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 759 of 4582

Abhanga 759

This abhang names the six-image-cascade register:

When no pure-water; soap useless — and you have to recognize this register
When no citta-śuddhi; bodha useless — and you accept this image
When no jīvana, no crop — know it — and you receive this final stamp

The verse

नाहीं निर्मळ जीवन । काय करील साबण ॥१॥ तैसी चत्तिशुद्धी नाहीं । तेथें बोध करील काई ॥ध्रु.॥ वृक्ष न धरी पुष्पफळ । काय करील वसंतकाळ ॥२॥ वांजे न होती लेकरें । काय करावें भ्रतारें ॥३॥ नपुंसका पुरुषासी । काय करील बाइल त्यासी ॥४॥ प्राण गेलिया शरीर । काय करील वेव्हार ॥५॥ तुका म्हणे जीवनेंविण । पीक नव्हे नव्हे जाण ॥६॥

Literal translation

English: No nirmaḷa jīvana — what will sābaṇa do? So no citta-śuddhi — there bodha will do? Vṛkṣa — no flower-fruit — vasanta-kāḷa. Vāñjē — no children — bhratāra. Napumsaka puruṣa — bāila — what? Prāṇa gone — body — vēvhāra. Tuka says: without jīvana — no pīka — know.

मराठी: निर्मळ जीवन नाहीं — साबण काय करील?. तसें चित्त-शुद्धि नाहीं — तेथें बोध काय करील?. वृक्ष पुष्प-फळ न धरी — वसंत-काळ काय करील?. वांज लेकरें न होती — भ्रतार काय करील?. नपुंसक-पुरुषाला — बाइल काय करील?. प्राण गेलिया शरीर — वेव्हार काय करील?. Tuka म्हणे: जीवनेंविण — पीक नव्हे, नव्हे जाण.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
नाहीं निर्मळ जीवन "no — nirmaḷa jīvana"
काय करील साबण "what — will-do — sābaṇa"
तैसी चत्तिशुद्धी नाहीं "so — citta-śuddhi — none"
तेथें बोध करील काई "there — bodha — will-do"
वृक्ष न धरी पुष्पफळ "vṛkṣa — no flower-fruit"
काय करील वसंतकाळ "vasanta-kāḷa"
वांजे न होती लेकरें "vāñjē — no children"
काय करावें भ्रतारें "bhratāra"
नपुंसका पुरुषासी "napumsaka puruṣa"
बाइल त्यासी "bāila"
प्राण गेलिया शरीर "prāṇa gone — body"
वेव्हार "vēvhāra"
जीवनेंविण पीक नव्हे "without jīvana — no pīka"

What it means

A six-image-cascade-no-pure-water-soap-useless-no-citta-śuddhi-bodha-useless-no-jīvana-no-crop abhang. Six-image-cascade register. The structure is six parallel-images each-driving-home the same point: without the basic-condition, the secondary-aid is useless.

  1. निर्मळ-जीवन-नाहीं — साबण-काय-करील. Pure-water-soap-image. Without pure-water, soap is useless.

  2. चित्त-शुद्धि-नाहीं — बोध-काय-करील. Citta-śuddhi-bodha-image. Without citta-śuddhi, bodha (instruction) is useless. (This is the core-claim; the others are analogies-supporting it.)

  3. वृक्ष-पुष्प-फळ-न-धरी — वसंत-काळ-काय. Tree-spring-image. If a tree doesn't bear flower-fruit, what does spring-time do? (= no use).

  4. वांज-लेकरें-न-होती — भ्रतार-काय. Barren-husband-image. If a barren-woman bears no children, what does the husband do? (= no purpose).

  5. नपुंसक-पुरुष — बाइल-काय. Impotent-wife-image. To an impotent man, what does the wife do? (= no consummation).

  6. प्राण-गेल्या-शरीर — वेव्हार-काय. Corpse-vyavahāra-image. When prāṇa is gone, what does the body's vēvhāra (worldly-dealing) do? (= no transaction is possible).

  7. Tuka: जीवनेंविण — पीक-नव्हे-नव्हे जाण. No-jīvana-no-crop-claim. Without jīvana (life / water), no pīka (crop); know it, know it.

[T]

For someone today

This abhang names the six-image-cascade register:

  1. Without pure-water, soap is useless. Soap-useless.

  2. Without citta-śuddhi, bodha is useless. Bodha-useless.

  3. Tree-no-fruit, spring useless. Spring-useless.

  4. Barren-no-children, husband useless. Husband-useless.

  5. Impotent-man, wife useless. Wife-useless.

  6. Corpse, vyavahāra useless. Vyavahāra-useless.

  7. Without jīvana, no crop. No-crop.

For today: the central-claim is citta-śuddhi-not-bodha; secondary-aids depend on the basic-condition; if the basic isn't there, no aid helps.

This abhang is Tukaram's six-image-cascade-and-citta-śuddhi-is-the-basic register — one of the most-systematic six-image-cascades in the corpus. Compare 0703 anti-form-religion-only-niraseanāst-of-āśā (Tuka's mudra); same anti-form-religion-criterion but here organized as a six-image-cascade with the citta-śuddhi-is-the-only-basis claim. The vāñjē-and-napumsaka images are unusually-direct (and slightly-shocking-in-modern-sensibility) for the bhakti-corpus; Tukaram doesn't shy from the bodily-realistic.

मराठी: ही ओवी six-image-cascade register नाव सांगते:

  1. निर्मळ-जीवन-नाही, साबण-useless. Soap-useless.

  2. Citta-śuddhi-नाही, bodha-useless. Bodha-useless.

  3. Vṛkṣa-न-फळ, spring-useless. Spring-useless.

  4. Vāñjē, husband-useless. Husband-useless.

  5. Napumsaka, wife-useless. Wife-useless.

  6. Corpse, vyavahāra-useless. Vyavahāra-useless.

  7. Jīvanēmviṇa, no pīka. No-crop.

आज: Central-claim citta-śuddhi-not-bodha; Secondary-aids basic-condition-वर depend; Basic नसेल तर aid काही करत नाही.

Tukaram च-six-image-cascade-and-citta-śuddhi-is-the-basic-register — Most-systematic six-image-cascades corpus-त पैकी एक. 0703 anti-form-religion-only-niraseanāst-of-āśā (Tuka mudra) compare; तीच anti-form-religion-criterion पण इथे six-image-cascade with citta-śuddhi-is-the-only-basis claim च्या मार्गाने. Vāñjē-and-napumsaka images unusually-direct (slightly-shocking-in-modern-sensibility) bhakti-corpus-त; Tukaram bodily-realistic-च्या मागे लपत नाही.

Where this applies

Bhakti six-image-cascade no-pure-water-soap-useless

Related verses