संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 1394 of 4582

Abhanga 1394

For today: māyā itself witnesses — no face-saving; no self, no other; for satya, everything fills; this is not boasting — Deva is the witness for the verdict.

When you'd refuse face-saving — no āpa, no para; this is not the place of boasting; Deva himself is the witness for the verdict

The verse

माया साक्षी आम्ही नेणों भीड भार । आप आणि पर नाहीं दोन्ही ॥१॥ सत्याचिये साटीं अवघा चि भरे । नावडे व्यापार तुटीचा तो ॥ध्रु.॥ पोंभाळिता चरे अंतरींचें दुःख । लांसें फांसें मुख उघडावें ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे नव्हे स्फीतीचा हा ठाव । निवाड्यासी देव साक्षी केला ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: Māyā is sākṣī — we don't know bhīḍa-bhāra — āpa and para, neither (of these) two. For satya's sake, everything fills — we don't like the vyāpāra of tuṭī. When (one is) coddled, inner duḥkha grazes — from lānsē-phāmsē, the mukha must be opened. Tuka says: this is not the place of sphītī — for the verdict, Deva has been made sākṣī.

मराठी: माया — साक्षी — आम्ही — नेणों — भीड-भार; — आप आणि पर — नाहीं — दोन्ही. सत्याचिये साटीं — अवघा-च — भरे; — नावडे — व्यापार — तुटीचा — तो. पोंभाळितां — चरे — अंतरींचें — दुःख; — लांसें-फांसें — मुख — उघडावें. Tukā म्हणे — नव्हे — स्फीतीचा — हा ठाव; — निवाड्यासी — देव — साक्षी — केला.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
माया साक्षी आम्ही नेणों भीड भार "māyā — (is) sākṣī (witness) — we don't know bhīḍa-bhāra (= face-saving / shame-burden)"
आप आणि पर नाहीं दोन्ही "āpa (self) and para (other) — neither (of) two"
सत्याचिये साटीं अवघा चि भरे "for satya's sake — everything fills (bharē)"
नावडे व्यापार तुटीचा तो "we don't like (nāvaḍē) — the vyāpāra (commerce) — of tuṭī (loss / break)"
पोंभाळिता चरे अंतरींचें दुःख "when pōmbhāḷita (cherished) — inner duḥkha — grazes (carē)"
लांसें फांसें मुख उघडावें "lānsē-phāmsē (the noose / snare) — the mukha (mouth) — must be opened"
नव्हे स्फीतीचा हा ठाव "this is not (navhē) — the sphītī (= boasting / inflated-talk) — ṭhāva (place)"
निवाड्यासी देव साक्षी केला "for the nivāḍa (verdict / settlement) — Deva — has been made sākṣī (witness)"

What it means

Māyā-as-witness-no-boasting abhang. The opening: māyā sākṣī āmhī nēṇōm bhīḍa bhāra — āpa āṇi para nāhīm dōnnhīmāyā (itself) is sākṣī (witness); we don't know bhīḍa-bhāra (= face-saving / shame-burden); āpa (self) and para (other) — neither of (these) two. The bhakta has no face to save; no self, no other. Māyā is the universal-witness; the bhakta isn't trying to fool māyā. (Compare 1304 vadē sākṣatvēsīm vāṇī — speech-with-witnessing-quality.)

The principle: satyāciyē sāṭīm avaghā chi bharē — nāvaḍē vyāpāra tuṭīcā tōfor satya's sake — everything bharē (fills / is enough); we don't like the vyāpāra (= commercial-dealing) of tuṭī (loss / break). The merchant-image returns: Tuka rejects the trade-of-tuṭī — the kind of business where someone has-to-lose. For satya, everything fills — no zero-sum needed.

The closing self-clarity: navhē sphītīcā hā ṭhāva — nivāḍyāsī Deva sākṣī kēlāthis is not the place of sphītī (= boasting / inflated-talk); for the nivāḍa (verdict / settlement), Deva himself has been made sākṣī. Sphītī is self-puffing-up; this isn't that. The bhakta has put Deva-as-witness for whatever verdict comes. (Compare the Hari-tāḍ register's māgē divāna nēlēm — taken to court — but here it's not litigious; just Deva is the witness*.)

[T]

For someone today

For today: māyā itself witnesses — no face-saving; no self, no other; for satya, everything fills; this is not boasting — Deva is the witness for the verdict.

Where this applies

Related verses