Abhanga 1001
True creative or spiritual power is not personal cleverness, it flows through a person who serves as an instrument, and claiming full credit as the author distorts what is really happening.
The verse
करितों कवित्व म्हणाल हें कोणी । नव्हे माझी वाणी पदरींची ॥१॥ माझिये युक्तीचा नव्हे हा प्रकार । मज विश्वंभर बोलवितो ॥ध्रु.॥ काय मी पामर जाणे अर्थभेद । वदवी गोविंद तें चि वदें ॥२॥ निमित्त मापासी बैसविलों आहें । मी तों कांहीं नव्हे स्वामिसत्ता ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे आहें पाईक चि खरा । वागवितों मुद्रा नामाची हे ॥४॥
Literal translation
Kavitva — say — someone — not — vāṇī — padara. Yukti — prakāra — Viśvambhara — makes-speak. Pāmara — artha-bhēda — Gōvinda — speaks — that-itself speak. Nimitta — māpa — set — I — nothing — svāmi-sattā. Tuka says: pāīka-ci kharā — vāgavitōm — mudrā — nāma.
मराठी: कवित्व करितों — कोणी म्हणाल हें — नव्हे माझी वाणी पदरींची. माझिये युक्तीचा हा प्रकार नव्हे — मज Viśvambhara बोलवितो. मी पामर — अर्थ-भेद काय जाणे? — Gōvinda वदवी, तें-च वदें. निमित्त मापासि बैसविलों आहें — मी कांहीं नव्हे — स्वामि-सत्ता. Tuka म्हणे: पाईक-च खरा आहें — नामाची मुद्रा वागवितों.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| करितों कवित्व म्हणाल हें कोणी | "kavitva — say — someone" |
| नव्हे माझी वाणी पदरींची | "not — vāṇī — padara" |
| माझिये युक्तीचा नव्हे हा प्रकार | "yukti — prakāra" |
| मज विश्वंभर बोलवितो | "Viśvambhara — makes-speak" |
| काय मी पामर जाणे अर्थभेद | "pāmara — artha-bhēda" |
| वदवी गोविंद तें चि वदें | "Gōvinda — vadavī — that-itself speak" |
| निमित्त मापासी बैसविलों आहें | "nimitta — māpa — set" |
| मी तों कांहीं नव्हे स्वामिसत्ता | "I — nothing — svāmi-sattā" |
| आहें पाईक चि खरा | "pāīka-ci — kharā" |
| वागवितों मुद्रा नामाची हे | "vāgavitōm — mudrā — nāma" |
What it means
A someone-may-say-I'm-doing-poetry-but-speech-not-of-my-own-storehouse-not-of-my-own-skill-Viśvambhara-makes-me-speak-what-would-pāmara-me-know-of-meaning-Govinda-speaks-I-speak-instrument-on-the-measure-I-am-nothing-master's-authority-truly-a-servant-carrying-the-mudrā-of-nāma abhang. Servant-carrying-the-mudrā-of-nāma register. Tukaram's foundational authorship-theology — the most-cited statement of his self-understanding as a poet. Five claims:
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कवित्व-म्हणाल — वाणी-पदरी-ची-नव्हे. Speech-not-of-my-own-storehouse-claim. Someone may say, 'I am doingkavitva (poetry)';(but) my vāṇī is not of (my own) padara (the fold of one's garment, used metaphorically for one's own storehouse / what is one's own). (Tuka denies authorship.)
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युक्तीचा-प्रकार-नव्हे — Viśvambhara-बोलवितो. Viśvambhara-makes-me-speak-claim. This is not of my (own)yukti (cleverness) — its prakāra (kind, manner);Viśvambhara (the All-Sustainer) makes me speak.
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पामर-अर्थ-भेद-काय-जाणे — Gōvinda-वदवी-तेंच-वदें. Govinda-speaks-I-just-speak-claim. What would I, apāmara (lowly, wretched one), know of artha-bhēda (distinctions of meaning)?;Gōvindamakes (me) speak —that-itselfI speak. (Pure passive-instrument-claim.)
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निमित्त-माप-बैसविलों — मी-नव्हे — स्वामि-सत्ता. Instrument-on-the-measure-master's-authority-claim. I am set as animitta (instrument, occasion-cause) on the māpa (the measure-stand — the platform of measuring);I am nothing—(it is) the svāmi-sattā (the master's authority, the lord's power).
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Tuka: पाईक-खरा — मुद्रा-नामाची-वागवितों. Servant-carrying-the-mudrā-of-nāma-claim. Tuka says: I am truly apāīka (servant, foot-soldier);I carry the mudrā (mark, seal, royal-stamp) of nāma (the Name). (The classic Tuka-mudra:pāīka of Pāṇḍuranga, carrying the seal of the Name.)
[T]
For someone today
Tukaram says that when people hear him composing these verses, they should not think the words are his own. He insists it is not his own cleverness at work, it is Viśvambhar, the All-Sustainer, who makes him speak. He calls himself a lowly, ordinary man who could never grasp such subtle meanings alone, it is Govinda speaking, and he merely voices it. He is only an instrument set at the point where the measuring happens, he has no authority of his own, the authority belongs entirely to the master. In the end he names himself simply a servant who carries the seal of the divine Name. This is a lesson about creative or spiritual gifts not being personal property, they pass through a person who serves rather than owns them.
मराठी: तुकाराम महाराज सांगतात की या ओव्या ऐकून कोणी म्हणेल की मी कवित्व करतो आहे, पण ही वाणी माझ्या स्वतःच्या पदरची नाही. ही माझी स्वतःची युक्ती नाही, तर विश्वंभरच मला बोलवतो. मी पामर, अर्थभेद जाणण्याइतका शहाणा नाही, गोविंदच बोलवतो आणि मी केवळ तेच बोलतो. मी फक्त एका निमित्तासारखा, मापाच्या जागी बसवलेला आहे, माझी स्वतःची काही सत्ता नाही, सारी सत्ता स्वामीचीच आहे. शेवटी तुकाराम स्वतःला केवळ एक खरा सेवक म्हणतात, जो नामाची मुद्रा वागवतो. एखादी सर्जनशील किंवा आध्यात्मिक देणगी ही स्वतःची मालमत्ता नसते, ती एका सेवकातून वाहत जाते, हेच या ओवीचे सार आहे.
Where this applies
- When you create something, a piece of writing, art, or work, and feel unsure whether to take personal credit for it
- When you feel too ordinary or unqualified, yet find yourself doing something that feels larger than your own skill
- When your ego wants to claim full ownership of a talent or insight that seems to have come from somewhere beyond you
- When you want a model for staying humble about your achievements, seeing yourself as a servant carrying something, not as the source of it