संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 776 of 4582

Abhanga 776

English: Varṇāśrama — cōkha — uttama-lōka — reach.

When varṇāśrama scrupulous brings uttama-lōka but not Brahma-realization — and you have to recognize this register
When paṇḍita-śabda-pāṇḍitya, tāna-māna-bandha, eye-twisting — and you accept this image
When santas have become vidēhī in the very body — and you receive this final claim

The verse

वर्णाश्रम करिसी चोख । तरि तूं पावसी उत्तम लोक ॥१॥ तुजला तें नाहीं ठावें । जेणें अंगें चि ब्रम्ह व्हावें ॥ध्रु.॥ जरि तूं जालासी पंडित । करिसी शब्दाचें पांडित्य ॥२॥ गासी तान मान बंध । हाव भाव गीत छंद ॥३॥ जाणसील तूं स्वतंत्र । आगमोक्त पूजायंत्र ॥४॥ साधनाच्या ओढी । डोळियांच्या मोडामोडी ॥५॥ तुका म्हणे देहीं । संत जाहाले विदेही ॥६॥

Literal translation

English: Varṇāśrama — cōkha — uttama-lōka — reach. You — not — know — by which — anga — Brahma. If — paṇḍita — śabda-pāṇḍitya. Tāna-māna-bandha — hāva-bhāva-gīta-chanda. Svatantra — āgama-ukta pūjā-yantra. Sādhana — pulls — ḍōḷiyāncī — mōḍā-mōḍī. Tuka says: dēha — santa — vidēhī.

मराठी: वर्णाश्रम चोख करिसि — तरि उत्तम-लोक पावसि. तुजला ते ठाव नाही — जेणें अंगें-च ब्रह्म व्हावें. पंडित जालासि — शब्दाचें पांडित्य करिसि. तान-मान-बंध गासि — हाव-भाव-गीत-छंद. Svatantra जाणसील — आगमोक्त पूजा-यंत्र. Sādhana-च्या ओढी — डोळियांच्या मोडा-मोडी. Tuka म्हणे: देहीं — संत जाहाले विदेही.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
वर्णाश्रम करिसी चोख "varṇāśrama — cōkha"
तरि तूं पावसी उत्तम लोक "uttama-lōka — reach"
तुजला तें नाहीं ठावें "you — not — ṭhāvē (know)"
जेणें अंगें चि ब्रम्ह व्हावें "by-which — anga — Brahma"
जरि तूं जालासी पंडित "if — paṇḍita"
करिसी शब्दाचें पांडित्य "śabda-pāṇḍitya"
गासी तान मान बंध "tāna-māna-bandha"
हाव भाव गीत छंद "hāva-bhāva-gīta-chanda"
जाणसील तूं स्वतंत्र "svatantra"
आगमोक्त पूजायंत्र "āgama-ukta pūjā-yantra"
साधनाच्या ओढी "sādhana — pulls"
डोळियांच्या मोडामोडी "ḍōḷiyāncī — mōḍā-mōḍī"
देहीं संत जाहाले विदेही "dēha — santa — vidēhī"

What it means

A varṇāśrama-cōkha-uttama-lōka-not-Brahma-paṇḍita-tāna-māna-eye-twisting-saint-vidēhī-in-body abhang. Anti-formalist-Brahma-realization register. The structure is a list of what-you-have contrasted with what-you-don't-know:

  1. Varṇāśrama-cōkha — uttama-lōka — पण Brahma नाही. Varṇāśrama-uttama-not-Brahma-claim. If you do varṇāśrama scrupulously — you reach uttama-lōka; but you don't ṭhāvē (know) the (path) by-which by-the-very-anga (body) one becomes Brahma. Varṇāśrama-takes-you-to-uttama-lōka-not-to-Brahma.

  2. पंडित — śabda-pāṇḍitya — tāna-māna-bandha — hāva-bhāva-gīta-chanda. Paṇḍita-but-only-śabda-claim. If you have-become a paṇḍita — you do śabda-pāṇḍitya (verbal-erudition); you sing tāna-māna-bandha (tāna-mode-bondage), hāva-bhāva-gīta-chanda (mood-and-rhythm). Paṇḍita-only-doing-śabda-and-rhythm.

  3. Svatantra — āgama-ukta pūjā-yantra. Svatantra-but-only-āgama-pūjā-claim. You would-know svatantra (independence); but only āgama-ukta pūjā-yantra (āgama-prescribed pūjā-mechanism). Svatantra-only-as-āgama-pūjā-mechanism.

  4. Sādhana — ओढी — eyes-mōḍā-mōḍī. Sādhana-pulls-eyes-twisting-claim. (With) the pulls of sādhana, the mōḍā-mōḍī (breaking-and-twisting) of the eyes (the contortions of meditation, the twisting-of-the-eyes-back). Sādhana-results-in-eye-contortions.

  5. Tuka: देहीं — संत-विदेही. Saint-vidēhī-in-body-claim. Tuka says: in the very dēha (body); santas have-become vidēhī (bodiless, beyond-body). Saint-vidēhī-in-the-very-body. (This is the resolution: the saint, while in-the-body, has become vidēhī — beyond the body, free of the body's-bondage. This is jīvan-mukti in bhakti-vocabulary.)

[T]

For someone today

This abhang names the anti-formalist-Brahma-realization register:

  1. Varṇāśrama-cōkha takes you to uttama-lōka, not Brahma. Varṇāśrama-uttama-not-Brahma.

  2. Paṇḍita does only śabda-pāṇḍitya, tāna-māna-bandha. Paṇḍita-only-śabda.

  3. Svatantra only as āgama-prescribed pūjā-yantra. Svatantra-only-as-āgama.

  4. Sādhana causes eye-contortions. Sādhana-eye-twist.

  5. Saints have become vidēhī in the very body. Vidēhī-in-body.

For today: every formal-mode (varṇāśrama, paṇḍita-vidyā, āgama-pūjā, sādhana-yoga) takes-you-somewhere — but not to angēm-ci Brahma; the saint, in the very dēha, becomes vidēhī — that's the difference.

This abhang is Tukaram's anti-formalist-Brahma-realization-and-vidēhī-in-the-body register — one of the most-comprehensive critiques of formalism in the corpus. Compare 0725 bhōḷī-sēvā-vs-formal-religion-fragile (Tuka's mudra); same anti-formal but here organized as a sequence of what-each-mode-takes-you-to and the saint-vidēhī-in-body resolution. The santa jāhālē vidēhī dēhīm (santas have become vidēhī in the body) is the precise Tukaram-jīvan-mukti formulation.

मराठी: ही ओवी anti-formalist-Brahma-realization register नाव सांगते:

  1. Varṇāśrama-cōkha → uttama-loka, Brahma-नाहीं. Varṇāśrama-uttama-not-Brahma.

  2. Paṇḍita → फक्त-śabda-pāṇḍitya. Paṇḍita-only-śabda.

  3. Svatantra → फक्त-āgama-pūjā-yantra. Svatantra-only-as-āgama.

  4. Sādhana → ḍōḷiyāncī mōḍā-mōḍī. Sādhana-eye-twist.

  5. संत — देहीं-च-vidēhī. Vidēhī-in-body.

आज: प्रत्येक-formal-mode (varṇāśrama, paṇḍita-vidyā, āgama-pūjā, sādhana-yoga) कुठेतरी-नेतो — पण angēm-ci Brahma-नेत-नाही; Saint, very-dēha-त, vidēhī होतो — हें-च difference.

Tukaram च-anti-formalist-Brahma-realization-and-vidēhī-in-the-body-register — Most-comprehensive critiques of formalism corpus-त पैकी एक. 0725 bhōḷī-sēvā-vs-formal-religion-fragile (Tuka mudra) compare; तीच anti-formal पण इथे sequence-of-what-each-mode-takes-you-to आणि saint-vidēhī-in-body resolution च्या मार्गाने. Santa jāhālē vidēhī dēhīm precise Tukaram-jīvan-mukti formulation.

Where this applies

Sant-sang / Sant-pūjā Name Bhakti

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