Abhanga 1334
English: I myself bore me — came into my own pōṭa.
The verse
मीचि मज व्यालों । पोटा आपुलिया आलों ॥१॥ आतां पुरले नवस । निरसोनी गेली आस ॥ध्रु.॥ जालों बरा बळी । गेलों मरोनि तेकाळीं ॥२॥ दोहींकडे पाहे । तुका आहे तैसा आहे ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: I myself bore me — came into my own pōṭa. Now the navasa is fulfilled — āsa has been dispelled. (I) became well-baḷī — went, by dying, at that very kāḷa. Look on both sides — Tuka is as he is.
मराठी: मीच मज व्यालों — आपल्या पोटांत-च आलों. आतां — नवस पुरले — आस निरसून गेली. बरा बळी (बलिष्ठ) झालों — त्या-च काळीं मरून-च गेलों. दोन्ही-कडे पहा — Tukā आहे तैसा आहे.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| मीचि मज व्यालों | "I myself — bore (vyālōm) — me" |
| पोटा आपुलिया आलों | "(I have) come (ālōm) into my own pōṭa" |
| आतां पुरले नवस | "now — the navasa (vow) — has been fulfilled (puralē)" |
| निरसोनी गेली आस | "āsa (hope / longing) has been nirasōnī (dispelled / removed)" |
| जालों बरा बळी | "(I) became — barā (well) — baḷī (strong / sacrificed)" |
| गेलों मरोनि तेकाळीं | "went — by dying — at that very kāḷa" |
| दोहींकडे पाहे | "look on both sides (dōhīmkaḍē)" |
| तुका आहे तैसा आहे | "Tuka is — as he is (taisā)" |
What it means
Self-rebirth jīvan-mukta abhang. The opening is among the boldest self-statements in warkari poetry: mī chi maja vyālōm — pōṭā āpuliyā ālōm — I myself bore me — came into my own pōṭa. The bhakta has given birth to himself — without need of a mother. This is the jīvan-mukta-rebirth — taking mukti into one's own hands.
The result: ātām puralē navasa — nirasōnī gēlī āsa — now the navasa (vow) is fulfilled — āsa (longing) has been dispelled. Navasa in Marathi is the votive promise — the deal struck with a deity ("if you give me X, I'll do Y"). Here the navasa is the bhakta's vow to attain mukti; it is now puralē (fulfilled). And āsa nirasalī — the longing-itself is dispelled (because attained = no longer needed).
The remarkable middle: jālōm barā baḷī — gēlōm marōnī tē-kāḷīm — I became barā baḷī (well-strong / well-sacrificed) — went, having died, at that very kāḷa. Baḷī has the dual sense of strong and sacrificed (= bali = sacrificial-victim). The bhakta is both — strong (barā baḷī) and sacrificed (also baḷī). And he went-by-dying-at-that-very-moment — the exact moment of becoming-strong is the moment of dying-to-the-old-self.
The closing: dōhīmkaḍē pāhē — Tukā āhē taisā āhē — look on both sides — Tuka is as he is. The two sides of his life (before and after the rebirth, or before and after death) — he is taisā āhē (as he is). Identity persists through transformation.
[T]
For someone today
For today: the jīvan-mukta bears himself; comes into his own womb; the vow is fulfilled when longing is dispelled; the becoming-strong-and-dying happen at the same moment.
Where this applies
- I-bore-myself.* Mī-chi-maja-vyālōm.
- Came-into-my-own-pōṭa.* Pōṭā-āpuliyā-ālōm.
- Vow-fulfilled-hope-dispelled.* Puralē-navasa-nirasōnī-āsa.
- Strong-and-died-at-that-moment.* Baḷī-marōnī-tē-kāḷīm.
- Tuka-is-as-he-is.* Tukā-taisā-āhē.