Abhanga 1345

Tukaram says he traded dry philosophical knowledge for the plain joy of love, and keeps his eyes on the road to Pandharpur before looking anywhere else.

The verse

Literal translation

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) madetuśa(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 themūḷa— thevāṭa of Paṇḍharīto 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 seeall. 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; makechaffof Brahma-jñāna; watch the Paṇḍharī road for the mūḷa.

Where this applies

• When someone is more impressed by your degrees or spiritual knowledge than by your love for people
• When you feel torn between studying about God and simply longing for God
• When you are waiting anxiously for news from someone you love and cannot focus on anything else
• When you have to choose between visiting many famous places or staying devoted to the one that matters most to you

Related verses

• Abhanga 2377 — This detailed meditation on Vitthal standing on a brick at Pandharpur, out of love for his
• Abhanga 2402 — For today: happily take rebirths — IF among the Paṇḍharī-Vārkarīs ; Hari-dāsas' company is
• Abhanga 2448 — The easiest path to God is repeating divine names with love at home, right where you are,
• Abhanga 2459 — Liberation does not have to be earned through grueling effort or endless searching; it is