Abhanga 708
You don't need to chase liberation as a prize; loving devotion for its own sake, with one true meeting at the end, is enough.
The verse
मोक्ष तुमचा देवा । तुम्ही दुर्लभ तो ठेवा ॥१॥ मज भक्तीची आवडी । नाहीं अंतरीं ते गोडी ॥ध्रु.॥ आपल्या प्रकारा । करा जतन दातारा ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे भेटी । पुरे एक चि शेवटीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Mōkṣa — Yours — deva — You keep — durlabha. For me — bhakti-āvaḍī — no gōḍī in antara. In Your prakāra — preserve — dātāra. Tuka says: bhēṭī — only-one — enough — at the śēvaṭa.
मराठी: मोक्ष तुमचा, देवा — दुर्लभ तो तुम्हीच ठेवा. मज भक्तीची आवडी — मोक्षाची गोडी अंतरी नाही. आपुल्या प्रकारीं जतन करा, दातारा. Tuka म्हणे: एक च भेटी शेवटीं पुरे.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| मोक्ष तुमचा देवा | "mōkṣa — Yours — deva" |
| तुम्ही दुर्लभ तो ठेवा | "You — durlabha — keep" |
| मज भक्तीची आवडी | "for-me — bhakti — āvaḍī" |
| नाहीं अंतरीं ते गोडी | "no — antara — gōḍī" |
| आपल्या प्रकारा | "in-Your prakāra" |
| करा जतन दातारा | "preserve — dātāra" |
| भेटी पुरे एक चि शेवटीं | "bhēṭī — purē — only-one — śēvaṭa" |
What it means
A mōkṣa-Yours-keep-it-I-want-bhakti-only-meeting-is-enough abhang. Mōkṣa-rejection-bhakti-want register. Three claims:
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मोक्ष तुमचा — दुर्लभ तुम्हीच ठेवा — मज भक्ति-आवडी — मोक्षाची गोडी नाही. Mōkṣa-Yours-bhakti-mine-claim. Mōkṣa is Yours, deva; You keep thatdurlabha(rare, hard-to-attain treasure); for me,bhakti-āvaḍī(love-of-bhakti); nogōḍī(inside-sweetness) for that (mōkṣa) in myantara. Mōkṣa-is-rare-treasure-keep-it; I-want-bhakti-not-mōkṣa.
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आपुल्या प्रकारीं जतन — दातारा. Preserve-in-Your-own-style-claim. In Your ownprakāra(style, kind, manner), preserve (it),dātāra(giver). You keep mōkṣa as You wish; preserve-it-in-Your-style.
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Tuka: एक च भेटी शेवटीं पुरे. One-meeting-at-end-is-enough-claim. Tuka says: thebhēṭī(meeting) —purē(suffices, is enough) — only that-one — at theśēvaṭa(end). One-final-meeting-suffices. (The bhakta wants neither mōkṣa nor multiple-meetings — just one bhēṭī at the end.)
[T]
For someone today
You can tell God plainly that liberation is not what you are after. Let that rare treasure stay in God's keeping; what you actually love is the practice of devotion itself, and your heart simply has no taste for chasing moksha as a prize. You are not even asking for constant contact or a permanent state, just one true meeting with the divine at the very end is enough. Tukaram shows that love for God does not need to be about earning a reward; it can be offered freely, wanting nothing back except that final encounter.
मराठी: देवाला स्पष्टपणे सांगता येते की मोक्ष हे तुम्हाला हवं नाहीये. ते दुर्लभ रत्न देवाकडेच राहू द्या; तुम्हाला खरं प्रेम आहे ते भक्तीच्या साधनेवर, आणि मोक्ष मिळवण्याची गोडी तुमच्या अंतःकरणात नाहीच. तुम्ही सतत संपर्काची किंवा कायमस्वरूपी स्थितीचीही मागणी करत नाही, फक्त शेवटी एकदाच खरी भेट झाली तरी पुरे. तुकाराम दाखवतात की देवावरचं प्रेम बक्षीस मिळवण्यासाठी नसतं; ते काहीही परतफेड न मागता, फक्त त्या शेवटच्या भेटीची अपेक्षा ठेवून मुक्तपणे दिलेलं असू शकतं.
Where this applies
- Mōkṣa — Yours. Reject.
- Bhakti-āvaḍī. Want.
- Ēka-ci bhēṭī. Stipulation.