संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 996 of 4582

Abhanga 996

English: Dhanya — samsāra — dayāvanta — antara.

When blessed in samsāra are the dayāvanta of heart — and you have to recognize this register
When here for upakāra they came to a house — whose home is in Vaikuṇṭha — and you accept this image
When no false speech, not indifferent in body — and you allow this image

The verse

धन्य ते संसारीं । दयावंत जे अंतरीं ॥१॥ येथें उपकारासाठीं । आले घर ज्यां वैकुंठीं ॥ध्रु.॥ लटिकें वचन । नाहीं देहीं उदासीन ॥२॥ मधुरा वाणी ओटीं । तुका म्हणे वाव पोटीं ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: Dhanya — samsāra — dayāvanta — antara. Here — upakāra — came — ghara — Vaikuṇṭha. Laṭikēm vacana — none — dēha — udāsīna. Madhurā vāṇī — ōṭha — Tuka says: vāva — pōṭa.

मराठी: धन्य ते — संसारीं — अंतरीं दयावंत. येथें — उपकारा-साठीं — आले घर — ज्यांचें वैकुंठीं. लटिकें वचन नाहीं — देहीं उदासीन नाहीं. Tuka म्हणे: मधुरा वाणी ओटीं — वाव पोटीं.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
धन्य ते संसारीं "dhanya — samsāra"
दयावंत जे अंतरीं "dayāvanta — antara"
येथें उपकारासाठीं "here — upakāra"
आले घर ज्यां वैकुंठीं "came — ghara — Vaikuṇṭha"
लटिकें वचन "laṭikēm vacana"
नाहीं देहीं उदासीन "dēha — udāsīna"
मधुरा वाणी ओटीं "madhurā vāṇī — ōṭha"
वाव पोटीं "vāva — pōṭa"

What it means

A blessed-in-samsāra-dayāvanta-of-heart-here-for-upakāra-came-to-house-from-Vaikuṇṭha-no-false-speech-not-indifferent-in-body-sweet-speech-on-lips-empty-belly abhang. Sweet-speech-empty-belly register. Four claims about the dayāvanta-saint:

  1. धन्य-संसारीं — दयावंत-अंतरीं. Blessed-in-samsāra-dayāvanta-of-heart-claim. Blessed are those in samsāra; who are dayāvanta (compassionate, full-of-dayā) in the antara (interior)*.

  2. उपकारा-साठीं — Vaikuṇṭha-घर. Here-for-upakāra-came-to-house-from-Vaikuṇṭha-claim. Here, for-the-sake-of upakāra (helping-others, doing-good), they have come to a ghara (house); those whose (real) ghara is in Vaikuṇṭha. (The saint takes birth in samsāra not for themselves but for upakāra; their real home is in Vaikuṇṭha.)

  3. लटिकें-वचन-नाहीं — देहीं-उदासीन-नाहीं. No-false-speech-not-indifferent-in-body-claim. No laṭikēm (false, deceptive) vacana; not udāsīna (indifferent, detached-in-the-bad-sense — meaning not-engaged-with-others) in the *dēha. (Two negations: not deceitful in word, not callous in body.)

  4. Tuka: मधुर-वाणी-ओठ — वाव-पोट. Sweet-speech-on-lips-empty-belly-claim. Sweet vāṇī on the *ōṭha (lips); Tuka says: vāva (empty, void — of-malice, with-no-hidden-bitterness) in the pōṭa (belly). (The classic consistency-in-and-out claim: what is sweet on the lips matches an empty-of-malice belly — there is no double-speak, no bitterness inside while sweetness outside.)

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For someone today

This abhang names the sweet-speech-empty-belly register:

  1. Blessed in samsāra are the dayāvanta of heart. Dayāvanta-blessed.

  2. Here for upakāra came to a house — whose home is in Vaikuṇṭha. Came-from-Vaikuṇṭha.

  3. No false speech; not indifferent in body. No-deceit-no-callousness.

  4. Sweet speech on the lips; empty (no malice) in the belly. Consistency-in-and-out.

For today: dhanya in samsāra — dayāvanta in antara; upakārā-sāṭhīm came — Vaikuṇṭha-ghara; no laṭikēm vacana, no udāsīna in *dēha; madhurā vāṇī on ōṭha, vāva in pōṭa*.

This abhang is Tukaram's sweet-speech-empty-belly register — one of the most-precise consistency-in-and-out-of-the-saint statements. The saint does not just appear sweet — the pōṭa (belly = inner self) is empty of malice; the lips' sweetness is genuine. Compare 0996-style other-saint-portrait abhangs (Tuka's mudra); same saint-praise but here organized as blessed-dayāvanta-Vaikuṇṭha-home-upakāra-came-no-deceit-sweet-lips-empty-belly. The madhurā vāṇī ōṭīm vāva pōṭī (sweet speech on lips, empty in belly) is the precise consistency claim*.

मराठी: ही ओवी sweet-speech-empty-belly register नाव सांगते:

  1. संसार-धन्य; दयावंत-अंतर. Dayāvanta-blessed.

  2. उपकार-Vaikuṇṭha-घर. Came-from-Vaikuṇṭha.

  3. लटिकें-वचन-नाहीं; उदासीन-नाहीं. No-deceit-no-callousness.

  4. मधुर-वाणी-ओठ; वाव-पोट. Consistency-in-and-out.

आज: Samsārī dhanya — antarī dayāvanta; Upakārā-sāṭhīm — Vaikuṇṭha-ghara; Laṭikēm vacana नाहीं — udāsīna नाहीं देहीं; Madhurā vāṇī ओठीं — vāva पोटीं.

Tukaram च-sweet-speech-empty-belly-register — Most-precise consistency-in-and-out-of-the-saint statements पैकी एक. Madhurā vāṇī ōṭīm vāva pōṭī precise consistency claim.

Where this applies

Bhakti

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