Abhanga 1423
Becoming free of hostility toward anyone — that is the root of all spiritual practice; everything else is just shuffling things around without real effect. Putting on a disguise of holiness doesn't hold up; in the end, what is genuine and what is fake always sorts itself out. True renunciation doesn't mean giving up outward things — it means being free of desire for the objects of the senses, with rituals kept only as far as they truly serve a purpose. Tuka says: let your love simply rest in constant remembrance of him — that alone is what unites you with truth.
The verse
निर्वैर होणें साधनाचें मूळ । येर ते विल्हाळ सांडीमांडी ॥१॥ नाहीं चालों येती सोंगसंपादणी । निवडे अवसानीं शुद्धाशुद्ध ॥ध्रु.॥ त्यागा नांव तरी निर्विषयवासना । कारीयेकारणांपुरते विधि ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे राहे चिंतनीं आवडी । येणें नांवें जोडी सत्यत्वेंशीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Becoming nirvaira is sādhana's mūḷa — the rest is vilhāḷa — sāṇḍī-māṇḍī. Sōnga-sampādaṇī doesn't work (cālōm yētī) — śuddha-aśuddha is sorted at avasāna. Tyāga's nāma is nirviṣaya-vāsanā — vidhi only for kāryē-kāraṇa. Tuka says: love stays in cintana — by this nāma, joining with satyatva.
मराठी: निर्वैर — होणें — साधनाचें — मूळ; — येर — ते — विल्हाळ — सांडी-मांडी. नाहीं — चालों — येती — सोंग-संपादणी; — निवडे — अवसानीं — शुद्ध-अशुद्ध. त्यागा — नांव — तरी — निर्विषय-वासना; — कारीये-कारणांपुरते — विधि. Tukā म्हणे — राहे — चिंतनीं — आवडी; — येणें — नांवें — जोडी — सत्यत्वेंशीं.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| निर्वैर होणें साधनाचें मूळ | "becoming (hōṇē) — nirvaira (= hostility-free / enmity-less) — sādhana's mūḷa (root)" |
| येर ते विल्हाळ सांडीमांडी | "the rest (yēra) — that (is) — vilhāḷa (= worthless / scattered) — sāṇḍī-māṇḍī (= picking-up-and-putting-down)" |
| नाहीं चालों येती सोंगसंपादणी | "sōnga-sampādaṇī (= disguise / role-procurement) — does not work (cālōm yētī)" |
| निवडे अवसानीं शुद्धाशुद्ध | "śuddha-aśuddha — gets sorted (nivaḍē) — at avasāna (= end-stage / dénouement)" |
| त्यागा नांव तरी निर्विषयवासना | "tyāga's nāma (name) — is nirviṣaya-vāsanā (= desire-free-of-sense-objects)" |
| कारीयेकारणांपुरते विधि | "vidhi (= ritual / procedure) — only as much as (puratē) — kāryē-kāraṇa (effect-and-cause / purpose)" |
| तुका म्हणे राहे चिंतनीं आवडी | "Tuka says — āvaḍī (love) — stays — in cintana" |
| येणें नांवें जोडी सत्यत्वेंशीं | "by this nāma — jōḍa (= joining / pairing) — with satyatva (= truth-state)" |
What it means
Nirvaira-is-sādhana's-root abhang. The opening principle: nirvaira hōṇē sādhanācē mūḷa — yēra tē vilhāḷa sāṇḍī-māṇḍī — becomingnirvaira(= hostility-free) — is sādhana'smūḷa(root); — the rest — isvilhāḷa(= worthless / scattered) —sāṇḍī-māṇḍī(= picking-up-and-putting-down). Nirvaira — no-enmity-toward-anyone — is the root. Without that, all the rest of practice is just sāṇḍī-māṇḍī (= shuffling-things-around without effect). (Compare 1396's mūḷa-rākhē-tayā-phaḷā-kāya-uṇē — keep the root, fruit doesn't lack.)
The disguise-warning: nāhīm cālōm yētī sōnga-sampādaṇī — nivaḍē avasānīm śuddha-aśuddha — sōnga-sampādaṇī (= disguise-fabrication) — does not work (cālōm yētī); — śuddha-aśuddha — gets sorted (nivaḍē) — at the avasāna (= end-stage). Disguise doesn't run-the-distance;at the dénouement, śuddha and aśuddha get separated. (Compare 1404'sśṛngārilēm maḍhēm— decorated corpse; herethe disguise gets exposed at avasāna.)
The tyāga-definition: tyāgā nāmva tarī nirviṣaya-vāsanā — kāryē-kāraṇāñpuratē vidhi — the name oftyāga— isnirviṣaya-vāsanā(= desire-free-of-sense-objects); —vidhi(rituals) — only as much askāryē-kāraṇa(effect-and-cause / purpose) require. Tyāga is NOT outer-renunciation — it means desire-free-of-sense-objects; rituals are kept only as far as purpose dictates. (Foundational anti-ritualist internal-tyāga definition; pairs with 1404's jaṭā-rākha-viṭambanā — outer-signs-without-inner-states.)
The closing positive: rāhē cintanīm āvaḍī — yēṇēm nāmvēm jōḍī satyatvēmśīm — (let)āvaḍī(love) — stay — incintana; — by thisnāma(= rule / call / name) —jōḍa(joining) — withsatyatva(= truth-state). Love-in-contemplation is the only thing that joins satyatva.
[T]
For someone today
Becoming free of hostility toward anyone — that is the root of all spiritual practice; everything else is just shuffling things around without real effect. Putting on a disguise of holiness doesn't hold up; in the end, what is genuine and what is fake always sorts itself out. True renunciation doesn't mean giving up outward things — it means being free of desire for the objects of the senses, with rituals kept only as far as they truly serve a purpose. Tuka says: let your love simply rest in constant remembrance of him — that alone is what unites you with truth.
मराठी: कोणाबद्दलही मनात वैर न ठेवणे — हेच साधनेचे खरे मूळ आहे; बाकी सगळे केवळ इकडचे-तिकडचे हलवण्यासारखे निरर्थक आहे. भक्तीचे सोंग फार काळ टिकत नाही; शेवटी शुद्ध आणि अशुद्ध आपोआप वेगळे होतात. खरा त्याग म्हणजे बाह्य वस्तूंचा त्याग नव्हे, तर विषयांच्या इच्छेपासून मुक्त होणे — विधी-कर्मकांड फक्त गरजेपुरतेच असावे. तुका म्हणतात, प्रेम फक्त सतत चिंतनात राहू दे — तेच खऱ्या अर्थाने सत्याशी जोडते.
Where this applies
- When you are practicing devotion while still holding onto a grudge or resentment toward someone
- When you keep up an outward show of piety but have not dealt with what is underneath
- When you think giving up possessions makes you renounced even though you are still hungry for sensory pleasure
- When you want steady inner devotion rather than piling on rituals for their own sake