Abhanga 700

English: Nigama's vana — don't search and tire yourselves.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A don't-search-Veda-forest-come-to-gauḷī-house-tied-rope-above-drop-ahankāra abhang. Anti-Veda-search-and-pastoral-bhakti-call register. Three claims:

1. निगम-वन — शोधूं नका — सीण-नका. Don't-search-Veda-forest-claim. The Nigama (Veda) — vana (forest); don't śōdhūm (search through it) — and karūm sīṇa (cause yourselves fatigue). Don't-tire-searching-the-Veda-forest. (The Veda is a vana* — a vast forest in which one can wander forever and not find what one seeks.)

2. या-गौळी-घरी — बांधलं-दावं-वरी. Come-to-gauḷī-house-tied-rope-above-claim. Come-here, to the gauḷī's (cowherd's) ghara (house); the tied-(thing — the rope, the cow-tying-rope) is up there (varī — in the upper-loft). In-the-cowherd's-house, what's-sought is up-on-the-loft (= simple-and-near, not-in-the-forest). (Two readings: (a) the gauḷī's-house is Kṛṣṇa's house — the cowherd-Kṛṣṇa, where the bhakta-Pandharī is found, simply and directly; (b) the bāndhalē-dāvē-varī — the rope tied up in the loft — is the bhakta's resort, in plain sight, not deep-in-the-forest.)

3. भ्रम-पीडलेति — वर्म-न-कळतां — Tuka: भार-माथा — अहंकार-टाकूं. Suffered-by-bhrama-drop-ahankāra-claim. You have-suffered (pīḍalētī) by bhrama (delusion); not-knowing the path's varma (secret); Tuka says: the bhāra — the māthā (head) — drop (ṭākā) the ahankāra. The path's-secret is: drop-the-ahankāra-from-the-head. (The bhāra (load) is the ahankāra itself; the māthā — the head — carries it; drop it.)

[T]

For someone today

This abhang names the don't-search-Veda-come-to-gauḷī-drop-ahankāra register:

1. Don't search the Veda-forest and tire yourselves. Anti-Veda-search.

2. Come to the gauḷī's house — the rope is up on the loft (in plain sight). Pastoral-bhakti-call.

3. You suffered by bhrama, not knowing the secret; drop the ahankāra from your head. Drop-ahankāra-secret.

For today: the Veda is a vast forest — searching it tires-out without finding; come to the gauḷī's house — Kṛṣṇa-Pandharī — there, the rope is plainly-up-on-the-loft; the path's-varma (secret) is: drop the ahankāra you carry as a head-load.

This abhang is Tukaram's don't-search-Veda-come-to-gauḷī-drop-ahankāra register — one of the sharpest anti-Veda-search-and-pastoral-bhakti calls. Compare 0691 cosmological-vastness-cling-to-santas; same anti-search-cling logic but here organized through the Veda-vana-vs-gauḷī-ghara contrast and the ahankāra-as-head-load image. The bhāra-māthā-ṭākā-ahankāra is one of Tukaram's most-physical bhakti-images: the ahankāra is a load on the head; drop it.

मराठी: ही ओवी don't-search-Veda-come-to-gauḷī-drop-ahankāra register नाव सांगते:

1. Veda-वन शोधूं नका, सीण नको. Anti-Veda-search.

2. गौळी-घरी या — दावं वरी आहे. Pastoral-bhakti-call.

3. भ्रमेने pīḍa; varma-न-कळतां; अहंकार-माथा-टाकून. Drop-ahankāra-secret.

आज: Veda मोठं forest — शोधल्याने tire होतं, सापडत नाही; गौळी-घरी या — Kṛṣṇa-Pandharī — तिथे रोप plainly-वरी; Path-varma — ahankāra head-load-म्हणून-carry करतोस, टाक.

Tukaram च-don't-search-Veda-come-to-gauḷī-drop-ahankāra-register — Sharpest anti-Veda-search-and-pastoral-bhakti calls पैकी एक. 0691 cosmological-vastness-cling-to-santas compare; तीच anti-search-cling logic पण इथे Veda-vana-vs-gauḷī-ghara contrast आणि ahankāra-as-head-load image च्या मार्गाने. Bhāra-māthā-ṭākā-ahankāra Tukaram च्या most-physical bhakti-images पैकी एक — अहंकार head-load, टाक.

Where this applies

• Veda-vana-search.* Tire-out.
• Gauḷī-ghara.* Pastoral-bhakti.
• Drop-ahankāra.* Head-load.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2448
• Abhanga 2467
• Abhanga 2494
• Abhanga 4481