संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 745 of 4582

Abhanga 745

Your talk and your body are not the true self; both often run on habit while delusion quietly turns your sense of reality upside down.

When I have nothing of my own to say — and you have to recognize this register
When vāṇī is vain-windy; passion makes nonsense — and you accept this image
When the body is a five-element-gathering, separate in truth; delusion walks upside-down — and you receive this final image

The verse

आपलें तों कांहीं । येथें सांगिजेसें नाहीं ॥१॥ परि हे वाणी वायचळ । छंद करविते बरळ ॥ध्रु.॥ पंचभूतांचा हा मेळा । देह सत्यत्वें निराळा ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे भुली । इच्या उफराट्या चाली ॥३॥

Literal translation

Āpalē — anything — here — to-say — none. Yet — vāṇīvāya-caḷachanda — makes — baraḷa. Pañca-bhūta-mēḷadēhasatyatvanirāḷa. Tuka says: bhulī — its — uphara-ṭā cālī.

मराठी: आपलं तर इथें सांगण्यासारखं काहीच नाहीं. परि ही वाणी वाय-चळ — छंद करविते बरळ. पंच-भूतांचा हा मेळा — देह सत्यत्वें निराळा. Tuka म्हणे: भुली — इच्या उफराट्या चाली.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
आपलें तों कांहीं "āpalē — my-own — anything"
येथें सांगिजेसें नाहीं "here — to-say — none"
परि हे वाणी वायचळ "yet — vāṇīvāya-caḷa"
छंद करविते बरळ "chanda — makes-do — baraḷa"
पंचभूतांचा हा मेळा "pañca-bhūta-mēḷa"
देह सत्यत्वें निराळा "dēhasatyatvanirāḷa"
भुली इच्या उफराट्या चाली "bhulī — its — uphara-ṭā cālī"

What it means

A my-own-nothing-to-say-vāṇī-vain-pañca-bhūta-mēḷa-body-separate-delusion-walks-upside-down abhang. Anti-self-claim-deha register. Three claims:

  1. आपलं इथें सांगण्यासारखं नाहीं — पण वाणी वाय-चळ — छंद बरळ-करविते. My-own-nothing-vāṇī-vain-claim. Ofmy-own— there's nothing here to say (sāngijēsē nāhīm — i.e., I have nothing-of-mine to claim or contribute); yet thisvāṇīisvāya-caḷa(vain-windy, fickle, like-the-wind); itschanda(passion / habit) makes-dobaraḷa(nonsense, prattle, idle-talk). Nothing-of-mine-but-vāṇī-still-prattles-out-of-habit.

  2. पंच-भूत-मेळा — देह सत्यत्वें निराळा. Pañca-bhūta-mēḷā-deha-separate-claim. This (body) is apañca-bhūta-mēḷā(gathering of the five-elements: pṛthvī-jala-tēja-vāyu-ākāśa); thedēhainsatyatva(truth) isnirāḷa(separate, distinct). Body-is-five-element-gathering-but-truly-separate. (Reading: in truth, the dēha (the indweller / the I-as-witness) is separate-from this five-element-gathering.)

  3. Tuka: भुली — इच्या उफराट्या चाली. Delusion-walks-upside-down-claim. Tuka says:bhulī(delusion); its (delusion's, or the body's, or thevāṇī's)cālī(walking, way) isuphara-ṭā (upside-down, inverted, contrary).Delusion-walks-the-wrong-way.

[T]

For someone today

You don't actually have anything of your own worth claiming here, and even your voice can run on, chattering out of pure habit rather than truth. Your body is just a temporary gathering of the five elements: earth, water, fire, air, and space; it isn't who you really are. Confusion sets in when you forget that difference and let the body's chatter pass for the truth of your being. This verse asks you to notice how backwards your everyday certainty can be, and to stop mistaking idle talk and a borrowed body for the real self underneath.

मराठी: तुमच्याकडे इथे सांगण्यासारखं खरं तर काहीच नाही — तुमची वाणीसुद्धा नुसत्या सवयीने बडबडत राहते, त्यात सत्य असतंच असं नाही. तुमचा देह म्हणजे पृथ्वी, जल, तेज, वायू आणि आकाश या पाच तत्वांचा एक तात्पुरता मेळावा आहे; तो तुमचं खरं स्वरूप नाही. जेव्हा तुम्ही हा फरक विसरता आणि देहाच्या बडबडीलाच स्वतःचं सत्य समजता, तेव्हा भ्रम निर्माण होतो. ही ओवी सांगते की तुमचा रोजचा ठामपणा किती उफराटा असू शकतो, आणि निव्वळ बडबड व उसना देह यांना खऱ्या आत्म्याऐवजी मानण्याचं टाळावं.

Where this applies

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