Abhanga 1345
For today: we are children of prēma-sukha; bind vāsanā at the feet; make chaff of Brahma-jñāna; watch the Paṇḍharī road for the mūḷa.
The verse
आम्ही आळीकरें । प्रेमसुखाचीं लेंकुरें ॥१॥ पायीं गोविली वासना । तुश केलें ब्रम्हज्ञाना ॥ध्रु.॥ येतां पाहें मुळा । वाट पंढरीच्या डोळां ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे स्थळें । मग मी पाहेन सकळें ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: We are āḷīkarē — children of prēma-sukha. (I) bound vāsanā at the feet — made tuśa of Brahma-jñāna. (I) come, look at the mūḷa — the vāṭa of Paṇḍharī to the eye. Tuka says: places — then I will see all.
मराठी: आम्ही आळीकरें (= लाडकीं, गोव्यांत-घुसलेलीं) — प्रेम-सुखाचीं लेंकुरें. वासना पायीं-च गोवली — ब्रह्म-ज्ञानाचा तुश (काड-भूस) केलें. येतां — मुळा-कडे पाहतों — पंढरीच्या वाटेकडे — डोळ्यांना. Tukā म्हणे — (विविध) स्थळें — मग मी सकळें पाहेन.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| आम्ही आळीकरें | "we are āḷīkarē (lap-snuggled / belly-cradled / coddled-pet)" |
| प्रेमसुखाचीं लेंकुरें | "children (lēnkurē) of prēma-sukha" |
| पायीं गोविली वासना | "(I) bound (gōvilī) the vāsanā at the feet" |
| तुश केलें ब्रम्हज्ञाना | "made tuśa (chaff / refuse) — of Brahma-jñāna" |
| येतां पाहें मुळा | "coming — looks at the mūḷa" |
| वाट पंढरीच्या डोळां | "the vāṭa (road) — of Paṇḍharī — to the eye" |
| तुका म्हणे स्थळें | "Tuka says — sthaḷē (places)" |
| मग मी पाहेन सकळें | "then — I will see — sakaḷē (all)" |
What it means
Made-chaff-of-Brahma-jñāna abhang. The opening identification: āmhī āḷīkarē — prēma-sukhācīm lēnkurē — we are āḷīkarē — children of prēma-sukha. Āḷīkarē is the bhakta-as-coddled-pet — the one whose cheek the mother repeatedly pats; whose lap-and-belly is the deity's. Lēnkurē (children) of prēma-sukha — born of prema-sukha, raised by prema-sukha, kin to prema-sukha.
The dramatic line: pāyīm gōvilī vāsanā — tuśa kēlēm Brahma-jñānā — (I) bound vāsanā at the feet — (and) made tuśa (chaff / refuse) of Brahma-jñāna. The ordering is precise: vāsanā is bound at the feet (not destroyed but redirected — vāsanā becomes Hari-vāsanā). Then Brahma-jñāna — the high knowledge — is reduced to tuśa (the chaff, the bhūsa from the threshing-floor — what is separated and discarded).
This is among Tuka's sharpest prioritizations of bhakti-prema over jñāna. Tuśa is worse than gone; it's the deliberately-discarded. Compare 1299's samādhīcēm sukha sāṇḍā ōmvāḷūn — aisē hē kīrtana brahma-rasa (abandon the sukha of samādhi by ōmvāḷaṇa-waving — this kīrtana is brahma-rasa).
The closing: yētām pāhē mūḷā — vāṭa Paṇḍharīcyā ḍōḷām — coming — (I) look at the mūḷa — the vāṭa of Paṇḍharī to the eye. Mūḷa (= the root / the fetcher) — the eye watches the Paṇḍharī road for the mūḷa coming. (Compare 1248 vāṭa pāhē kāmhīm nirōpa kām mūḷa and 1274 paradēsī ēkalēm — pāhē mūḷa yētām vāṭē.) The bhakta keeps watching the Paṇḍharī road.
Tukā mhaṇē sthaḷē — maga mī pāhēna sakaḷē — Tuka says — places — then I will see all. Sthaḷē may refer to the various tīrtha-sites; I will see them all — but after (= once Paṇḍharī's mūḷa has come). The order is fixed: Paṇḍharī first, then all places*.
[T]
For someone today
For today: we are children of prēma-sukha; bind vāsanā at the feet; make chaff of Brahma-jñāna; watch the Paṇḍharī road for the mūḷa.
Where this applies
- Children-of-prēma-sukha.* Āḷīkarē-prēma-sukhācīm-lēnkurē.
- Vāsanā-bound-at-feet.* Pāyīm-gōvilī-vāsanā.
- Brahma-jñāna-as-chaff.* Tuśa-kēlēm-Brahma-jñānā.
- Watching-Paṇḍharī-road-for-mūḷa.* Vāṭa-Paṇḍharīcyā-ḍōḷām-mūḷa.