Abhanga 1230
For today: birth doesn't determine Brahmin-hood — Rāma-Kṛṣṇa-nāma, the dark-form in mind, śānti-kṣamā-dayā as alankāras, dhairya in every prasanga; with the six ūrmīs gone, he is brahma itself.
The verse
ब्राम्हण तो याती अंतेज असतां । मानावा तत्वता निश्चयेसी ॥१॥ रामकृष्णें नाम उच्चारी सरळें । आठवी सांवळें रूप मनीं ॥ध्रु.॥ शांति क्षमा दया अलंकार अंगीं । अभंग प्रसंगीं धैर्यवंत ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे गेल्या शडऊर्मी अंगें । सांडुनियां मग ब्रम्हं चि तो ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: (Even if) he is of antēja (low) yāti — he is to be considered Brāhmaṇa, by tatva, with niścaya. Utters Rāma-Kṛṣṇa-nāma straight; remembers the dark form in mind. Śānti, kṣamā, dayā are ornaments on his body; in any occasion, abhanga and dhairyavanta. Tuka says: when the six ūrmīs leave the body — abandoning them — then he is brahma itself.
मराठी: याती अंत्यज (खालील) असला तरी — तत्त्वतः निश्चयेसीं — तो ब्राम्हण माना. राम-कृष्ण-नाम तो सरळ उच्चारतो — मनांत सांवळें (विठ्ठलाचें) रूप आठवतो. शांति-क्षमा-दया हे अंगावर अलंकार — कुठल्याहि प्रसंगीं — अभंग, धैर्यवंत. Tukā म्हणे — षड्ऊर्मी (सहा वासना) अंगांतून गेल्या — सांडल्या — मग ब्रह्मच तो.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ब्राम्हण तो याती अंतेज असतां | "(even if) of antēja (low) yāti — Brāhmaṇa is he" |
| मानावा तत्वता निश्चयेसी | "(such) is to be considered, by tatva, with niścaya (certainty)" |
| रामकृष्णें नाम उच्चारी सरळें | "utters Rāma-Kṛṣṇa-nāma straight (saraḷē)" |
| आठवी सांवळें रूप मनीं | "remembers the sāmvaḷa (dark/blue) rūpa in mind" |
| शांति क्षमा दया अलंकार अंगीं | "śānti, kṣamā, dayā are alankāras (ornaments) on his anga" |
| अभंग प्रसंगीं धैर्यवंत | "in any prasanga, abhanga (unbroken) and dhairyavanta (firm)" |
| गेल्या शडऊर्मी अंगें | "when the six ūrmīs leave the body" |
| सांडुनियां मग ब्रम्हं चि तो | "(by) abandoning (them), then he is brahma itself" |
What it means
Companion to 1229 — the positive claim of bhakti-as-Brahmin-hood. Where 1229 disqualifies birth-Brahmins without bhakti, this abhang qualifies birth-low-caste with bhakti. The criteria are six:
- Rāma-Kṛṣṇē nāma uccārī saraḷē — utters Rāma-Kṛṣṇa-nāma saraḷē (straight, simply, without crookedness)
- Āṭhavī sāmvaḷē rūpa manīm — remembers the dark form (of Viṭṭhala/Kṛṣṇa) in mind
- Śānti, kṣamā, dayā — these are alankāra angīm — ornaments on the body
- Abhanga prasangīm — unbroken in any occasion
- Dhairyavanta — firm
- Gēlyā ṣaḍ-ūrmī angēm — sāṇḍūniyām — when the six ūrmīs (śoka, mōha, kṣudhā, tṛṣā, jarā, mṛtyu — sorrow, delusion, hunger, thirst, age, death — the Yājñavalkya list of six bodily-existential waves) leave the body — brahma chi tō — he is brahma itself.
This is jīvan-mukti in caste-neutral form. The two abhangs (1229-1230) form a paired Brahmin-redefinition, possibly Tukaram's clearest anti-caste-orthodoxy statement.
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For someone today
For today: birth doesn't determine Brahmin-hood — Rāma-Kṛṣṇa-nāma, the dark-form in mind, śānti-kṣamā-dayā as alankāras, dhairya in every prasanga; with the six ūrmīs gone, he is brahma itself.
Where this applies
- Antēja-by-birth-Brāhmaṇa-by-bhakti.* Yātī-antēja-Brāhmaṇa.
- Six-criteria.* Rāma-Kṛṣṇa-nāma-saraḷē; sāmvaḷē-rūpa; śānti-kṣamā-dayā; abhanga-dhairyavanta; ṣaḍ-ūrmī-gone.
- Brahma-itself.* Brahma-chi-tō.