संत साहित्य
Work in progress. Translations and commentary are AI-generated and may contain inaccuracies or hallucinations — please use your own judgement and check against the original sources.
संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 1340 of 4582

Abhanga 1340

For today: don't know anything but Pāṇḍuranga; the father knows your heart-cry by any name; let Hari-kathā be the lord of every limb; make the overflowing love your moment-by-moment profit.

When the father is called by any name, he knows the kaḷavaḷā — don't know anything except Pāṇḍuranga; Hari-kathā is dhaṇī of all gātras

The verse

कांहीं जाणों नये पांडुरंगाविण । पाविजेल सीण संदेहानें ॥१॥ भलतिया नावें आळविला पिता । तरि तो जाणता कळवळा ॥ध्रु.॥ अळंकार जातो गौरवितां वाणी । सर्वगात्रा धणी हरिकथा ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे उपज विल्हाळे आवडी । करावा तो घडी घडी लाहो ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: Don't know anything except Pāṇḍuranga — sīṇa comes by samdēha. Calling the pitā by any name — yet he knows the kaḷavaḷā. The alankāra goes when honoring the vāṇī — Hari-kathā is the dhaṇī of all gātras. Tuka says: let the upaja be the vilhāḷa of āvaḍī — make it ghaḍī-ghaḍī lāhō.

मराठी: पांडुरंगा-विणा कांहींच जाणूं नये — संदेहानें-च सीण पावते. कुठल्याही नांवानें — पिता आळवला तरीं — तो कळवळा जाणतो-च. वाणीला (हरि-कथेच्या वाणीला) गौरवितां — अळंकार-च जातो (दिसून जातो) — हरि-कथा सर्व-गात्रांची धणी. Tukā म्हणे — उपज (निपज) — विल्हाळ — आवडीचा — तोच — घडी-घडी-लाहो करावा.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
कांहीं जाणों नये पांडुरंगाविण "don't know (jāṇōm-nayē) — anything — except Pāṇḍuranga"
पाविजेल सीण संदेहानें "sīṇa (toil-pain) will come — by samdēha (doubt)"
भलतिया नावें आळविला पिता "by any name — having called (āḷavilā) the pitā (father)"
तरि तो जाणता कळवळा "yet — he is jāṇa-tā — of (your) kaḷavaḷā (heart-cry)"
अळंकार जातो गौरवितां वाणी "the alankāra goes (jātō) — when honoring the vāṇī"
सर्वगात्रा धणी हरिकथा "Hari-kathā is — dhaṇī (lord) — of all gātras (limbs)"
उपज विल्हाळे आवडी "the upaja (offspring / what arises) — vilhāḷa (great-flow) — of āvaḍī (love)"
करावा तो घडी घडी लाहो "make — that — ghaḍī-ghaḍī (every-moment) — lāhō (profit)"

What it means

Pitā-knows-by-any-name abhang. The opening: kāmhī jāṇōm nayē Pāṇḍurangāviṇa — pāvijēla sīṇa samdēhānēdon't know anything except Pāṇḍuranga — sīṇa (toil-pain) will come by samdēha (doubt). Multiple knowings → doubt → toil-pain. Single knowing (Pāṇḍuranga only) → no doubt → no toil.

The democratic claim: bhalatiyā nāvē āḷavilā pitā — tarī tō jāṇatā kaḷavaḷāthe pitā (father) called by any name — yet he is the jāṇatā of (your) kaḷavaḷā (heart-cry). Hari is multilingual; he listens to kaḷavaḷā, not to the right pronunciation of his name. Anyone can call him; he hears.

The middle: aḷankāra jātō gauravitām vāṇī — sarva-gātrā dhaṇī Hari-kathāthe alankāra goes (= the artificial-ornament drops away) when (one) honors the vāṇī — Hari-kathā is the dhaṇī of all gātras. When the bhakta speaks Hari-kathā with gauravita (honor / reverence), the alankāra (cosmetic / artifice) falls away. Hari-kathā becomes the dhaṇī (lord) of all the gātras — every limb of the body becomes its servant.

The closing: upaja vilhāḷē āvaḍī — karāvā tō ghaḍī ghaḍī lāhōlet the upaja (= the issue / offspring) be the vilhāḷa (= great-overflowing) of āvaḍī (love); make that ghaḍī-ghaḍī (every-moment) the lāhō (profit). The ghaḍī-ghaḍī lāhōmoment-by-moment profit — is the cumulative-savings method of bhakti.

[T]

For someone today

For today: don't know anything but Pāṇḍuranga; the father knows your heart-cry by any name; let Hari-kathā be the lord of every limb; make the overflowing love your moment-by-moment profit.

Where this applies

Related verses