Abhanga 1388
Once you become a witness of your own moods rather than an actor caught inside them, memory and forgetting fall away and only one steady, intimate closeness with the divine remains.
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
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 jālōm — noasta(setting / sunset) now — only onemōhōrā(face / direction) — moved far fromandhāra(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 dēkhaṇā — bysākṣatva(witnessing-stance), I have become thedēkhaṇā(= 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 māgē — memory and forgetting havefallen 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 navhōm — myvinōda(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
- When you keep getting pulled back into old moods and worries instead of simply watching them pass
- When you are anxious about remembering everything or upset about what you have forgotten
- When you feel you have moved far from a dark chapter that once had a grip on you
- When you long for a closeness with the divine that feels like friendship rather than formality