouble You for — and you accept this image
When people make tūṭī with Your feet for the perishable-thing — and you receive this final reproach

The verse

कोणतें कारण राहिलें यामुळें । जें म्यां तुज बळें कष्टवावें ॥१॥ नाहीं जात जीव नाहीं होत हानी । सहज तें मनीं आठवलें ॥ध्रु.॥ नाहीं कांहीं चिंता मरतों उपवासी । अथवा त्या म्हैसी गाई व्हाव्या ॥२॥ हें तों तुज कळों येतसे अंतरीं । लाखणीक वरी साच भाव ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे देवा नासिवंतासाठीं । पायांसवें तुटी करिती तुझ्या ॥४॥

Literal translation

What kāraṇa has remained because-of-which I should-trouble-You by force? — jīva not going, no hāni — sahaja it came-to-mind. No cintā: I'm not dying-of-hunger; nor (about) buffaloes-cows coming. You yourself know in the antara — lākhaṇika over sāca-bhāva. Tuka says: deva, for the nāsivanta — people make tūṭī with Your feet.

मराठी: कोणतें कारण राहिलं ज्यामुळे मी तुला बळें कष्ट द्यावें? — जीव जात नाही, हानी नाही — सहज मनीं आठवलं. उपवासाने मरतो असली काही चिंता नाही — किंवा म्हैसी-गाई व्हाव्या असे ही नाही. हें तुझ्या अंतरांत समजते — साच-भावा-वर लाखणीक. Tuka म्हणे: देवा, नाशिवंतासाठीं — तुझ्या पायांसवें तुटी करितात.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
कोणतें कारण राहिलें यामुळें "what kāraṇa — has-remained — because-of-which"
जें म्यां तुज बळें कष्टवावें "should-give-You-trouble — by force"
नाहीं जात जीव "jīva not-going (= I'm not dying)"
नाहीं होत हानी "no hāni happening"
सहज तें मनीं आठवलें "spontaneously — manī — āṭhavalē (came-to-mind)"
नाहीं कांहीं चिंता मरतों उपवासी "no cintā — dying-of-hunger"
अथवा त्या म्हैसी गाई व्हाव्या "nor — buffaloes-cows — should-come"
तुज कळों येतसे अंतरीं "You — kaḷōm yētasē (know) in antara"
लाखणीक वरी साच भाव "lākhaṇika — over — sāca-bhāva"
देवा नासिवंतासाठीं "deva — for nāsivanta (perishable)"
पायांसवें तुटी करिती तुझ्या "with feet — tūṭī (severance) — make"

What it means

A no-real-cause-trouble-You-not-dying-no-hāni-sahaja-ātha-vana-perishable-tūṭī abhang. No-real-cause-bhakti register. Four claims:

  1. कोणतें कारण — बळें कष्टवावें — जीव-नाही-जात — हानी-नाही — सहज आठवलं. No-real-cause-claim. Whatkāraṇa(cause / reason) has-remained because-of-which I should-give-You-troublebaḷē(by force)?; thejīvais not-going (I'm not dying); nohāni(loss) is happening; it justsahaja(spontaneously, naturally) came-to-mind. No-real-cause-just-sahaja-ātha-vana. (The bhakta-here is calling out, but not from a desperate-cause; just spontaneous-remembrance.)

  2. उपवास-मरतों नाही — म्हैसी-गाई-व्हाव्या नाही. No-cintā-claim. Nocintā (worry): I'm not dying-of-hunger;nor — that the buffaloes-cows should-come (= I'm not asking for cattle-wealth).Not-asking-for-survival-or-wealth. (Tuka rules out the two common motives: physical-survival, material-prosperity.)

  3. तुज कळतें अंतरीं — लाखणीक-वरी साच-भाव. Sham-vs-real-bhāva-claim. You-yourself-know in theantara(inside); lākhaṇika (sham, lākha-ṇi-ka — covered-with-lac, mere-veneer) over the sāca-bhāva (real-bhāva).You-know-the-veneer-from-the-real. (The bhakta is honest: I am calling, but You-Yourself-know if it'slākhaṇika-veneerorsāca-bhāva-real.)

  4. Tuka: देवा नाशिवंतासाठीं — पायांसवें तुटी. Closing-reproach-claim. Tuka says:deva, for the nāsivanta (the perishable, the destructible);people make tūṭī (severance, rupture) with Your feet.People-rupture-the-relation-with-Your-feet-for-perishable-things. (The reproach: not the bhakta — butpeople in general — sever themselves from the imperishable-feet for the sake of the perishable.)

[T]

For someone today

Tukaram stops to ask himself an honest question: what real reason do I have for calling out to God so insistently? He isn't dying, he isn't facing ruin, the thought of God just came to him naturally. He is not praying out of fear of hunger and not praying to get cattle or wealth. He admits that God alone knows whether his devotion is genuine or just a hollow show. Then he turns the mirror on people in general: they break their bond with what is eternal for the sake of things that will not last. The lesson is to notice why you are reaching for the sacred, since spontaneous, need-free devotion is more honest than devotion used as a transaction for worldly gain.

मराठी: तुकाराम स्वतःला एक प्रामाणिक प्रश्न विचारतात, मी देवाला इतक्या आग्रहाने का हाक मारतो आहे, याचे खरे कारण काय आहे? ते मरणाच्या दारात नाहीत, नुकसान होत नाहीये, देवाची आठवण सहज मनात आली. उपासमारीच्या भीतीने ते प्रार्थना करत नाहीत, आणि गाई-म्हैशी मिळाव्यात म्हणूनही नाही. आपली भक्ती खरी आहे की केवळ दिखावा आहे हे फक्त देवालाच माहीत असते हे ते कबूल करतात. मग ते सर्वसामान्य लोकांकडे बोट दाखवतात, नाशवंत गोष्टींसाठी लोक शाश्वत गोष्टीशी असलेले नाते तोडतात. आपण देवाकडे का वळतो हे तपासून पाहावे, कारण गरजेशिवाय, सहज आलेली भक्ती ही ऐहिक लाभासाठी केलेल्या व्यवहारी भक्तीपेक्षा अधिक प्रामाणिक असते, हाच धडा यातून मिळतो.

Where this applies

Bhakti

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