संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 1318 of 4582

Abhanga 1318

For today: when commissioned, ask only for the lowest place at the saints' table; the prasāda goes into your pōṭa and remains.

When the dream-commission has come — Tuka's response: give me the lowest place at the saints' pangati; the prasāda has remained in my pōṭa

The verse

द्याल ठाव तरि राहेन संगती । संतांचे पंगती पायांपाशीं ॥१॥ आवडीचा ठाव आलोंसें टाकून । आतां उदासीन न धरावें ॥ध्रु.॥ सेवटील स्थळ निंच माझी वृत्ति । आधारें विश्रांती पावईन ॥२॥ नामदेवापायीं तुक्या स्वप्नीं भेटी । प्रसाद हा पोटीं राहिलासे ॥३॥ ॥२॥

Literal translation

English: If you give a place — I'll stay in the sangati — at the saints' pangati at the feet. (I) came having abandoned the place of (other) longings — now don't keep (me) udāsīna. The last place fits my nīnca vṛtti — by support I'll attain viśrānti. At Nāmdēv's feet — Tukā's bhēṭī in svapna — this prasāda has remained in the pōṭa.

मराठी: द्याल ठाव — तर मी संगतींत राहेन — संतांच्या पंगतीं — पायांपाशीं. आवडीचा ठाव टाकून आलों — आतां उदासीन (दुर) करूं नका. सेवटीचें स्थळ — माझ्या नीच वृत्तीला बरें — आधारानें-च विश्रांति पावेन. नामदेवापायीं Tukyā स्वप्नीं भेटी — हा प्रसाद पोटीं राहिलासे. ॥२॥

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
द्याल ठाव तरि राहेन संगती "if you give a ṭhāva (place) — I'll stay in the sangati (company)"
संतांचे पंगती पायांपाशीं "at the saints' pangati (table-row) — at the feet"
आवडीचा ठाव आलोंसें टाकून "came having abandoned the ṭhāva of āvaḍī (other longings)"
आतां उदासीन न धरावें "now — don't keep (me) udāsīna (estranged / disowned)"
सेवटील स्थळ निंच माझी वृत्ति "the last (sēvaṭīla) sthaḷa (place) — fits my nīnca (low) vṛtti"
आधारें विश्रांती पावईन "by ādhāra (support) — I'll attain viśrānti (rest)"
नामदेवापायीं तुक्या स्वप्नीं भेटी "at Nāmdēv's feet — Tukā's bhēṭī (meeting) in svapna"
प्रसाद हा पोटीं राहिलासे "this prasāda — has remained in (my) pōṭa"
॥२॥ "(closes the dream-commission set: 2 abhangs = 1317-1318)"

What it means

Closes the Nāmdēv-Pāṇḍuranga-dream-commission ॥२॥ sub-set (1317-1318). Where 1317 was the commission-narrative (Nāmdēv with Pāṇḍuranga came in svapna and ordered Tuka to do kavitva), 1318 is Tuka's response.

The response is humble-and-precise: 1. Give me a place — I'll stay in the sangati — but not just anywhere — at the saints' pangati, at the feet. Pangati is the table-row at a feast — Tuka asks for a seat at the saints' meal-row, which means at the feet of the saints (those who serve at the row, not those who sit at the head).

  1. Sēvaṭīla sthaḷa nīnca mājhī vṛttithe last (= lowest) place fits my low vṛtti. The classic bhakta-humility: I want only the last seat. Ādhārē viśrāntī pāva'īnaby (saint's) support, I'll attain viśrānti.

  2. Nāmdēvāpāyīm Tukyā svapnīm bhēṭī — prasāda hā pōṭīm rāhilāsēat Nāmdēv's feet — Tuka's bhēṭī in svapna — this prasāda has remained in the pōṭa. The dream-commission isn't just a memory — it has gone into the pōṭa and remained there as nutrition. The svapna-bhēṭī is digested as prasāda.

The marker ॥२॥ at the end seals the 2-abhang dream-commission group. Together with 1317-1318, this forms one of the most cited sub-sets in warkari biography: Nāmdēv-and-Pāṇḍuranga-came-in-dream-and-ordered-Tuka-to-complete-the-śata-koṭi-count.

[T]

For someone today

For today: when commissioned, ask only for the lowest place at the saints' table; the prasāda goes into your pōṭa and remains.

Where this applies

Related verses