Abhanga 1425

Real love proves itself by lasting, not by being talked about, and it can never truly be broken.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

Why-take-a-name-when-niṣkāma abhang. Light Hari-tāḍ — Tuka catches Hari in a paradox. The opening: kām jī dharilēm nāma — tumhī asōnī niṣkāma — why, sir (jī, politely-needling) — have youtakenanāma? — when you (yourself) areniṣkāma(= desire-less / having no kāma). The paradox: Hari isniṣkāma(= without-desire); yet hebears a nāma(= takes a name, takes a form).If you have no desire, why bear a name?(Pun:niṣ-kāma= desire-less;nāmaimplieskāmain some sense. Thevery-nāma-bearingpresupposes adesire to be known.)

The middle dig: kōṇām sāngatasām jñāna — ṭhakā-ṭhakīcē lakṣaṇa — to whom are you tellingjñāna? — that's thelakṣaṇa(mark) ofṭhakā-ṭhakī(= mutual-cheating). Jñāna-discourse is mutual-cheating — the jñāna-teller and jñāna-listener cheat each other (each pretending to give-or-receive what neither has). (This may be aimed at Hari in the abhēda-mode — if you're niṣkāma and beyond-name, who are you teaching jñāna to? — or at the fake-jñānīs of 1424.)

The corrective: āvaḍīnēm nācē — āhē tarī puḍhēm sācē — byāvaḍī(love) — let (it)dance(nācē); — if it is (real), thenahead— it will besācē(true). Let love dance (= the bhakti-state); if it's real love, it will be sāca (true) on the road ahead. Real prēma proves itself by going-on; jñāna as talk doesn't.

The closing: Tukā mhaṇē prēma — nāhīm bhangāyācēm kāma — Tuka says —prēma— is nokāma(work) — ofbhanga(breaking). Prēma is not breakable — it has no breakage-business. (Cf. 1397's wet-root piercing rock — prēma has the same un-breakable quality.)

[T]

For someone today

For today: Hari, why have you taken a name if you're niṣkāma? — jñāna-talk is mutual-cheating; let love dance — if it's real, it shows on the road ahead; prema is no work of breaking.

Where this applies

• When you notice someone performing spirituality for an audience rather than living it quietly
• When you catch yourself explaining your beliefs to sound wise instead of just living them
• When you wonder whether a friendship or devotion is real, and realize the only test is whether it holds up over time
• When you feel love pulling you to act and you stop overthinking it and simply follow it

Related verses

• Abhanga 2448 — The easiest path to God is repeating divine names with love at home, right where you are,
• Abhanga 2467 — What looks like your whole world, like a fig to the insect living inside it, is only a tin
• Abhanga 2494 — Living in devotion turns an ordinary day into a festival and removes the fear of birth and
• Abhanga 4481 — Tukaram promises that sincerely calling on the Lord's name, knowingly or unknowingly, with