Abhanga 824
Devotion is like a shop, fully stocked and open to everyone, honestly graded for every kind of seeker, with nothing hidden about what is offered or what it is worth.
The verse
सांटविले वाण । पैस घातला दुकान ॥१॥ जें ज्या पाहिजे जे काळीं । आहे सद्धी चि जवळी ॥ध्रु.॥ निवडिलें साचें । उत्तममध्यमकनिष्ठाचें ॥२॥ तुका बैसला दुकानीं । दावी मोला ऐसी वाणी ॥३॥
Literal translation
Vāṇa — sāmṭavilē — paisa — dukāna — set-up. What — to-whom — needs — at-which-kāḷa — saddhī — javaḷī. Nivaḍilē — sāñcē — uttama-madhyama-kaniṣṭha. Tuka says: sat — in-dukāna — shows — by-mōla — that-kind-of — vāṇī.
मराठी: वाण सांटवलं — पैस-नं दुकान घातलं. ज्याला जें-पाहिजे, ज्या-काळीं — सद्धी-च, जवळ आहे. सत्य-नं निवडलेलं — उत्तम-मध्यम-कनिष्ठ. Tuka दुकानात बसला — मोलावरून दावितो अशी वाणी.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| सांटविले वाण | "sāmṭavilē — vāṇa (goods)" |
| पैस घातला दुकान | "paisa (broadly) — set-up — dukāna" |
| जें ज्या पाहिजे जे काळीं | "what — to-whom — needs — at-which-time" |
| आहे सद्धी चि जवळी | "is — saddhī (ready) — javaḷī (close)" |
| निवडिलें साचें | "nivaḍilē — sāñcē (truly-sorted)" |
| उत्तममध्यमकनिष्ठाचें | "uttama-madhyama-kaniṣṭha (best-middle-least)" |
| तुका बैसला दुकानीं | "Tuka — sat — in-dukāna" |
| दावी मोला ऐसी वाणी | "shows — by-mōla — that-kind-of — vāṇī" |
What it means
A shop-set-up-stocked-whoever-needs-whatever-time-uttama-madhyama-kaniṣṭha-sorted-Tuka-shopkeeper-shows-by-price-vāṇī abhang. Mature-shopkeeper-Tuka register. Three claims:
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वाण-सांटविलें — पैस-दुकान-घातलें — ज्या-जें-पाहिजे-त्या-काळीं — सद्धी-जवळी. Shop-stocked-and-ready-claim. Thevāṇa(goods, merchandise) issāmṭavilē(stocked-up — gathered-and-put-on-shelves); broadly,paisa(= ample-space, breadth), thedukāna(shop) has-been-set-up; whoever needs whatever, at whateverkāḷa(time) — it'ssaddhī ci (right-here, ready) and javaḷī (close-at-hand).Shop-stocked-and-ready-for-anyone-anytime. (Image: Tuka — by-trade-a-grocer — uses his own everyday-life as the parable; bhakti is a fully-stocked-shop, ready for any customer at any time.)
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निवडिलें-साचें — उत्तम-मध्यम-कनिष्ठ. Goods-truly-sorted-claim. (They are)nivaḍilē(selected, sorted)sāñcē(truly, in-truth); theuttama-madhyama-kaniṣṭha (best, middle, least)— i.e., the goods aretruly-gradedinto all-three-classes, so any customer can be served according-to-their-requirement. Truly-sorted-into-all-classes. (The shopkeeper-of-bhakti has stocked all-grades, not just-the-elite.)
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Tuka: बैसला-दुकानीं — दावी-मोला-अशी-वाणी. Tuka-shopkeeper-shows-by-price-vāṇī-claim. Tuka hasbaisalā (sat-down) in the dukāna; (he) shows by-mōla(price) — that-kind-ofvāṇī(speech, but also:vāṇīis the goods-as-speech, the merchandise-of-speech). Sits-and-shows-the-goods-by-price-and-the-speech-itself-shows. (Two senses: (a) vāṇī = speech — Tuka's vāṇī shows-by-pricing-the-spiritual-grade; (b) vāṇī = the vāṇī-of-a-vāṇī — the merchant-class self-description.)
[T]
For someone today
This abhang names the shopkeeper-Tuka pattern:
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Goods are stocked; the shop is set up with space to spare; whatever anyone needs, at whatever time, is right here at hand. The shop is stocked and ready.
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The goods are truly sorted: best, middling, and least. Every grade is available.
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Tuka sits in the shop, showing what he offers by its price — that is the kind of merchant's speech this is. The shopkeeper and his way of speaking.
For today: the goods of devotion are stocked, the shop set up with room to spare; whatever anyone needs, at whatever time, is right here, close at hand; the goods are genuinely sorted into best, middling, and least, so every kind of customer can be served according to what they need; and Tuka sits in his shop, showing what he offers honestly by its price — that is his way of speaking.
This abhang is one of the most self-aware uses of the shopkeeper's image in the corpus, showing a mature and settled Tuka. Compare 0823, where his very words work on their own while he simply sits — the same settled, resting tone, but here it is built around the shop being stocked and everything shown honestly by its price. "Shows what he offers by its price" is the precise self-description of a grocer selling the goods of devotion.
मराठी: ही ओवी दुकानदार-तुकाचा नमुना सांगते:
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माल साठवला आहे; दुकान भरपूर जागेसह मांडले आहे; ज्याला जे हवे, ज्या वेळी हवे, ते इथे हातासरशी उपलब्ध आहे. दुकान भरलेले आणि तयार.
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माल खरोखर वर्गवारीने लावला आहे — उत्तम, मध्यम, कनिष्ठ. प्रत्येक दर्जाचा माल उपलब्ध.
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तुका दुकानात बसला आहे, आपला माल किमतीवरून दाखवत आहे — हीच त्याची वाणी. दुकानदार आणि त्याची बोलण्याची पद्धत.
आजसाठी: भक्तीचा माल साठवला आहे, दुकान भरपूर जागेसह मांडले आहे; ज्याला जे हवे, ज्या वेळी हवे, ते इथेच हातासरशी उपलब्ध आहे; माल खरोखर उत्तम-मध्यम-कनिष्ठ अशा वर्गवारीने लावलेला आहे, जेणेकरून प्रत्येक प्रकारच्या ग्राहकाला त्याच्या गरजेप्रमाणे सेवा मिळू शकेल; आणि तुका आपल्या दुकानात बसून, आपला माल प्रामाणिकपणे किमतीवरून दाखवत आहे — हीच त्याची बोलण्याची पद्धत.
ही ओवी गाथेतील दुकानदाराच्या प्रतिमेचा सर्वात आत्मभानयुक्त वापर आहे, प्रगल्भ आणि स्थिरावलेला तुका दाखवणारी. ओवी क्र. ०८२३ शी तुलना करता येईल — तिथे त्याचे शब्दच स्वतःहून काम करतात, तो नुसता बसून राहतो — तोच स्थिरावलेला, विसावलेला सूर, पण इथे तो दुकान भरलेले असणे आणि प्रामाणिकपणे किमतीवरून सर्व काही दाखवणे यांभोवती मांडला आहे. "आपला माल किमतीवरून दाखवतो" हेच भक्तीचा माल विकणाऱ्या व्यापाऱ्याचे नेमके आत्मवर्णन आहे.
Where this applies
- Shop-stocked. Inventory.
- All-grades sorted. Inclusive.
- Tuka shopkeeper. Self-image.
- Shows-by-price-vāṇī. Honest-merchant.