Abhanga 1216
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.
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
English: 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
- Pulled-out-set-apart.* Kāḍhūni-bāhērī-nirāḷā.
- Māyā-as-kavataka.* Nācē-uḍē-māyā-kavataka.
- Destructible-sukhas-look-true.* Nāśivanta-sukhē-sāca.
- Amazed-by-own-speech.* Mī-mājhē-bōla-aikōniyām-navala.