Abhanga 841
Some joy is too full for words, so let it show through quiet service and complete humility instead of trying to talk about it.
The verse
सांगतां हें नये सुख । कीर्ती मुख न पुरे ॥१॥ आवडीनें सेवन करू । जीवींचें धरूं जीवीं च ॥ध्रु.॥ उपमा या देतां लाभा । काशा शोभा सारिखी ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे नुचलीं डोई । ठेविली पायीं संतांचे ॥३॥
Literal translation
Telling — this — doesn't-come — sukha. Kīrti — mukha — not — purē. With-āvaḍī — sēvana — let-us-do. Jīvīcē — let-us-hold — jīvī. Upamā — to-this — lābha. Kāśā — śōbhā — sārikhī. Tuka says: won't-lift — ḍōī — placed — pāyī — santa.
मराठी: सांगतां, हें सुख नये (समजत नाही) — कीर्तीला मुख पुरत नाहीं. आवडीनें सेवन करूं — जीवींचें जीवीं च धरूं. ह्या लाभा-ला उपमा देतांना — काशा (बनारस / कांती) सारिखी कोणती शोभा?. Tuka म्हणे: डोई नुचलीं — संतांच्या पायीं ठेविली.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| सांगतां हें नये सुख | "telling — this — doesn't-come — sukha" |
| कीर्ती मुख न पुरे | "kīrti — mukha — not — purē" |
| आवडीनें सेवन करू | "with-āvaḍī — sēvana — let-us-do" |
| जीवींचें धरूं जीवीं च | "jīvīcē — let-us-hold — jīvī" |
| उपमा या देतां लाभा | "upamā — to-this — lābha" |
| काशा शोभा सारिखी | "kāśā — śōbhā — sārikhī" |
| नुचलीं डोई | "won't-lift — ḍōī" |
| ठेविली पायीं संतांचे | "placed — pāyī — santa" |
What it means
A can't-be-told-mouth-not-enough-with-longing-serve-hold-jīva-in-jīva-no-upamā-comparable-head-won't-lift-placed-at-saints'-feet abhang. Head-at-saints'-feet register. Three claims:
-
सांगतां-नये-सुख — कीर्ती-मुख-न-पुरे — आवडीनें-सेवन — जीवींचें-जीवीं. Can't-be-told-and-with-longing-serve-claim. When (one) tells (it), thissukhadoesn'tyē (come — i.e., doesn't get-conveyed);for kīrti (praise, the singing-of-the-glory), the mukha is not purē (enough — the mouth-can't-suffice);with āvaḍī let-us sēvana karūm (do the serving);the jīvīcē (jīva-thing) — let-us hold (it) in the jīva itself.Mouth-can't-tell; with-longing-serve; hold-the-jīva-thing-in-the-jīva. (Thejīvīcē jīvīm ci dharūmimage: the inner-content can't-be-spoken-out; it must-be-held in thejīva itself.)
-
उपमा-दणं — काशा-शोभा-सारिखी. No-upamā-comparable-claim. When giving anupamā to this lābha (gain);what śōbhā (beauty) is sārikhī (comparable) to kāśā (Banares / kāśā as adjective: effulgent / radiant)?—no comparison.No-upamā-comparable-to-this-lābha. (Theupamāofkāśā-śōbhā— the radiance-of-Banares / the kāśā-radiance — is the highest-comparison in the Marathi-poet's vocabulary; even-this is hardly-comparable to thelābhaofsanta-bhēṭi.)
-
Tuka: डोई-नुचलीं — संतांच्या-पायीं-ठेविली. Head-at-saints'-feet-claim. Tuka says: theḍōī (head) won't-lift — (it) has been placed at thepāyī of the santas.Head-placed-at-saints'-feet. (Closing-image of complete-prostration: the head isplacedat the saints' feet andwon't lift— won't get-up. The head-and-feet-touch is canonical-bhakti-respect; the head won't-lift-up means the bhakta isfully prostrated, won't rise.)
[T]
For someone today
This abhang names the pattern of bowing the head at the saints' feet:
-
This joy cannot be conveyed in words; the mouth is not enough to sing its praise. It cannot be put into words.
-
Let us serve with longing, and hold what is within the heart inside the heart itself. Holding it within.
-
No comparison can match it; the head will not rise, having been placed at the saints' feet. The head bowed at their feet.
For today: the joy of meeting the saints cannot be conveyed by telling it; the mouth is not enough to sing its praise; let us serve with longing, and hold what is within the heart inside the heart itself; no comparison, however grand, can match this gain; the head will not rise again, having been placed at the saints' feet.
This abhang is one of Tukaram's most tender statements about the fruit of meeting the saints. Compare 0840, where the same celebration of meeting the saints appears in the image of a fortunate journey whose toil has finally come to fruit — but here it is worked out through the idea that it cannot be put into words and through the image of the head bowed at the saints' feet. "The head will not rise, having been placed at the saints' feet" is the precise image of complete surrender.
मराठी: ही ओवी संतांच्या चरणी मस्तक ठेवण्याचा नमुना सांगते:
-
हा आनंद शब्दांत सांगता येत नाही; त्याची कीर्ती गाण्यास मुखही पुरत नाही. शब्दांत मांडता येत नाही.
-
आवडीने सेवा करूया, आणि अंतरीचे जे आहे ते अंतरीच धरून ठेवूया. ते आत धरून ठेवणे.
-
या लाभाला कोणतीच उपमा साजेशी नाही; मस्तक पुन्हा उचलणार नाही, संतांच्या चरणी ठेवले आहे. त्यांच्या चरणी मस्तक ठेवणे.
आजसाठी: संतभेटीचा हा आनंद सांगून व्यक्त होत नाही; त्याची कीर्ती गाण्यास मुखही पुरत नाही; आवडीने सेवा करावी, आणि अंतरीचे जे आहे ते अंतरीच धरून ठेवावे; या लाभाला कोणतीही उपमा, कितीही मोठी असली तरी, साजेशी नाही; मस्तक पुन्हा उचलणार नाही, संतांच्या चरणी ठेवले गेले आहे.
ही ओवी संतभेटीच्या फळाबद्दलच्या तुकारामांच्या सर्वात हळुवार विधानांपैकी एक आहे. ओवी क्र. ०८४० शी तुलना करता येईल — तिथेही हाच संतभेटीचा उत्सव आहे, एका भाग्यवान प्रवासाच्या श्रमाला अखेर फळ आले आहे या प्रतिमेतून — पण इथे तो शब्दांत न मावणे आणि संतांच्या चरणी मस्तक ठेवणे यांतून मांडला आहे. "मस्तक पुन्हा उचलणार नाही, संतांच्या चरणी ठेवले आहे" ही संपूर्ण शरणागतीची नेमकी प्रतिमा आहे.
Where this applies
- When you try to explain a deep spiritual or emotional experience to someone and the words just fall flat
- When you choose quiet devotion or service over talking about how devoted you are
- When you catch yourself trying to compare a profound moment to something else and nothing quite fits
- When you feel complete humility in front of someone who has genuinely guided or helped you