Abhanga 686
True words are never meant for just one place or person, and when they flow freely, the speaker is only the arrow, not the one who aims and shoots.
The verse
नव्हे शब्द एक देशी । सांडी गवशी कोणाला ॥१॥ जाली माझी वैखरी । विश्वंभरी व्यापक ॥ध्रु.॥ मोकलिलें जावें बाणें । भाता जेणे वाइलें ॥२॥ आतां येथें कैचा तुका । बोले सिका स्वामीचा ॥३॥
Literal translation
The śabda (words) are not ēka-dēśī (for one-country) — leave-out-and-embrace-whom? My vaikharī has become viśvambharī — vyāpaka (pervading). Let-it-go like an arrow — whoever has-readied the bhāta (quiver). Now where, here, is Tuka? — the svāmī's sikā (stamp) speaks.
मराठी: शब्द एक-देशी नाही — कोणाला सोडावं, कोणाला घ्यावं?. माझी वैखरी विश्वंभरी-व्यापक झाली. बाण मोकलून जावा — ज्याने भाता वाहिला. आतां येथें कैचा Tuka? — बोले स्वामीचा सिका.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| नव्हे शब्द एक देशी | "śabda — not — ēka-dēśī (one-country)" |
| सांडी गवशी कोणाला | "leave-out, embrace — whom?" |
| जाली माझी वैखरी | "became — my vaikharī" |
| विश्वंभरी व्यापक | "viśvambharī — vyāpaka" |
| मोकलिलें जावें बाणें | "mōkalilē — bāṇē — go" |
| भाता जेणे वाइलें | "bhāta — jēṇē — vāilē" |
| आतां येथें कैचा तुका | "now — here — what — Tuka?" |
| बोले सिका स्वामीचा | "speaks — sikā — svāmī's" |
What it means
A words-not-for-one-country-vaikharī-becomes-viśvambharī-no-Tuka-svāmī-sikā abhang. Vāṇī-becomes-cosmic register. Three claims:
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शब्द एक-देशी नाही — सोडावं-घ्यावं कोणाला? — वैखरी विश्वंभरी-व्यापक. Vāṇī-cosmic-pervasion-claim. Theśabda(words) are notēka-dēśī (for-one-country, for-one-people, for-one-particular-place / time);whom would they leave-out, whom embrace? (= they leave-no-one-out and embrace-everyone);my vaikharī (speech-organ, gross-speech) has become viśvambharī (universe-pervading) and vyāpaka (all-pervading).My-vaikharī-has-become-cosmic-pervading. (This is one of the boldest claims about Tukaram's own poetry:his words are not for one place but pervade the universe.)
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बाण मोकलला — भाता ज्याने वाहिला. Arrow-shot-by-the-bhāta-bearer-claim. Let-the-arrow-go (mōkalilē-jāvē bāṇē); whoever-has-readied thebhāta(quiver / arrow-pouch), let-the-arrow-go. I-am-not-the-shooter-the-svāmī-is. (The arrow-image: I'm just the arrow, the svāmī is the one who readied-the-quiver and shoots-me. The vāṇī goes wherever-He-shoots-it.)
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Tuka: आतां येथें कैचा Tuka — स्वामीचा सिका बोले. No-Tuka-here-svāmī-sikā-speaks-claim. Now where, here, is Tuka?; thesvāmī'ssikā(stamp / seal / signature) speaks. No-individual-Tuka-only-the-svāmī's-stamp-speaks. (Tuka is dissolved; what speaks is thesvāmī's authorization.) This is one of the strongest self-dissolution claims in the corpus: even the Tuka-mudra itself is no-longer-Tuka but the svāmī's sikā (stamp).
[T]
For someone today
Tukaram makes a bold claim about his own words, they were never meant for just one place or one people, they leave no one out. His speech, he says, has grown to become something that pervades everything, no longer just his own voice. Then he offers a humble image, he is only the arrow, someone else readied the quiver and let it fly, so the credit for where the words land isn't his to take. By the end he asks where Tuka even is anymore, since what actually speaks is not the man but the seal and authority of his master working through him.
मराठी: तुकाराम आपल्या शब्दांबद्दल एक धाडसी दावा करतात, हे शब्द कधीच एका ठिकाणासाठी किंवा एका समूहासाठी नव्हते, ते कुणालाही वगळत नाहीत. त्यांची वाणी, ते म्हणतात, आता इतकी विस्तारली आहे की ती सर्वत्र व्यापून राहते, ती फक्त त्यांचा स्वतःचा आवाज उरलेली नाही. मग ते एक नम्र प्रतिमा देतात, मी फक्त बाण आहे, कुणीतरी दुसऱ्याने भाता तयार केला आणि तो सोडला, त्यामुळे शब्द कुठे पोहोचतात याचं श्रेय माझं नाही. शेवटी ते विचारतात, तुका इथे उरलाच कुठे आहे, कारण जे बोलतं ते तो माणूस नसून त्याच्या स्वामींची मोहोर, त्यांचा अधिकार त्याच्यामार्फत बोलतो आहे.
Where this applies
- Vāṇī cosmic. Pervasion.
- Arrow-shot. Not-the-shooter.
- Svāmī-cā sikā. Master's stamp.
- No Tuka here. Self-dissolution.