Abhanga 1216
Grace can lift you out of illusion so you finally see it clearly, and even hear your own changed voice, from the outside.
The verse
माया मोहोजाळीं होतों सांपडलों । परि या विठ्ठला कृपा आली ॥१॥ काढूनि बाहेरि ठेविलों निराळा । कवतुक डोळां दाखविलें ॥ध्रु.॥ नाचे उडे माया करी कवतुक । नासिवंत सुखें साच केलीं ॥२॥ रडे फुंदे दुःखें कुटितील माथा । एकासी रडतां तें ही मरे ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे मज वाटतें नवल । मी माझे बोल ऐकोनियां ॥४॥
Literal translation
I was caught in the māyā-mōha-net — but to this (very) Viṭṭhala, kṛpā came. He pulled me out, set me apart — showed the kavataka to the eye. Māyā dances, leaps, plays kavataka — making destructible sukhas appear true. People cry, sob, beat their heads with sorrow — yet the one weeping itself dies. Tuka says: it amazes me — listening to my own (now-changed) speech.
मराठी: माया-मोह-जाळींत मी सांपडलों होतों — पण ह्या विठ्ठलानें कृपा केली. काढून बाहेर ठेवलें — निराळें — आणि (माया-कवतुक) डोळ्यांना दाखवलें. माया नाचते, उडते, कवतुक करते — नाशिवंत सुखांना सत्य भासविते. (लोक) रडतात, फुंदतात, दुःखानें माथा कुटतात — पण ज्याच्यासाठी रडतात तोहि मरून जातो. Tukā म्हणे — मला नवल वाटतें — माझे-च बोल ऐकून.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| माया मोहोजाळीं होतों सांपडलों | "I was caught (sāmpaḍalōm) in the māyā-mōha-net" |
| परि या विठ्ठला कृपा आली | "but to this Viṭṭhala, kṛpā came" |
| काढूनि बाहेरि ठेविलों निराळा | "(he) pulled me out, set me apart (nirāḷā)" |
| कवतुक डोळां दाखविलें | "showed the kavataka (spectacle) to the eye" |
| नाचे उडे माया करी कवतुक | "māyā dances, leaps, plays kavataka" |
| नासिवंत सुखें साच केलीं | "made destructible (nāśivanta) sukhas appear true (sāca)" |
| रडे फुंदे दुःखें कुटितील माथा | "(people) cry, sob, beat their head with sorrow" |
| एकासी रडतां तें ही मरे | "(yet) the very one weeping — that one too dies" |
| मज वाटतें नवल | "I find it amazing (navala)" |
| मी माझे बोल ऐकोनियां | "listening to my own (changed) speech (bōla)" |
What it means
The vantage-point shift abhang. The bhakta is no longer inside the māyā-net but lifted out, set nirāḷā (apart, separate), and shown the kavataka — the spectacle — to the eye. From outside, māyā looks like what it is: a dancer, a leaper, a kavataka-performer who makes nāśivanta (destructible) sukhas look sāca (true).
The third verse is among Tuka's bleakest observations of samsāra: people cry, sob, beat their heads over deaths and losses — and yet the very one being wept for is dead; eventually the weeper too. The whole drama is kavataka — including the grief.
The closing — mī mājhē bōla aikōniyām vāṭatē navala — "I am amazed listening to my own words" — is one of Tuka's most personal moments. The bhakta who once spoke from inside the māyā now speaks from outside; even his own former voice surprises him. This is the moment of vivēka-grasping: realizing your own utterances now come from a place that wasn't yours before.
[T]
For someone today
For today: Hari can pull you out of the māyā-net and set you apart so you watch the spectacle from outside — even your own changed speech then surprises you.
Where this applies
- When you feel tangled in worry, ambition, or attachment and cannot see clearly what is actually happening.
- When something you are chasing looks permanent and important but is actually going to pass away.
- When you are grieving so hard that you lose sight of how universal loss actually is.
- When you notice your own thinking or speech has quietly changed and it surprises even you.