Abhanga 1334
Tukaram describes an inner rebirth so complete that his own vow is fulfilled and his longing gone, while he himself remains simply as he is.
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
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 becamebarā 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
I have given birth to myself — I have come into being through my own effort, without needing anything outside. Now that vow is fulfilled, and the longing that drove it has simply dissolved. I became strong at the very moment I died to my old self — the two happened together, as one event. Look at me before and after, both — Tuka is exactly as he is, unchanged at the core even through this transformation.
मराठी: मी स्वतःच स्वतःला जन्म दिला — कोणाचीही गरज न पडता, स्वतःच्याच प्रयत्नाने मी अस्तित्वात आलो. आता तो नवस पूर्ण झाला, आणि जी ओढ त्यामागे होती तीही आपोआप विरून गेली. मी बळकट झालो, आणि नेमक्या त्याच क्षणी माझा जुना मी मेला — दोन्ही एकाच वेळी घडले. दोन्ही बाजूंनी पाहा — तुका जसा आहे तसाच आहे, या परिवर्तनातूनही मूळ स्वरूप तेच राहिले.
Where this applies
- When you have worked hard on your own inner transformation and it finally feels complete
- When an old craving or longing has genuinely stopped pulling at you, not because you suppressed it but because it is simply gone
- When you sense that becoming stronger and letting go of your old self are actually the same moment
- When you wonder whether deep change will make you unrecognizable, and want reassurance that your core self can remain the same