संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 1380 of 4582

Abhanga 1380

For today: taste sweetness slowly; don't let time go vain; bhajan is your meal — take Nārāyaṇa's fill; the jīva is sated by Hari.

When you'd take the bhakti-meal — bhajan is bhōjana, take the dhaṇī of Nārāyaṇa; the jīva is sated by you

The verse

रुची रुची घेऊं गोडी । प्रेमसुखें जाली जोडी ॥१॥ काळ जाऊं नेदूं वांयां । चिंतितां विठोबाच्या पायां ॥ध्रु.॥ करूं भजन भोजन । धणी घेऊं नारायण ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे जीव धाला । होय तुझ्यानें विठ्ठला ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: Taste-by-taste, take the gōḍī — by prēma-sukha, jōḍī has formed. Don't let kāla go vāyām — meditate Viṭhobā's feet. Make bhajana into bhōjana — take the dhaṇī of Nārāyaṇa. Tuka says: the jīva is dhālā — by you, Viṭṭhalā.

मराठी: रुची-रुची — गोडी घेऊं — प्रेम-सुखें — जोडी जाली. काळ — वायां जाऊं देऊं नका — विठोबाचे पाय चिंतीत. भजन — भोजन — करूं — नारायणाची धणी घेऊं. Tukā म्हणे — जीव धाला — विठ्ठला, तुझ्यानें-च.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
रुची रुची घेऊं गोडी "ruci-ruci (taste-by-taste) — take the gōḍī (sweetness)"
प्रेमसुखें जाली जोडी "by prēma-sukhajōḍī (gain / pairing) has formed"
काळ जाऊं नेदूं वांयां "don't let kāla — go vāyām (in vain)"
चिंतितां विठोबाच्या पायां "meditating Viṭhobā's feet"
करूं भजन भोजन "make bhajana — (into) bhōjana (a meal)"
धणी घेऊं नारायण "take the dhaṇī (brimming-fill) — of Nārāyaṇa"
जीव धाला होय तुझ्यानें विठ्ठला "the jīva — is dhālā (sated) — by you, Viṭṭhalā"

What it means

Bhajan-as-bhōjana abhang. The opening: rucī rucī ghē'ūm gōḍī — prēma-sukhē jālī jōḍītaste-by-taste, take the gōḍī (sweetness); by prēma-sukha, jōḍī (= gain / pairing) has formed. Ruci-ruci is the slow, deliberate tasting — not gulping. The jōḍī (= match / pair / formed-bond) is the result of repeated tasting.

The instruction: kāḷa jā'ūm nēdūm vāyām — cintitām Viṭhōbācyā pāyāmdon't let kāla go vāyām — meditating Viṭhobā's feet. Time-not-spent-in-cintana is vāyām (vain).

The central image: karūm bhajana bhōjana — dhaṇī ghē'ūm Nārāyaṇamake bhajana into bhōjana (a meal); take the dhaṇī (brimming-fill) of Nārāyaṇa. Bhajan as the actual meal of the day — eat it, don't just sing it. Dhaṇī = drink-till-the-vessel-brims = take-fill.

The closing: jīva dhālā — hōya tujhyānē Viṭṭhalāthe jīva is dhālā (sated, full-stomached, content) — by you, Viṭṭhalā. The fullness comes from Hari, not from the bhakta's effort.

[T]

For someone today

For today: taste sweetness slowly; don't let time go vain; bhajan is your meal — take Nārāyaṇa's fill; the jīva is sated by Hari.

Where this applies

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