संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 1266 of 4582

Abhanga 1266

For today: don't accept dry brahma-jñāna talk in place of bhēṭī — your longing is for darśana, not understanding; withdraw sanga from those who substitute one for the other.

When the so-called bhēṭī turns out to be only kōraḍī brahma-jñāna bōlī (dry-philosophical-talk) — Tuka rejects it: my longing was only for darśana

The verse

तुमची तों भेटी नव्हे ऐसी जाली । कोरडी च बोली ब्रम्हज्ञान ॥१॥ आतां न बोलावें ऐसें वाटे देवा । संग न करावा कोणांसवें ॥ध्रु.॥ तुम्हां निमित्यासी सांपडले अंग । नेदावा हा संग विचारिलें ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे माझी राहिली वासना । आवडी दर्शनाची च होती ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: Your bhēṭī wasn't real like this — it became only dry talk of brahma-jñāna. Now I think — don't speak — Deva — don't keep sanga with anyone. The body was found for your nimitta — don't give this sanga, I have considered. Tuka says: my vāsanā has remained — only the longing for darśana was there.

मराठी: तुमची भेटी अशी (खरी) झाली नाहीं — फक्त कोरडी ब्रह्म-ज्ञान-बोली. आतां — असें वाटतें, देवा — कोणाशीं-च बोलूं नये — कोणांशीं-हि संग न करावा. तुमच्या निमित्ताला माझें अंग सांपडलें — हा संग देऊं नये — असें ठरवलें. Tukā म्हणे — माझी वासना राहिली — फक्त दर्शनाची-च आवडी होती.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
तुमची तों भेटी नव्हे ऐसी जाली "your bhēṭī (meeting) — wasn't (real) like this"
कोरडी च बोली ब्रम्हज्ञान "(it became) only dry (kōraḍī) talk — of brahma-jñāna"
आतां न बोलावें ऐसें वाटे देवा "now I think — don't speak — Deva"
संग न करावा कोणांसवें "don't keep sanga with anyone (kōṇāmsavē)"
तुम्हां निमित्यासी सांपडले अंग "the body (anga) was found for your nimitta (cause / purpose)"
नेदावा हा संग विचारिलें "don't give this sanga — (so I) have considered"
माझी राहिली वासना "my vāsanā has remained"
आवडी दर्शनाची च होती "only the longing for darśana was there"

What it means

Anti-kōraḍī brahma-jñāna abhang — sharp warkari-bhakti vs. dry-Advaita-talk distinction.

The opening complaint: tumacī tōm bhēṭī navhē aisī jālī — kōraḍī chī bōlī brahma-jñānawhat came was not your bhēṭī (real meeting) — it was just dry talk of brahma-jñāna. Someone (probably an Advaita-leaning interlocutor) gave Tuka brahma-jñāna speeches, and Tuka rejects: that's not the bhēṭī I wanted; that's just kōraḍī (dry, sapless) talk.

The reaction is to withdraw entirely: na bōlāvē — sanga na karāvā kōṇāmsavēdon't speak — keep sanga with no one. The bhakta-decisive: I will not waste the body on these talkers.

The middle insight: tumhām nimityāsī sāmpaḍalē angathe body is found for your (Hari's) nimitta — the body has come into being for your purpose, not for theirs. Nēdāvā hā sanga vicārilēmI have decided not to give this sanga (= this body's company).

The closing pure desire: mājhī rāhilī vāsanā — āvaḍī darśanācī chī hōtīmy vāsanā has remained — only the longing for darśana was there. The dry-jñāna-talk addressed nothing; the longing was for seeing, not for understanding.

This is foundational warkari-bhakti epistemology: darśana (seeing) over jñāna (knowing); the body's bhēṭī over the mind's bōlī.

[T]

For someone today

For today: don't accept dry brahma-jñāna talk in place of bhēṭī — your longing is for darśana, not understanding; withdraw sanga from those who substitute one for the other.

Where this applies

Related verses