Abhanga 987

A truly awakened person is paradoxically both smaller than the smallest and vast as the sky, has let go of body and illusion, and remains in the world only to help others.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A smaller-than-the-smallest-atom-yet-as-vast-as-ākāśa-swallowed-and-tossed-the-corpse-body-and-bhava-bhrama-tripuṭī-tossed-dīpa-lit-in-the-ghaṭa-I-remain-only-for-upakāra abhang. Ākāśā-ēvaḍhā-jīvanmukta register. Three claims:

1. अणु-रणीयां-थोकडा — आकाश-एवढा. Smaller-than-atom-yet-vast-as-ākāśa-claim. Tuka is aṇu-raṇīyām thōkaḍā and ākāśā-ēvaḍhā (both at-once).Paradoxical-self-description: smallest-and-largest at-the-same-time. (Echo of Bhagavad-Gītā'saṇōr-aṇīyāmsam — the bhakta-attained-Brahman.)

2. गिळुनि-सांडिलें-कळिवर — भव-भ्रम-आकार — त्रिपुटी-सांडिली — दीप-घटीं-उजळला. Tripuṭī-tossed-dīpa-lit-claim. Swallowed and tossed-aside thekaḷivara; theākāraofbhava-bhrama; thetripuṭi(knower-knowing-known) wassāṇḍilī; thedīpalit-up in theghaṭa. Body-and-tripuṭi-gone; inner-light-on.

3. Tuka: आतां-उरलों-उपकारा-पुरता. Remain-only-for-upakāra-claim. Tuka says: now — I remainuralōmonlyupakārā-puratā (enough-for-others'-uplift).I-stay-now-only-to-help-others. (Closing-sannyāsa-bodhisattva-like claim: the bhakta-now-acts only for upakāra of others.)

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For someone today

This abhang names the ākāśā-ēvaḍhā-jīvanmukta register:

1. Smaller than the smallest atom; yet as-vast-as-ākāśa. Paradox.

2. Swallowed and tossed the corpse-body and bhava-bhrama. Tripuṭī-tossed.

3. Dīpa lit in the ghaṭa. Inner-light.

4. Now I remain only for upakāra. For-others.

For today: aṇu-raṇīyām thōkaḍā, Tuka ākāśā-ēvaḍhā; kaḷivara giḷuni sāṇḍilē, bhava-bhrama ākāra; tripuṭi sāṇḍilī, dīpa ujaḷalā ghaṭīm; now —uralōm upakārā-puratā.

This abhang is Tukaram'sākāśā-ēvaḍhā-jīvanmuktaregister — one of the most-iconic jīvanmukta-statements in the Gatha. Compare 0885kṣara-bhāgī-jagī-vyāpaka(Tuka's mudra); same jīvanmukti but here organized asaṇu-and-ākāśa-paradox.The uralōm upakārā-puratā (I remain only for upakāra) is the precise bodhisattva-claim.

मराठी: ही ओवी ākāśā-ēvaḍhā-jīvanmukta register नाव सांगते:

1. अणु-आकाश. Paradox.

2. त्रिपुटी-सांडिली. Tripuṭī-tossed.

3. दीप-घटीं. Inner-light.

4. उपकारा-पुरता. For-others.

आज: Aṇu-raṇīyām thōkaḍā, Tuka ākāśā-ēvaḍhā; kaḷivara giḷuni sāṇḍilē, bhava-bhrama-ākāra; Tripuṭi sāṇḍilī, dīpa ujaḷalā ghaṭīm; Uralōm upakārā-puratā.

Tukaram च-ākāśā-ēvaḍhā-jīvanmukta-register — Most-iconic jīvanmukta-statements in the Gatha पैकी एक. 0885 (Tuka mudra) compare; तीच jīvanmukti पण इथेaṇu-and-ākāśa-paradoxच्या मार्गाने. Uralōm upakārā-puratā precise bodhisattva-claim.

Where this applies

• Paradox. Smallest-and-largest.
• Tripuṭī-tossed. No-knower-no-known.
• Inner-light. Dīpa-in-ghaṭa.
• For-others. Upakāra-only.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2448 — The easiest path to God is repeating divine names with love at home, right where you are,
• Abhanga 2467 — What looks like your whole world, like a fig to the insect living inside it, is only a tin
• Abhanga 2494 — Living in devotion turns an ordinary day into a festival and removes the fear of birth and
• Abhanga 4481 — Tukaram promises that sincerely calling on the Lord's name, knowingly or unknowingly, with