संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 1388 of 4582

Abhanga 1388

For today: no sunset now, only one direction; far from darkness; the witness sees the guṇas; memory-and-forgetting fall behind; we and you are not two.

When no sunset comes now — only one direction; we and you are not two — my play is with Deva

The verse

अस्त नाहीं आतां एक चि मोहोरा । पासूनि अंधारा दुरि जालों ॥१॥ साक्षत्वें या जालों गुणाचा देखणा । करीं नारायणा तरी खरें ॥ध्रु.॥ आठवें विसरु पडियेला मागें । आलें तें चि भागें यत्न केलें ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे माझा विनोद देवासी । आम्ही तुम्हां ऐसीं दोन्ही नव्हों ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: No asta now — only one mōhōrā — (I have) moved far from andhāra. By sākṣatva, I have become the dēkhaṇā of guṇas — make this true, Nārāyaṇa. Memory and forgetting have fallen behind — what came by bhāga, that very effort I made. Tuka says: my vinōda is with Deva — we and you are not two.

मराठी: अस्त नाहीं आतां — एक-च मोहोरा — अंधारा-पासून दूर जालों. साक्षत्वें — गुणाचा देखणा — जालों — नारायणा, हें खरें कर. आठवें-विसरु — मागें पडलें — जें भागें आलें — तेंच — यत्न केलें. Tukā म्हणे — माझा विनोद देवाशीं — आम्ही-तुम्ही — असे दोन्ही नव्हों.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
अस्त नाहीं आतां एक चि मोहोरा "no asta (setting) now — only one mōhōrā (face / direction)"
पासूनि अंधारा दुरि जालों "from andhāra (darkness) — moved far (durī jālōm)"
साक्षत्वें या जालों गुणाचा देखणा "by sākṣatva (witnessing-quality) — became the dēkhaṇā (seer) of guṇas"
आठवें विसरु पडियेला मागें "āṭhavē visaru (memory and forgetting) — has fallen behind (paḍiyēlā māgē)"
आलें तें चि भागें यत्न केलें "what came, by bhāga (share) — that very — yatna (effort) made"
माझा विनोद देवासी "my vinōda (play / sport) — is with Deva"
आम्ही तुम्हां ऐसीं दोन्ही नव्हों "we and you — are not — two (dōnnhī)"

What it means

No-sunset-only-one-direction-not-two abhang. The opening: asta nāhīm ātām ēka chi mōhōrā — pāsūnī andhārā durī jālōmno asta (setting / sunset) now — only one mōhōrā (face / direction) — moved far from andhāra (darkness). After Hari-rises-as-sun, there is no setting; only one direction (= toward Hari); the bhakta has moved beyond the dark.

The change-of-position: sākṣatvē yā jālōm guṇāncā dēkhaṇāby sākṣatva (witnessing-stance), I have become the dēkhaṇā (= the seer / observer) of guṇas. Compare 1376 kṣaṇa-kṣaṇām sākṣī hōtōm āpulā. The bhakta is no longer the actor-among-guṇas but the dēkhaṇā (witness-of-the-guṇas).

Āṭhavē visaru paḍiyēlā māgēmemory and forgetting have fallen behind (paḍiyēlā māgē). Both memory and forgetting are left behind — one transcends both. (= No more I-must-remember and no more I-have-forgotten.)

The closing identity-claim: mājhā vinōda Devāsī — āmhī tumhām aisīm dōnnhī navhōmmy vinōda (play / sporting-game) is with Deva — we and you are not two. The closeness of the bhakta-Hari relation is vinōda (playmates); they are not-two. Compare 1387's ēkīm anēkatva — same non-dual-statement, intimate register here.

[T]

For someone today

For today: no sunset now, only one direction; far from darkness; the witness sees the guṇas; memory-and-forgetting fall behind; we and you are not two.

Where this applies

Related verses