Abhanga 1448
For today: Hari becomes whatever each one meditates; saguṇa and nirguṇa meet at his feet on the brick; the all-sugar-body has no deficient piece — every part is fully Hari; whatever you do, he is the experiencer.
The verse
ज्याणें ज्याणें जैसें ध्यावें । तैसें व्हावें कृपाळें ॥१॥ सगुणनिर्गुणांचा ठाव । विटे पाव धरियेले ॥ध्रु.॥ अवघें साकरेचें अंग । नये व्यंग निवडितां ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे जें जें करी । तें तें हरी भोगिता ॥३॥
Literal translation
Whoever meditates as such — thus the kṛpāḷu becomes. The ṭhāva of saguṇa-nirguṇa — feet held on the viṭā. The entire sugar-anga — does not come vyanga when sorted. Tuka says: whatever (one) does — that, Hari is the bhōgītā.
मराठी: ज्याणें — ज्याणें — जैसें — ध्यावें; — तैसें — व्हावें — कृपाळें. सगुण-निर्गुणांचा — ठाव; — विटे — पाव — धरियेले. अवघें — साकरेचें — अंग; — नये — व्यंग — निवडितां. Tukā म्हणे — जें — जें — करी; — तें — तें — हरी — भोगिता.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ज्याणें ज्याणें जैसें ध्यावें | "whoever (jyāṇē jyāṇē) — meditates as such (jaisēm)" |
| तैसें व्हावें कृपाळें | "thus (taisēm) — must (vhāvēm) become — the kṛpāḷu (compassionate one)" |
| सगुणनिर्गुणांचा ठाव | "of saguṇa-nirguṇa — ṭhāva (place / seat)" |
| विटे पाव धरियेले | "on the brick (viṭā) — feet (pāva) — (he has) held (dhariyēlē)" |
| अवघें साकरेचें अंग | "the entire (avaghēm) — anga (body) — of sākara (sugar)" |
| नये व्यंग निवडितां | "doesn't come (nayē) — vyanga (= deficient / piecemeal-cut) — when sorting out (nivaḍitām)" |
| तुका म्हणे जें जें करी | "Tuka says — whatever (jēm jēm) — (one) does" |
| तें तें हरी भोगिता | "that and that (tēm tēm) — Hari — (is) the bhōgītā (experiencer)" |
What it means
Hari-becomes-what-each-meditates abhang. The opening: jyāṇē jyāṇē jaisēm dhyāvēm — taisēm vhāvēm kṛpāḷē — whoever, whoever — meditates as such — thus must (thekṛpāḷu) become. Hari, the compassionate-one, takes the form (saguṇa or nirguṇa) according to the bhakta's bhāva. (Compare Bhagavad-Gītā 4.11: yē yathā mām prapadyante tāms tathaiva bhajāmy aham — as people approach me, so I respond. Tukaram's own version of that.)
The Viṭṭhal-image: saguṇa-nirguṇāñcā ṭhāva — viṭē pāva dhariyēlē — theṭhāva(place / seat) ofsaguṇa-nirguṇa— feet (pāva) — held — on theviṭā(brick). The Viṭṭhal-on-the-brick image: the place where saguṇa and nirguṇa meet is Viṭṭhal-standing-on-the-brick. (= the iconography itself encodes the non-difference between sa and nir; pairs with 1442's bhinna parī ēka — separate yet one.)
The sugar-body image: avaghē sākarēcēm anga — nayē vyanga nivaḍitām — the entire body — ofsākara(sugar); — doesn't becomevyanga(= deficient / piece-cut) — whensorted out. The all-sugar-body image: a sugar-block, when divided, every piece is still sugar; no piece comes out deficient. No matter how you sort/divide, the whole-and-each-part is sugar. (= Hari, like a sugar-block, is fully present in every part; the saguṇa-nirguṇa division doesn't leave any piece deficient.)
The closing: jēm jēm karī — tēm tēm Harī bhōgītā — whatever (one) does — that, Hari is thebhōgītā(experiencer). (Compare 1419's draṣṭā Deva virahita samkalpā — Hari is samkalpa-less witness; here the inverse: Hari is the experiencer of all activities.)
[T]
For someone today
For today: Hari becomes whatever each one meditates; saguṇa and nirguṇa meet at his feet on the brick; the all-sugar-body has no deficient piece — every part is fully Hari; whatever you do, he is the experiencer.
Where this applies
- When you feel torn between worshipping God with form, like an idol or image, and believing in a formless, abstract divine
- When you doubt that your particular way of praying or imagining God is the right one
- When you feel like a small or lesser part of something and wonder if you still carry the same worth as the whole
- When you want to remember that God is present even in your ordinary, everyday actions, not only in special rituals