Abhanga 684
Illusion spreads like a shadow over everyone, but the bondage you actually feel is made by your own mind, so ask the divine to untangle what you cannot.
The verse
विश्वव्यापी माया । तिणें झाकुळिलें छाया ॥१॥ सत्य गेलें भोळ्यावारी । अविद्येची चाली थोरी ॥ध्रु.॥ आपुलें चि मन । करवी आपणां बंधन ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे देवा । तुम्ही कोडीं हीं उगवा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Viśva-vyāpī māyā — it has-cast-shadow-and-covered. Satya has-gone over the bhōḷē — avidyā's stride is great. One's own mana — makes bandhana on oneself. Tuka says: deva, You — solve these kōḍī.
मराठी: विश्व-व्यापी माया — तिने छायेने झाकुळलं. सत्य भोळ्यावरी गेलं — अविद्येची चाली थोरी. आपलं च मन — आपणाला बंधन करवी. Tuka म्हणे: देवा — हीं कोडीं तूम्ही उगवा.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| विश्वव्यापी माया | "viśva-vyāpī māyā" |
| तिणें झाकुळिलें छाया | "it — jhākulilē chāyā" |
| सत्य गेलें भोळ्यावारी | "satya gone — over bhōḷē (naïve)" |
| अविद्येची चाली थोरी | "avidyā — cālī thōrī" |
| आपुलें चि मन | "one's own mana" |
| करवी आपणां बंधन | "makes — āpaṇām bandhana" |
| तुम्ही कोडीं हीं उगवा | "You — these kōḍī — solve" |
What it means
A viśva-vyāpī-māyā-jhākulilē-chāyā-mana-binds-itself-Tuka-kōḍī-ugavā abhang. Māyā-aphorism register. Three claims (in just six lines):
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विश्व-व्यापी माया — झाकुळलं छाया — सत्य भोळ्यावर — अविद्या-चाली-थोरी. Māyā-pervades-claim. Theviśva-vyāpī māyā (universe-pervading māyā)—has cast-shadow-and-covered (jhākulilē chāyā — covered with shade-cloth).Satyahas-gone over thebhōḷē(naïve, simple, gullible) (= the simple-people are taken-in by the false-as-true); the stride ofavidyā(ignorance) isthōrī(great, dominant). Māyā-rules-and-the-naïve-are-taken-by-the-false. (The jhākulilē chāyā image: like a sheet thrown over to cover everything in shadow.)
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आपलं-च-मन — आपणाला बंधन. Mind-binds-itself-claim. One's ownmana— makesbandhana(bondage) on oneself. Mind-binds-the-self-by-itself. (This is the diagnostic-aphorism: bondage isn't from outside; it's the mind binding the self with itself.)
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Tuka: देवा — कोडीं उगवा. Closing-deva-solve-claim. Tuka says:deva; You — thesekōḍī(riddles, knots) — solve (ugavā). Solve-the-knots-deva. (The kōḍī are the māyā-and-self-binding-riddles; only the deva can untie-them.)
[T]
For someone today
Tukaram describes maya, illusion, as something that spreads over the whole universe like a shadow thrown across everything, so that simple, trusting people mistake falsehood for truth and ignorance walks with a confident, dominant stride. Then he turns the lesson inward with a sharp observation, your own mind is what ties you down, no one else does it to you. The bondage you feel is self made. Because of this, Tuka doesn't pretend he can untangle it alone, he simply asks God directly to solve these riddles, admitting that some knots in the mind are too tangled to undo by willpower.
मराठी: तुकाराम सांगतात की माया, हा भ्रम, संपूर्ण विश्वावर सावलीसारखा पसरलेला असतो, त्यामुळे साध्या-भोळ्या लोकांना खोटं हेच खरं वाटतं आणि अज्ञान मोठ्या दिमाखाने वावरतं. मग ते नजर आतल्या बाजूला वळवतात आणि स्पष्टपणे सांगतात, आपलं मनच आपल्याला बांधून ठेवतं, दुसरं कोणी नाही. जे बंधन वाटतं ते स्वतःच निर्माण केलेलं असतं. यामुळेच तुका स्वतःच्या बळावर हे सोडवण्याचा आव आणत नाहीत, ते थेट देवाला विनवतात, या कोड्यांची उकल तूच कर, कारण मनाच्या काही गाठी नुसत्या इच्छाशक्तीने सुटत नाहीत.
Where this applies
- Viśva-vyāpī māyā. Pervasion.
- Mind-binds-self. Inside-source.
- Kōḍī ugavā. Solve-knots.