Abhanga 1459

For today: I'm not a quarrelsome arguer for opinion's sake — satya's authority is the instruction; with witnessing-attention, the answer comes to mind, and at ripening, true-and-false are known; this word is not localized — it spans the cosmic-egg; don't toil in many-opinions in vain.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

Not-quarrelsome-arguer-satya-is-instruction abhang. A direct-continuation of 1456's anti-multi-opinion polemic, but here Tuka clarifies his own stance. The opening: navhē khaḷa-vādī mata cā puratā — satyācī hē sattā upadēśa — I am not — akhaḷa-vādī(= argumentative-wrangler) — for the sake ofmata(opinion); —satya'ssattā(authority) — is theupadēśa. Tuka denies he is amata-defender; — his authority is not opinion-driven. Satya itself has sattā (authority); — that is the upadēśa. (Distinguishes Tuka's polemic from the opinion-quarrels he attacks.)

The verification-method: sākṣatvēmsī manā āṇāvīm uttarē — paripākīm kharēm khōṭēm kaḷē — withsākṣitva(witnessing-state) — bring theuttarā(answer) to themanā; — atparipāka(= ripening / final-consummation) —kharēm-khōṭēm(true-and-false) — isknown. The witnessing-state-test: bring the answer to mind in sākṣitva; truth shows in the paripāka (= over time, by ripening). (Compare 1408's bhalēm sākṣitvēm — well in witness-state.)

The cosmic-claim: navhē ēka-dēśī śabda hā ukhatā — Brahmāṇḍā-puratā ghē'īla tyāsī — thisśabda— is not —ēka-dēśī(= region-bound) —ukhatā; —brahmāṇḍa-paratā(= encompassing the cosmic-egg) —it will take—that one. The bhakti-śabda (i.e., Hari-nāma) is not localized; it encompasses the brahmāṇḍa. (Striking cosmic-scope claim: nāma is not provincial. Ukhatā is unusual — possibly = raised / elevated or hot / fervent.)

The closing-request: Tukā vinavaṇī karī jāṇatiyām — bahu-matēm vāyām śramōm nayē — Tuka makes avinavaṇī(request) to thejāṇatī(knowing ones); — bybahu-mata(many-opinions) — should not toil in vain. (= the gentle-request form: don't waste yourselves in opinion-wars. Pairs with 1456's harsher paḍilī mātī tōṇḍīm — dirt in mouth — same target, gentler tone.)

[T]

For someone today

For today: I'm not a quarrelsome arguer for opinion's sake — satya's authority is the instruction; with witnessing-attention, the answer comes to mind, and at ripening, true-and-false are known; this word is not localized — it spans the cosmic-egg; don't toil in many-opinions in vain.

Where this applies

• When you get pulled into an argument and realize you are fighting to be right rather than to find what is true
• When you are unsure whether an idea or a teaching is genuine and don't know how to test it
• When someone accuses you of pushing your own opinion and you want to explain that you're pointing at something larger than yourself
• When you feel exhausted from debating people who each insist their own view is the only correct one

Related verses

• Abhanga 2467 — What looks like your whole world, like a fig to the insect living inside it, is only a tin
• Abhanga 4481 — Tukaram promises that sincerely calling on the Lord's name, knowingly or unknowingly, with
• Abhanga 4482 — Tukaram teaches that no ritual equals sincerely speaking the Lord's name, that self-center
• Abhanga 4497 — Tukaram describes a life so soaked in devotion that Krishna's presence fills every ordinar