Abhanga 1356
All suffering springs from one deep root, so stop multiplying effort on the surface and instead let the ache of incompleteness push your mind toward real growth.
The verse
मुळाचिया मुळें । दुःखें वाढती सकळे ॥१॥ ऐसा योगियांचा धर्म । नव्हे वाढवावा श्रम ॥ध्रु.॥ न कळे आवडी । कोण आहे कैसी घडी ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे थीत । दुःख पाववावें चित्त ॥३॥
Literal translation
By the mūḷa of the mūḷa — all duḥkhas grow. Such is the yogis' dharma — not to increase śrama. The āvaḍī is not understood —whoiswhich-ghaḍī? Tuka says:thīta— by duḥkha, the citta isbrought-to-attainment.
मराठी: मूळाच्या मूळानें — सकळ दुःखें वाढतात. ऐसा योगियांचा धर्म — नव्हे वाढवावा श्रम. आवडी न कळे — कोण आहे — कैसी घडी? Tukā म्हणे — थीत — दुःख — चित्तास पाववतें.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| मुळाचिया मुळें | "by the mūḷa of the mūḷa (= root-of-the-root)" |
| दुःखें वाढती सकळे | "all duḥkhas grow (vāḍhatī)" |
| ऐसा योगियांचा धर्म | "such is the yogis' dharma" |
| नव्हे वाढवावा श्रम | "(is) not — to increase (vāḍhavāvā) — śrama" |
| न कळे आवडी | "the āvaḍī (longing) is not understood" |
| कोण आहे कैसी घडी | "who is — which (kaisī) — ghaḍī (moment)?" |
| तुका म्हणे थीत | "Tuka says — thīta (incomplete)" |
| दुःख पाववावें चित्त | "(by) duḥkha — pāvavāvē (bring-to-attainment) — the citta" |
What it means
Duḥkhas-grow-from-root-of-root abhang. The opening insight: mūḷāciyā mūḷē — duḥkhē vāḍhatī sakaḷē — by themūḷa of the mūḷa— all duḥkhas grow. Mūḷa is root; mūḷācī mūḷa is the root of the root — the deepest source. All duḥkha proliferates from a single deepest source (= avidyā / aham-kāra / samcita-mūla). Cut that, all duḥkhas wither.
The yogis' dharma: navhē vāḍhavāvā śrama — (the yogis' dharma is)nottoincreaseśrama. Many seekers add more effort, more practices, more austerities; the yogi's approach is not to add. Cut the root, don't multiply the leaves.
The mystery: na kaḷē āvaḍī — kōṇa āhē kaisī ghaḍī — theāvaḍī(longing) is not understood —whoiswhichghaḍī? The moment-by-moment who/which of the longing isn't fully knowable; the bhakta's longing has a specificity that resists analysis.
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē thīta — duḥkha pāvavāvē citta — Tuka says —thīta(incomplete / unfulfilled) — duḥkhabrings the citta to attainment. Thīta (= incompleteness, the unfulfilled-desire state) — paradoxically, duḥkha (suffering) is what brings the citta to attainment. Without the suffering of incompleteness, the citta wouldn't strive. Compare 1332 bare-jālē Devā nighālē divāḷē (good that bankruptcy came); duḥkha-as-the-instrument-of-bhakti theology returns.
[T]
For someone today
All our sufferings grow from one single, deepest root — find that root, and there's no need to keep piling on more effort or more practices to deal with each separate trouble. This is the true way of the yogi: not to multiply your striving, but to go straight to the source. We can't always explain the longing we feel, or exactly what stirs it moment to moment. Tuka says: it is precisely this sense of incompleteness, this ache, that pushes the mind toward true attainment.
मराठी: आपली सर्व दुःखे एका खोलवरच्या मुळापासून वाढतात — ते मूळ शोधले की, प्रत्येक वेगळ्या त्रासासाठी वेगवेगळे उपाय, वेगवेगळे प्रयत्न वाढवत बसण्याची गरज उरत नाही. योग्यांचा खरा मार्ग हाच आहे — प्रयत्न वाढवत राहणे नव्हे, तर थेट मुळाशी जाणे. आपल्याला मनातली ओढ नेहमीच पूर्णपणे समजतेच असे नाही, ती क्षणाक्षणाला काय आणि कशी असते हेही उमगत नाही. तुका म्हणतात, हीच अपूर्णतेची जाणीव, ही तळमळच, मनाला खऱ्या प्राप्तीकडे ढकलत नेते.
Where this applies
- When you keep adding new self-help routines or spiritual practices without ever facing the actual root problem
- When you feel scattered by many small troubles and can't see they all trace back to one thing
- When you can't explain why you long for something so badly, and you're tempted to distrust the longing itself
- When a sense of being unfinished or unsatisfied is gnawing at you and you wonder if it means something is wrong