Abhanga 1340
Doubt, not the words you use, is what exhausts you; fix your heart on one thing, and love spoken honestly needs no polish.
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
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 samdēhānē — don'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 kaḷavaḷā — the pitā (father) called by any name — yet he is thejāṇatāof (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-kathā — the 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 lāhō — let theupaja(= theissue / offspring) be thevilhāḷa(= great-overflowing) ofāvaḍī(love); make thatghaḍī-ghaḍī(every-moment) thelāhō(profit). The ghaḍī-ghaḍī lāhō — moment-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
- When you keep switching spiritual practices because you doubt which one is right
- When you feel embarrassed praying in your own words instead of the 'correct' formal ones
- When you catch yourself performing devotion for show rather than feeling it
- When a busy day leaves you only scattered moments to remember what matters