Abhanga 1219
Sometimes solitude, not company, is what the heart needs, and it is hope and clinging, not distance, that truly keeps you far from what you seek.
The verse
निरोधाचें मज न साहे वचन । बहु होतें मन कासावीस ॥१॥ म्हणऊनि जीवा न साहे संगति । बैसतां एकांतीं गोड वाटे ॥ध्रु.॥ देहाची भावना वासनेचा संग । नावडे उबग आला यांचा ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे देव अंतरे ज्यामुळें । आशामोहोजाळें दुःख वाढे ॥३॥
Literal translation
The words of nirōdha I cannot bear — the mind becomes very kāsāvīsa. Therefore the jīva can't bear company; sitting in ēkānta is sweet. Body's bhāvanā, vāsanā's company — distasteful, ubaga has come for them. Tuka says: whatever causes Deva to go far — the āśā-mōha-net makes duḥkha grow.
मराठी: निरोधाचें वचन मला सहन होत नाहीं — मन फार कासावीस होतें. म्हणून जीवाला संगति सहन होत नाहीं — एकांतीं बसणें गोड वाटतें. देहाची भावना, वासनेचा संग — आवडत नाहीं — यांचा उबग आला. Tukā म्हणे — ज्यामुळें देव दूर होतो — आशा-मोह-जाळानें दुःख वाढतें.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| निरोधाचें मज न साहे वचन | "the vacana of nirōdha (restraint/blockage) I cannot bear (sāhē)" |
| बहु होतें मन कासावीस | "the mind becomes very kāsāvīsa (anguished/restless)" |
| जीवा न साहे संगति | "the jīva cannot bear (any) sangati (company)" |
| बैसतां एकांतीं गोड वाटे | "sitting in ēkānta — sweet (gōḍa) it feels" |
| देहाची भावना वासनेचा संग | "body's bhāvanā, vāsanā's company" |
| नावडे उबग आला यांचा | "distasteful — ubaga (disgust/revulsion) has come for these" |
| देव अंतरे ज्यामुळें | "for whatever cause Deva goes antare (far/distant)" |
| आशामोहोजाळें दुःख वाढे | "by the āśā-mōha-net (āśā = hope, mōha = delusion), duḥkha grows" |
What it means
The bhakta's solitude-craving in confessional voice. Three things are now unbearable: 1. Nirōdhācē vacana — words about restraint, control, regulation. The bhakta who has tasted ēkānta finds prescriptions about how to do bhakti as kāsāvīsa-making. 2. Sangati — any company at all. Even satsang isn't tolerable; the jīva wants only sitting alone. 3. Dehācī bhāvanā, vāsanēcā sanga — body-thinking and the company of desire. Ubaga (revulsion, the "I'm sick of it" feeling) has come.
The diagnosis: when Deva goes antare (Deva goes far), it's the āśā-mōha-net that grows the duḥkha. Hope-and-delusion are the wires of the net; remove them, Deva is near.
This abhang gives warkari permission to withdraw into ēkānta without guilt — a counterweight to the saint-bhakti emphasis on satsang.
[T]
For someone today
For today: some bhakti-seasons are pure ēkānta-seasons — even good company is hard, restraint-words are anguish; let the āśā-mōha-net dissolve and Deva returns close.
Where this applies
- When someone's well-intentioned advice about discipline makes your mind more restless instead of calmer
- When you crave solitude so strongly that even the company of good, caring people feels like too much
- When you notice you have grown tired of chasing the same bodily cravings and desires again and again
- When you feel distant from what matters most and realize it is your own hoping and clinging causing the distance