Abhanga 1337
In true bhakti there is no rationing by caste or status, the devotee is a mirror reflecting each person back to themselves, and the harvest of sincere devotion is shared freely with everyone who comes.
The verse
नाहीं येथें वाणी । सकळां वर्णी घ्यावी धणी ॥१॥ जालें दर्पणाचें अंग । ज्याचा त्यासी दावी रंग ॥ध्रु.॥ एका भावाचा एकांत । पीक पिकला अनंत ॥२॥ तुका खळे दाणीं । करी बैसोनी वांटणी ॥३॥
Literal translation
No vāṇī here — let all varṇas take dhaṇī. (The body) has become darpaṇa's anga — shows each their own ranga. One bhāva's ēkānta — the crop has ripened — ananta. Tuka — at the threshing-floor, at the grain-pile — sitting, does the vāṇṭaṇī.
मराठी: येथें वाणी (मंथर / निवडक) नाहीं — सकळ वर्णांना — धणी घ्यावी. (हें) दर्पणाचें अंग जालें — ज्याचा त्यास — रंग दावितें. एका भावाचा एकांत — पीक पिकला — अनंत. Tukā खळे (खळ्यांत) — दाणीं — बैसोनी — वांटणी करी.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| नाहीं येथें वाणी | "no vāṇī here" |
| सकळां वर्णी घ्यावी धणी | "let all varṇas (= all varṇa-castes) — take dhaṇī (the fill / brimming-share)" |
| जालें दर्पणाचें अंग | "(the body) has become — darpaṇa's (mirror's) anga" |
| ज्याचा त्यासी दावी रंग | "(it) shows — to each — his own ranga (color)" |
| एका भावाचा एकांत | "one bhāva's ēkānta" |
| पीक पिकला अनंत | "the pīka (crop) — has pikalā (ripened) — ananta" |
| तुका खळे दाणीं | "Tuka — at the khaḷa (threshing-floor) — at the dāṇī (grain-pile)" |
| करी बैसोनी वांटणी | "sitting (baisōnī) — does (karī) the vāṇṭaṇī (distribution / share-out)" |
What it means
Bhakta-as-mirror-distributing-the-ripened-crop abhang. The opening egalitarian-claim: nāhīm yēthē vāṇī — sakaḷām varṇī ghyāvī dhaṇī — no vāṇī (= no selectivity / no rationing) here — let all varṇas take dhaṇī (their fill). The bhakti-table has no caste-rationing; all varṇas come for their fill. (Echo of 1300's anti-caste-bhēda.)
The image: jālēm darpaṇācē anga — jyācā tyāsī dāvī ranga — (the body) has become adarpaṇa(mirror)'s anga — it shows each their own ranga (color). The bhakta-body is now a mirror; it doesn't impose its own color, it reflects whatever ranga the other-person-brings. Each person sees their own ranga in the bhakta — like Hari himself in 1320's Svāti-tōya image where the same drop yields different things in different vessels.
Ēkā bhāvācā ēkānta — pīka pikalā ananta — one bhāva's ēkānta — the crop has ripened — ananta. From a single concentrated bhāva, kept in ēkānta, infinite crop has come.
The closing pastoral image: Tukā khaḷē dāṇīm — karī baisōnī vāṇṭaṇī — Tuka — at thekhaḷa(threshing-floor), at thedāṇī(grain-pile) — sitting, does thevāṇṭaṇī(distribution / grain-sharing-out). After the harvest, the village-elder sits at the threshing-floor and distributes grain to the various claimants. Tuka has become this elder — sitting at the bhakti-threshing-floor, dispensing the ananta-pīka to all comers.
This is a quietly final image — the post-harvest, post-victory state. The bhakta-poet-elder, the sāmgāra (the wise community-distributor), giving grain.
[T]
For someone today
For today: no rationing here; let all varṇa take their fill; the bhakta-body is a mirror showing each their own color; the crop is ripened ananta — the elder distributes from the threshing-floor.
Where this applies
- When you feel excluded from a spiritual or community space because of who you are or where you come from
- When someone treats you fairly and reflects your own honesty or doubt back to you without judgment
- When a small, steady devotion in your life has quietly produced far more good than you expected
- When you are in a position to share what you have generously instead of guarding it for a select few