Abhanga 1213
Burn away the pride of thinking you already know; a teaching only helps once it is truly lived, not merely displayed.
The verse
जाळा तुम्ही माझें जाणतें मीपण । येणें माझा खुण मांडियेला ॥१॥ खादलें पचे तरि च तें हित । ओकलिया थीत पिंड पीडी ॥ध्रु.॥ तरि भलें भोगे जोडिलें तें धन । पडिलिया खानें जीवनासी ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे मज तारीं गा विठ्ठला । नेणतां चि भला दास तुझा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Burn, you, my knowing-mī-paṇa — by that my mark is established. What is eaten is beneficial only if it digests; if vomited, the unwhole pains the body. Wealth is good only when properly experienced (digested); else it becomes waste-falling-into-the-mine-of-life. Tuka says: save me, O Viṭṭhala — your dāsa is better as the unknowing one.
मराठी: तुम्हीं माझें जाणतें मीपण जाळा — येणें-च माझी खूण (ओळख) मांडली जाते. खादलेलें पचलें तर-च तें हित — ओकलें तर अर्धवट देहास पीडा देतें. भोगानें जोडलेलें धन तें भलें — नाहींतर तें जीवन-खाणींत (पाताळांत) पडे. Tukā म्हणे — तारीं गा विठ्ठला — तुझा दास नेणताच भला.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| जाळा तुम्ही माझें जाणतें मीपण | "burn (jāḷā), you, my knowing-mī-paṇa (I-am-self)" |
| येणें माझा खुण मांडियेला | "by that my khuṇa (mark/sign) is established" |
| खादलें पचे तरि च तें हित | "eaten — only if it digests (pacē) is it hita (beneficial)" |
| ओकलिया थीत पिंड पीडी | "if vomited (ōkaliyā), the unwhole (thīta) pains the piṇḍa (body)" |
| भलें भोगे जोडिलें तें धन | "wealth (dhana) gathered through proper bhoga is good" |
| पडिलिया खानें जीवनासी | "(or it becomes) falling into the khāna (mine/source) of jīvana (life — i.e. waste)" |
| तारीं गा विठ्ठला | "save me, O Viṭṭhala" |
| नेणतां चि भला दास तुझा | "your dāsa is better (bhalā) just as nēṇatā (unknowing)" |
What it means
Burn-the-knowing-self prayer with eat-don't-vomit image. The I-am-knowing-self (jāṇatē mī-paṇa) is the worst aham — the I know better, I have understood, I am awakened posture. Burn it, Tuka prays — by that very burning (yēṇē) the bhakta's khuṇa (real mark, true identity) is established.
The eat-don't-vomit image: real bhakti is digested — eaten and made part of the body. Half-grasped knowledge vomited up (the half-baked teacher's posture) is thīta (incomplete) and pains the piṇḍa (the body itself, the structure). The wealth-image follows: bhōgē jōḍilēm dhana (wealth gathered through proper experience) is good; otherwise it falls into the mine-of-life (a waste-pit).
The closing prayer is humble in the strong sense: nēṇatām chi bhalā dāsa tujhā — I am better as your dāsa precisely when I do not know. The unknowing dāsa serves; the knowing one performs.
[T]
For someone today
Burn away this knowing self of mine — the part of me that thinks it has already understood — for it's only in that burning that my true mark as your devotee is made. Food only nourishes once it's fully digested; if it's vomited back up half-processed, it only pains the body. Wealth, too, only does good once it's honestly earned through real living; otherwise it's wasted, sunk into nothing. Tuka says: save me, O Vitthala — your servant is better off not knowing than pretending to know.
मराठी: माझे हे जाणतेपणाचे मीपण जाळून टाक — जे 'मला आधीच समजले आहे' असे वाटणारे मीपण आहे — कारण त्याच जळण्यातूनच माझी खरी ओळख, तुझा दास म्हणून, सिद्ध होते. अन्न पचले तरच त्याचा फायदा होतो; ते अर्धवट ओकून टाकले तर शरीरालाच त्रास होतो. त्याचप्रमाणे धनही खऱ्या अनुभवातून, प्रामाणिकपणे मिळवले तरच चांगले, नाहीतर ते वाया जाऊन शून्यात विरून जाते. तुका म्हणतात, हे विठ्ठला, मला तार — तुझा दास जाणतेपणाचा आव न आणता, नेणताच राहिला तर तो अधिक चांगला.
Where this applies
- When you notice yourself speaking as though you have fully understood a spiritual truth you have barely lived.
- When you repeat teachings you have only half absorbed, and it shows in how little they have actually changed you.
- When you feel the pull to display wisdom rather than quietly practice it.
- When you compare yourself to others who seem more spiritually advanced and want to appear knowing too.