Abhanga 1402
For today: desire erases discrimination; doubt is itself pāpa; inquire your own self by yourself; nāma-rūpa is what applied pollution to what was originally nirmaḷa-śuddha-buddha; don't walk like the seeing if you're blind.
The verse
आशा ते करविते बुद्धीचा लोप । संदेह तें पाप कैसें नव्हे ॥१॥ आपला आपण करावा विचार । प्रसन्न तें सार मन गोही ॥ध्रु.॥ नांवें रूपें अंगीं लाविला विटाळ । होतें त्या निर्मळ शुद्ध बुद्ध ॥२॥ अंधळ्यानें नये देखण्याची चाली । चालों ऐसी बोली तुका बोले ॥३॥
Literal translation
Āśā makes the buddhi's lōpa — samdēha — how is that not pāpa? One's own — by oneself — vicāra must be made — prasanna is sāra, the mind is the witness. By nāma-rūpa, viṭāḷa was applied to the body — what was nirmaḷa-śuddha-buddha. The blind one shouldn't (try to) adopt the seeing-one's gait — let speech walk so, Tuka says.
मराठी: आशा — ते — करविते — बुद्धीचा — लोप; — संदेह — तें — पाप — कैसें — नव्हे? आपला — आपण — करावा — विचार; — प्रसन्न — तें — सार — मन — गोही. नांवें — रूपें — अंगीं — लाविला — विटाळ; — होतें — त्या — निर्मळ — शुद्ध — बुद्ध. अंधळ्यानें — नये — देखण्याची — चाली; — चालों — ऐसी — बोली — Tukā — बोले.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| आशा ते करविते बुद्धीचा लोप | "āśā (desire) — makes happen — buddhi's lōpa (erasure / disappearance)" |
| संदेह तें पाप कैसें नव्हे | "samdēha (doubt) — that — pāpa — how is it not?" |
| आपला आपण करावा विचार | "one's own (āpalā) — by oneself (āpaṇa) — vicāra (inquiry) — must be made" |
| प्रसन्न तें सार मन गोही | "prasanna (= clear / glad / made-clear) — is sāra (essence) — the mana is gōhī (= witness)" |
| नांवें रूपें अंगीं लाविला विटाळ | "by nāma-rūpa — to the anga (body) — viṭāḷa (pollution) — was applied" |
| होतें त्या निर्मळ शुद्ध बुद्ध | "what was — nirmaḷa (clean) — śuddha (pure) — buddha (awakened)" |
| अंधळ्यानें नये देखण्याची चाली | "the blind (andhaḷā) — the seeing-one'scālī(= gait / walking-style) — does not come (nayē)" |
| चालों ऐसी बोली तुका बोले | "let walking happen — such bōlī (speech / saying) — Tuka speaks" |
What it means
Desire-erases-buddhi-doubt-is-pāpa abhang. The opening: āśā tē karavitē buddhīcā lōpa — samdēha tēm pāpa kaisēm navhē — āśā (desire) — makes thelōpa(erasure / disappearance) ofbuddhihappen; —samdēha(doubt) — that —how is it not pāpa? The two-step: (1) desire erases discriminative-intellect; (2) the resulting samdēha (= doubting / hesitating-mind) itself is pāpa. (Compare Bhagavad-Gītā 4.40: samśayātmā vinaśyati — the doubting one perishes.)
The remedy: āpalā āpaṇa karāvā vicāra — prasanna tēm sāra mana gōhī — one's own — by oneself —vicāra(= inquiry) must be made; —prasanna(= clear / made-clear / made-glad) — is thesāra(essence); — themanaisgōhī(= witness). The cure for desire-erased-buddhi is vicāra — and prasanna-mana (the clear-glad-mind) is the sāra. The mana itself witnesses whether prasanna has happened.
The renunciation-claim: nāmvēm rūpēm angīm lāvilā viṭāḷa — hōtēm tyā nirmaḷa śuddha buddha — bynāma-rūpa— to theanga(body) —viṭāḷa(pollution) was applied; — what wasnirmaḷa-śuddha-buddha(clean-pure-awakened). The original-state was nirmaḷa-śuddha-buddha; nāma-rūpa (name-and-form attribution) is what applied the pollution. (Foundational Advaita-formulation: nāma-rūpa are the upādhi, the original is nirmaḷa-śuddha-buddha.)
The closing analogy: andhaḷyānēm nayē dēkhaṇyācī cālī — cālōm aisī bōlī Tukā bōlē — theandhaḷā(blind one) — should not (adopt) — thedēkhaṇa(seeing one)'scālī(gait); — let speech walk thus, Tuka speaks. The blind-walking-like-seeing image: the desire-blind shouldn't pretend to walk like the vicāra-seeing; let your bōlī (speech) match what you actually have. (= self-honesty about one's spiritual stage.)
[T]
For someone today
For today: desire erases discrimination; doubt is itself pāpa; inquire your own self by yourself; nāma-rūpa is what applied pollution to what was originally nirmaḷa-śuddha-buddha; don't walk like the seeing if you're blind.
Where this applies
- When a strong craving is making it hard for you to think straight or judge a situation fairly.
- When you catch yourself doubting or second-guessing something you actually know deep down.
- When you're tempted to sound more spiritually advanced or wise than you honestly feel inside.
- When you realize your sense of who you are has become tangled up with titles, labels, or other people's opinions of you.