संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 714 of 4582

Abhanga 714

Holding a genuine feeling of devotion quietly in your heart is itself God present in you, and everything else depends on the state of your mind.

When cintana itself is good without physical meeting — and you have to recognize this register
When the bhāva that stays in the body — that itself is devā — and you accept this image
When the mind is the whole cause — and you receive this final criterion

The verse

करावें चिंतन । तें चि बरें न भेटून ॥१॥ बरवा अंगीं राहे भाव । तो गे तो चि जाणा देव ॥ध्रु.॥ दर्शणाची उरी । अवस्था चि अंग धरी ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे मन । तेथें सकळ कारण ॥३॥

Literal translation

Do cintana — that itself is barēna bhēṭūna (without meeting). The good bhāvaanga — abides — that, know as devā. Darśana's urīavasthā itself — anga dharī. Tuka says: mana — there — sakaḷa kāraṇa.

मराठी: चिंतन करावं — तेच बरं — न-भेटून सुद्धा. बरवा भाव अंगीं राहे — तो ग, तोच जाणा देव. दर्शणाची उरी — अवस्था च अंग धरी. Tuka म्हणे: मन — तेथें सकळ कारण.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
करावें चिंतन "do — cintana"
तें चि बरें न भेटून "that-itself — barē — without bhēṭa"
बरवा अंगीं राहे भाव "good bhāvaanga — abides"
तो गे तो चि जाणा देव "that — know-as — devā"
दर्शणाची उरी "darśanaurī"
अवस्था चि अंग धरी "avasthāanga dharī"
मन तेथें सकळ कारण "mana — there — sakaḷa kāraṇa"

What it means

A cintana-itself-good-without-meeting-bhāva-in-body-is-devā-mind-is-whole-cause abhang. Cintana-itself-is-darśana register. Three claims:

  1. चिंतन करावें — तेच बरें — न-भेटून — बरवा भाव अंगीं — तो च देव. Cintana-itself-bhāva-in-body-is-devā-claim. Docintana(remembrance, contemplation) —tē-ci barē(that itself is good) —na bhēṭūna(without [physical] meeting); the goodbhāvathatangīm rāhē(abides in the body)that-itself,jāṇā devā(know as deva). Cintana-itself-suffices-the-bhāva-abiding-in-body-is-itself-deva. (Bhāva-in-the-body = deva is a striking equation.)

  2. दर्शणाची उरी — अवस्था च अंग धरी. Longing-itself-becomes-body-claim. Darśana's urī (lingering, the residue / longing-for-darśana that hasn't-yet-met);the avasthā (state) itself takes-on body (= the longing-state-itself becomes-embodied / the very-longing is the bhāva-in-the-body).The-longing-is-the-darśana-state-itself.

  3. Tuka: मन — सकळ कारण. Mind-is-whole-cause-claim. Tuka says: themana(mind) — there (= in the mind) is thesakaḷa kāraṇa(the whole cause / the entire-determining-factor). Mind-is-everything-the-cause.

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For someone today

You don't need to physically stand before God to feel close to God — simply holding God in your thoughts is already enough. When a real, good feeling of devotion settles quietly in your heart, that feeling itself is God present in you. Even your longing to see the divine, the ache of waiting for that meeting, is itself a form of meeting. Tukaram says everything comes down to the mind: how you hold your thoughts decides everything else.

मराठी: देवाला प्रत्यक्ष भेटायलाच जावं लागतं असं नाही — मनात त्याचं फक्त चिंतन केलं तरी पुरेसं आहे. मनात खरा, चांगला भाव शांतपणे राहिला, तर तोच भाव म्हणजे तुमच्यातला देव आहे. देवाला भेटण्याची जी ओढ, जी वाट पाहण्याची तळमळ असते, तीच एक प्रकारे भेट असते. तुकाराम म्हणतात, सगळं काही मनावर अवलंबून आहे — मन कसं ठेवता यावरच बाकी सगळं ठरतं.

Where this applies

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