संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 737 of 4582

Abhanga 737

English: Onāmā-kāḷa — khaḍē — bāḷa — set-out.

When the child uses pebbles for letters; this stage doesn't remain — and you have to recognize this register

When rajju-as-sarpa only until not known — and you accept this image

When no fear of the bagul once truth is seen — and you receive this final image

The verse

ओनाम्याच्या काळें । खडें मांडविलें बाळें ॥१॥ तें चि पुढें पुढें काई । मग लागलिया सोई ॥ध्रु.॥ रज्जु सर्प होता । तोंवरी चि न कळतां ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे साचें । भय नाहीं बागुलाचें ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: Onāmā-kāḷa — khaḍē — bāḷa — set-out. That-itself — ahead-ahead — what? — once sōī got. Rajju — sarpa — was — until — not-known. Tuka says: sācē — no bhaya — bāgula.

मराठी: ओनाम्याच्या-काळी — बाळ खडे मांडवतो. तें-च पुढें-पुढें राहतं काय? — एकदा सोई लागलीवर?. रज्जू-सर्प होती — तोंवरी-च न-कळतां. Tuka म्हणे: साचें — बागुलाचं भय नाहीं.

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
ओनाम्याच्या काळें	"onāmā-kāḷa (alphabet-time)"
खडें मांडविलें बाळें	"khaḍē — set-out — bāḷa"
तें चि पुढें पुढें काई	"that — ahead-ahead — what?"
मग लागलिया सोई	"once — sōī — got"
रज्जु सर्प होता	"rajju — sarpa — was"
तोंवरी चि न कळतां	"until — not-known"
भय नाहीं बागुलाचें	"no bhaya — bāgula"

What it means

A child-pebbles-for-letters-rajju-sarpa-only-till-not-known-no-fear-of-bagul abhang. Illusion-removed-no-fear register. Three claims:

ओनाम्याच्या-काळी — बाळ-खडे-मांडवतो — तें पुढें-पुढें राहत-नाही — सोई लागलीवर. Learning-stages-not-permanent-claim. In the onāmā (the early-alphabet, the time of learning the first-letters); the bāḷa (child) māṇḍavilē (sets out, lays-out) khaḍē (pebbles) (to count/spell letters with); does that-itself remain ahead-and-ahead? — no, only until sōī (the way, the knack) is got. Crude-learning-aid-discarded-once-skill-attained.
रज्जु-सर्प-होती — न-कळतां-च तोंवरी. Rajju-sarpa-classical-claim. The rajju (rope) was a sarpa (snake) — only until it wasn't kaḷa (known) (as a rope). Rope-only-snake-until-recognized. (The classical rajju-sarpa image of Vedānta: the rope-mistaken-for-snake disappears when one recognizes-the-rope.)
Tuka: साचें — बागुलाचं भय नाहीं. No-fear-of-bāgula-claim. Tuka says: sācē (truly); no bhaya of the bāgula (the child's-bogeyman, the imaginary-monster used to frighten children). Once-truth-seen-no-fear-of-imagined-monsters.

[T]

For someone today

This abhang names the illusion-removed-no-fear register:

Child uses pebbles for letters; once the way is got, the pebbles aren't needed. Learning-stages.
Rope was snake only until rope wasn't known. Rajju-sarpa.
Truly, no fear of the bagul. No-bāgula-fear.

For today: every learning-stage uses crude-aids — pebbles, rajju-sarpa-superimposition, bāgula-fear; once the truth is seen, the aids and false-fears fall-away.

This abhang is Tukaram's illusion-removed-no-fear-and-rajju-sarpa register — one of the most-classic Vedānta-images in Marathi-bhakti. Compare 0701 witness-only-self-cures-self (Tuka's mudra); same Vedāntic-discrimination but here organized through the child-pebbles-and-bāgula image. The sācē — bhaya nāhīm bāgulācē (truly — no fear of the bāgula) is the most-precise child-illusion-aphorism in the corpus.

मराठी: ही ओवी illusion-removed-no-fear register नाव सांगते:

बाळ-खडे-letters; सोई-झाल्यावर खडे न-लागत. Learning-stages.
Rajju-sarpa न-कळतां-तोंवरी. Rajju-sarpa.
साचें — bāgulाचं भय नाहीं. No-bāgula-fear.

आज: Every learning-stage crude-aids — pebbles, rajju-sarpa-superimposition, bāgula-fear-वापरते; Truth seen झाल्यावर aids आणि false-fears fall-away.

Tukaram च-illusion-removed-no-fear-and-rajju-sarpa-register — Most-classic Vedānta-images Marathi-bhakti-त पैकी एक. 0701 witness-only-self-cures-self (Tuka mudra) compare; तीच Vedāntic-discrimination पण इथे child-pebbles-and-bāgula image च्या मार्गाने. Sācē — bhaya nāhīm bāgulācē most-precise child-illusion-aphorism corpus-त.

Where this applies

Pebbles for letters.* Stage.
Rajju-sarpa.** Classical-image.
No bāgula fear.* Final.

Bhakti learning-stages-not-permanent