संत साहित्य
Work in progress. Translations and commentary are AI-generated and may contain inaccuracies or hallucinations — please use your own judgement and check against the original sources.
संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 701 of 4582

Abhanga 701

English: Mana vōḷī manā — buddhi buddhi moment-by-moment.

When mana cures mana, buddhi cures buddhi — and you have to recognize this register
When whatever rises is killed by its-own-hand — and you accept this image
When the trap is broken; only the witness remains — and you receive this final image

The verse

मन वोळी मना । बुद्धी बुद्धी क्षण क्षणां ॥१॥ मी च मज राखण जालों । ज्याणें तेथें चि धरिलों ॥ध्रु.॥ जें जें जेथें उठी । तें तें तया हातें कुंटी ॥२॥ भांजिली खांजनी । तुका साक्ष उरला दोन्ही ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: Mana vōḷī manābuddhi buddhi moment-by-moment. I myself became the rākhaṇa (of myself) — whoever (rose) there-itself I dharilōm. Whatever rises wherever — that, by-its-own-hand, kuṇṭī. Khāñjanī bhāñjilī — Tuka says: sākṣa uralā — both.

मराठी: मन मनाला वोळी (वळवी, परत आणी) — बुद्धी बुद्धीला क्षणक्षणीं. मी च मज राखण झालों — ज्याणें (उठलं) तेथें च धरिलों. जें-जें जेथें उठतं — तें-तें त्या हातें कुंटी (खंडली). खांजनी (फांस / सापळा) भांजली — Tuka म्हणे: साक्ष उरला, दोन्ही.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
मन वोळी मना "manavōḷīmanā"
बुद्धी बुद्धी क्षण क्षणां "buddhi-buddhi — moment-by-moment"
मी च मज राखण जालों "I — myself — rākhaṇa — became"
ज्याणें तेथें चि धरिलों "whoever (rose) — there-itself — dharilōm"
जें जें जेथें उठी "whatever — wherever — rises"
तें तें तया हातें कुंटी "that — by-its-own-hand — kuṇṭī (killed)"
भांजिली खांजनी "khāñjanī (trap) — bhāñjilī (broken)"
साक्ष उरला दोन्ही "sākṣauralā — both"

What it means

A mana-cures-mana-buddhi-cures-buddhi-I-watchman-rises-killed-by-own-hand-trap-broken-Tuka-witness abhang. Vedānta-witness-only register. Three claims:

  1. मन-मनाला-वोळी — बुद्धी-बुद्धीला-क्षणीं — मी-च-राखण — उठलं-तेथेंच-धरिलों. Self-watchman-claim. Mana cures (vōḷī — turns-back, brings-back-on-track) the mana; buddhi cures the buddhi, moment-by-moment; I myself became the rākhaṇa (watchman) (of myself); whoever (rose, i.e., whatever vṛtti arose) — there-itself I *dharilōm (caught). Self-watching-self-self-cures-self*.

  2. उठतं-तें-तया-हातें-कुंटी. Rises-killed-by-own-hand-claim. Whatever rises wherever — that, tayā hātē (by-its-own-hand) — is kuṇṭī (cut-off, killed). The-rising-vṛtti-is-killed-by-its-own-hand (= the very-arising contains-its-dying; or, the bhakta uses the vṛtti-itself to-kill-the-vṛtti).

  3. खांजनी-भांजली — Tuka: साक्ष-उरला-दोन्ही. Trap-broken-witness-remains-claim. The khāñjanī (the trap-net, the trap-snare) is bhāñjilī (broken); Tuka says: the sākṣa (witness) has-uralā (remained), dōnhī (both — i.e., when both mana and buddhi have-self-cured-and-self-killed-vṛttis, the witness-of-them-both remains). Witness-only-remains-after-trap-broken. (This is the classical sākṣi-mātra — witness-only-state of Vedānta, here named in Marathi-bhakti vocabulary.)

[T]

For someone today

This abhang names the witness-only-self-cures-self register:

  1. Mana cures mana, buddhi cures buddhi. Self-cures-self.

  2. I am my own watchman; whatever rises is killed by-its-own-hand. Self-watchman.

  3. The trap is broken; only the witness remains, both. Witness-only.

For today: the cure of the mana is by the mana-itself; the cure of the buddhi is by the buddhi-itself; the bhakta becomes his-own-watchman; whatever vṛtti rises is killed-by-its-own-hand; the trap is broken; only the sākṣa (witness) remains.

This abhang is Tukaram's witness-only-self-cures-self registerone of the most-Vedāntic abhangs in the corpus. Compare 0683 eyes-fixed-pure-bhāva-no-vṛtti; same beyond-vṛtti state but here approached through the self-watchman-and-rises-killed-by-own-hand claim. The sākṣa-uralā-dōnhī (witness-remained-both) is precise Vedānta vocabulary: when both mana and buddhi have-self-cured, only the sākṣi remains.

मराठी: ही ओवी witness-only-self-cures-self register नाव सांगते:

  1. मन-मनाला, बुद्धि-बुद्धीला cures. Self-cures-self.

  2. मी-च-राखण; उठतं-त्या-हातें-कुंटी. Self-watchman.

  3. खांजनी भांजली; साक्ष उरला, दोन्ही. Witness-only.

आज: Mana-च cure mana-ने; buddhi-च cure buddhi-ने; Bhakta स्वतःचा-watchman; vṛtti उठतं-त्या-च-हातें-कुंटी; Trap broken; फक्त sākṣa (witness) उरतो.

Tukaram च-witness-only-self-cures-self-registerMost-Vedāntic abhangs corpus-त पैकी एक. 0683 eyes-fixed-pure-bhāva-no-vṛtti compare; तीच beyond-vṛtti state पण इथे self-watchman-and-rises-killed-by-own-hand claim च्या मार्गाने. Sākṣa-uralā-dōnhī precise Vedānta vocabulary — mana-buddhi self-cured झाल्यावर फक्त sākṣi remains.

Where this applies

Related verses