Abhanga 991

Keep a loving distinction between yourself and the divine rather than dissolving into oneness, because joy comes from two things meeting, and this bond is never truly broken.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A cursed-buddhi-puts-me-into-You-rules-are-good-svāmī-and-sēvaka-make-delightful-don't-cancel-water-doesn't-drink-water-tree-doesn't-eat-fruit-bhōktā-separate-makes-rasa-diamond-in-kondaṇa-gold-in-alankāra-one-alone-no-duja-mother-and-baby-shadow-and-heat-when-one-meets-one-sukha-not-now-mukta-this-is-confidence abhang. Svāmī-and-sēvaka-relationship-claim register. Five claims:

1. जळो-बुद्धी — तुज-मधीं — विधि-निषेध-चांगली. Don't-merge-me-claim. Cursed-be suchbuddhithat puts metuja-madhīm; vidhi-niṣēdha are good in-themselves.Don't-conflate-me-with-You-the-rules-themselves-are-good.

2. स्वामी-सेवक — उंच-निंच — कौतुक-खंडणा-नकाहीं. Svāmī-sēvaka-keep-distinction-claim. You svāmī, I sēvaka; umca-nīñca; make thiskautukadelightful; don'tkhaṇḍaṇā.

3. जळ-जळ-नकाहीं — वृक्ष-फळ-नकाहीं — भोक्ता-निराळा. Bhōktā-separate-makes-rasa-claim. Water-doesn't-drink-water; tree-doesn't-eat-its-fruit; bhōktā is nirāḷā; gōḍī is by-this-distinction.

4. हिरा-कोंदण; सोनें-अळंकार — एक-दुजे-काय. One-alone-no-duja-claim. Hīrā shines in kondaṇa; sōnē in aḷankārī; being one-alone, whatduja?

5. उष्ण-छाया; बाळ-माता; एका-एक-भेटे. One-meets-one-sukha-claim. Uṣṇa makes chāyā feel sukha; bāḷa makes mātē's pānhā flow;when eka meets eka, what sukha!

6. Tuka: हित — मन-भरवसा — मुक्त-नव्हे. Not-mukta-separated-claim. Tuka says: this ishita; mycittaaccepts; I'm not nowmukta (separated, kept-aside);this bharavasā has come.Confidence-of-non-separation. (Themuktahere =separated, notliberated; Tuka claimsI'm not now kept-apart from You.)

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For someone today

Tukaram prays that his own urge to merge completely into God be cursed away, because the very rules that keep him a servant and God the master are good in themselves and worth keeping. Water does not drink water and a tree does not eat its own fruit; joy exists because there is a taster set apart from the thing tasted. A diamond needs its setting and gold needs its ornament to shine, just as shadow needs heat and a mother needs her child, sweetness comes from two things meeting, not from dissolving into one. Yet even while holding onto this distinction, he ends with confidence that he has not actually been cut off or separated from the divine.

मराठी: तुकाराम इथे म्हणतात की त्यांची अशी बुद्धी नष्ट होवो जी त्यांना देवात पूर्णपणे विरघळवू पाहते, कारण स्वामी आणि सेवक हे नाते टिकवणारे नियमच मुळात चांगले आहेत. पाणी पाणी पीत नाही आणि झाड आपलेच फळ खात नाही; चव चाखणारा वेगळा असतो म्हणूनच गोडी अनुभवता येते. हिरा कोंदणात शोभतो, सोने दागिन्यात झळकते, तसेच सावलीला उन्हाची गरज असते आणि आईला बाळाची, गोडी दोन गोष्टी एकत्र येण्यातून येते, एकरूप होण्यातून नाही. तरीही हा फरक मानतानाही ते शेवटी खात्रीने सांगतात की ते देवापासून खरोखर तुटलेले नाहीत.

Where this applies

• Don't-merge. Bhakti-dualism.
• Distinction. Master-servant.
• Two-needed. Bhōktā-and-rasa.
• Setting-needed. Jewel-and-setting.
• Meeting. Sukha-by-meeting.
• Confidence. Non-separation.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2425 — Surrender every part of your life completely to what you trust most, and let go of the res
• Abhanga 2477 — Like a child too absorbed in play to notice how tired he is, let go and trust the parent c
• Abhanga 2484 — Real devotion can include anger and demand, not just sweetness, because a devotee who trul
• Abhanga 2540 — Even the smallest, most helpless creature that cries out to God in danger is sheltered and