संत साहित्य
Work in progress. Translations and commentary are AI-generated and may contain inaccuracies or hallucinations — please use your own judgement and check against the original sources.
संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 1453 of 4582

Abhanga 1453

Heartfelt devotion, not clever reasoning or analysis, is what truly matters, and once you surrender completely there is no need for further argument or strain.

When you'd give up all reasoning — bundle up jāṇīva, bhāva is pramāṇa; surrender to one — Paṇḍharī-king knows all; no tarka, no toil; without bhāva all talk is fatigue

The verse

ठेवा जाणीव गुंडून । येथें भाव चि प्रमाण ॥१॥ एका अनुसरल्या काज । अवघें जाणें पंढरिराज ॥ध्रु.॥ तर्कविर्कासी वाव । न लागे सायासीं ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे भावेंविण । अवघा बोलती तो सीण ॥३॥

Literal translation

Set aside jāṇīva, bundled — here, bhāva alone is pramāṇa. To one, surrendered, for the kāja — Paṇḍharī-rāja knows everything. For tarka-virka there's no vāva — no need of sāyāsa. Tuka says: without bhāva — whatever is spoken — is sīṇa.

मराठी: ठेवा — जाणीव — गुंडून; — येथें — भाव — चि — प्रमाण. एका — अनुसरल्या — काज; — अवघें — जाणें — पंढरि-राज. तर्क-विर्कासी — वाव; — न — लागे — सायासीं. Tukā म्हणे — भावेंविण; — अवघा — बोलती — तो — सीण.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
ठेवा जाणीव गुंडून "set aside (ṭhēvā) — jāṇīva (= self-awareness / awareness-of-knowing) — having bundled (guṇḍūna) (it)"
येथें भाव चि प्रमाण "here — bhāva alone (chi) — (is) pramāṇa"
एका अनुसरल्या काज "to one — having anusaralyā (= followed-completely / surrendered) — for the kāja (= work / sake of one)"
अवघें जाणें पंढरिराज "everything (avaghēm) — Paṇḍharī-rāja — knows (jāṇē)"
तर्कविर्कासी वाव "tarka-virka (= reasoning-and-counter-reasoning) — vāva (room) — there is none"
न लागे सायासीं "no need (na lagē) — of sāyāsa (toil)"
तुका म्हणे भावेंविण "Tuka says — without (-viṇa) bhāva"
अवघा बोलती तो सीण "whatever (avaghā) — is spoken — that — is sīṇa (= toil / weariness)"

What it means

Bundle-up-self-awareness-bhāva-is-pramāṇa abhang. Counterpart to 1438's pramāṇa-nāma-Viṭhōbācyā. Where 1438 said only nāma is our pramāṇa, this abhang says bhāva is the pramāṇa. The opening: ṭhēvā jāṇīva guṇḍūna — yēthēm bhāva chi pramāṇaset aside (ṭhēvā) —jāṇīva— havingbundledit (guṇḍūna); —herebhāva alone— ispramāṇa. Jāṇīvaself-awareness / awareness-of-one's-own-knowing — must be bundled-up-and-set-aside; — here, bhāva alone is the valid-knowing. (Striking anti-jñāna-pramāṇa move; cf. 1436's jāṇīvēcā-śrama-vāyām — toil of self-awareness in vain; same theme stated positively.)

The surrender-claim: ēkā anusaralyā kāja — avaghēm jāṇē Paṇḍharī-rājatoone— havinganusaralyā(= followed-completely / utterly-surrendered) — for thekāja(= sake of one); —everythingPaṇḍharī-rājaknows. When you've surrendered to one, the Paṇḍharī-king knows everything (= what to do for you). (Compare Bhagavad-Gītā 18.66: sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekam śaraṇam vraja — give up all dharmas, take refuge in me alone.)

The dismissal of reasoning: tarka-virkāsī vāva — na lagē sāyāsīmfortarka-virka(= reasoning-and-counter-reasoning) — there's novāva(room); — no need ofsāyāsa(toil). Tarka-virkathe dialectic of arguments-and-counter-argumentshas no place here; no toil needed. (Compare 1444's na-lagē-vēḷa and 1447's na-lagē-śrama — same anti-strain-of-bhakti.)

The closing: bhāvēmviṇa — avaghā bōlatī tō sīṇawithoutbhāva— whatever is spoken — issīṇa(= weariness / fatigue). Bhāva-less speech is fatigue (= it produces nothing, just tires the speaker and listener). (Compare 1407's bhūsa-siṇē-kāṇḍitī — tired pounding chaff; same theme.)

[T]

For someone today

For today: bundle up self-awareness and set it aside — bhāva alone is the pramāṇa; surrender to one — the Paṇḍharī-king knows everything; no room for reasoning and counter-reasoning, no toil needed; without bhāva, whatever is spoken is just fatigue.

मराठी: आजसाठी: आत्मजाणीव बाजूला ठेवून द्या — इथे फक्त भावच खरा आधार आहे; एका ठिकाणी पूर्ण शरण गेलात की पंढरीराजाला सर्व काही आपसूक कळते; इथे युक्तिवाद आणि प्रतियुक्तिवादाला थारा नाही, कष्ट करण्याचीही गरज नाही; भावाशिवाय बोललेलं सगळं शब्दजाल केवळ शीण आणतं.

Where this applies

Related verses