संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 1335 of 4582

Abhanga 1335

For today: the chief teaching is world-is-Deva; but first destroy yourself — only then can you cross this touchstone; the unmanī destroys cause-and-effect.

When you would understand the world-is-Deva teaching — Tuka adds the precondition: first destroy yourself; only then will you cross this kasīm (touchstone)

The verse

जग अवघें देव । मुख्य उपदेशाची ठेव ॥१॥ आधीं आपणयां नासी । तरि उतरे ये कसीं ॥ध्रु.॥ ब्रम्हज्ञानाचें कोठार । तें हें निश्चयें उत्तर ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे ते उन्मनी । नास कारया कारणीं ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: The world all is Deva — the chief upadeśa-treasure. First destroy yourself — then will you cross to this kasīm. Brahma-jñāna's storehouse — this is the niścaya answer. Tuka says: that unmanī — destroys kārya-kāraṇa.

मराठी: जग अवघें देव — मुख्य उपदेशाची ठेव. आधीं आपणाला-च नाश — तरीच — या कसीं (कसोटीवर) उतरतोस. ब्रह्म-ज्ञानाचें कोठार — तें हें निश्चयें-च उत्तर. Tukā म्हणे — ती उन्मनी (अवस्था) — कार्या-कारणीं नाश-च.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
जग अवघें देव "the world (jaga) — all (avaghē) — is Deva"
मुख्य उपदेशाची ठेव "the mukhya (chief) — upadeśa-ṭhēva (treasure-store of upadeśa)"
आधीं आपणयां नासी "first (ādhīm) — destroy (nāsī) yourself (āpaṇayā)"
तरि उतरे ये कसीं "then (tarī) — will you cross (utarē) — to this kasīm (touchstone)"
ब्रम्हज्ञानाचें कोठार "Brahma-jñāna's kōṭhāra (storehouse)"
तें हें निश्चयें उत्तर "this — is the niścaya (decisive) uttara (answer)"
तुका म्हणे ते उन्मनी "Tuka says — that unmanī (= the supra-manas state)"
नास कारया कारणीं "destroys (nāsa) — kārya-and-kāraṇa (effect-and-cause)"

What it means

Self-destruction-as-precondition abhang. The opening: jaga avaghē Deva — mukhya upadeśācī ṭhēvathe world is all Deva — the chief upadeśa-treasure. The non-dualist position is restated: world = Deva; this is the primary teaching.

But the precondition: ādhīm āpaṇayā nāsī — tarī utarē yē kasīmfirst destroy yourself; only then will you cross to this kasīm (touchstone). Kasīm is the touchstone-of-gold-testing; only one who has first destroyed himself can be tested-and-found-true on this touchstone of world-is-Deva. Without self-destruction, the world-is-Deva talk is just words (cf. 1283 gharō-gharīm avaghē jālē brahma-jñāna — pari mēḷavaṇa bahu mājī).

The closing technical-name: Tukā mhaṇē tē unmanī — nāsa kāra-yā kāraṇīmTuka says — that unmanī (the supra-mind state, classical Yoga's un-mani-bhāva) — destroys kārya (effect) and kāraṇa (cause). The unmanī state is the destruction of cause-and-effect itself; world-is-Deva is then directly experienced.

[T]

For someone today

For today: the chief teaching is world-is-Deva; but first destroy yourself — only then can you cross this touchstone; the unmanī destroys cause-and-effect.

Where this applies

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