Abhanga 1474
For today: milk is sweet by name, but sugar has dhīra; jñāna without bhakti is bāpuḍa-helpless; food without salt gives no taste; the blind disciple's toil is just the name of what was taught; bhakti is the tambūrā's sāra-tāra — without it, no music.
The verse
गोड नांवें क्षीर । परी साकरेचा धीर ॥१॥ तैसें जाणा ब्रम्हज्ञान । बापुडें तें भक्तीविण ॥ध्रु.॥ रुची नेदी अन्न । ज्यांत नसतां लवण ॥२॥ अंधळ्याचे श्रम । शिकविल्याचें चि नाम ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे तारा । नाव तंबुर्याच्या सारा ॥४॥
Literal translation
English: Milk is sweet by name — but sugar has the dhīra. So know Brahma-jñāna — bāpuḍē without bhakti. Anna gives no rucī — when no lavaṇa is in it. The andhaḷā's śrama — only the nāma of what was taught. Tuka says: tārā — like the tambūrā's sāra.
मराठी: गोड — नांवें — क्षीर; — परी — साकरेचा — धीर. तैसें — जाणा — ब्रम्ह-ज्ञान; — बापुडें — तें — भक्ति-विण. रुची — नेदी — अन्न; — ज्यांत — नसतां — लवण. अंधळ्याचे — श्रम; — शिकविल्याचें — चि — नाम. Tukā म्हणे — तारा; — नाव — तंबुर्याच्या — सारा.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| गोड नांवें क्षीर | "gōḍa (sweet) — by name (nāmvēm) — kṣīra (milk)" |
| परी साकरेचा धीर | "but (parī) — sākara's (sugar's) — dhīra (= fortitude / staying-strength)" |
| तैसें जाणा ब्रम्हज्ञान | "so (taisēm) — know — Brahma-jñāna" |
| बापुडें तें भक्तीविण | "bāpuḍēm (= helpless / poor) — that — without bhakti (bhakti-vīṇa)" |
| रुची नेदी अन्न | "rucī (taste) — does not give — anna (food)" |
| ज्यांत नसतां लवण | "in which — there is no (nasatām) — lavaṇa (salt)" |
| अंधळ्याचे श्रम | "the andhaḷā (= blind one)'s — śrama (toil)" |
| शिकविल्याचें चि नाम | "only (chi) the nāma — of (what was) taught (śikavilī)" |
| तुका म्हणे तारा | "Tuka says — the tāra (string)" |
| नाव तंबुर्याच्या सारा | "(the) nāva (name) — of the tambūrā's — sāra (essence)" |
What it means
Jñāna-without-bhakti-is-helpless abhang. A cluster of cooking-and-music images. The opening: gōḍa nāmvē kṣīra — parī sākarēcā dhīra — milk is sweet by name; — but sugar has the dhīra (= staying-strength). The milk-sugar comparison: milk is sweet but the sweetness fades; sugar's sweetness is stable. (= jñāna may call itself sweet, but bhakti has the durability. Dhīra — fortitude, the staying-quality.)
The application: taisēm jāṇā Brahma-jñāna — bāpuḍēm tēm bhakti-vīṇa — so know — Brahma-jñāna — bāpuḍēm (= helpless / poor / pitiful) — without bhakti. Direct: Brahma-jñāna without bhakti is helpless / pitiful. (Pairs with 1466's bhakti-vīṇa-phōla-jñāna — without bhakti, jñāna is chaff; here a softer, more pitying image — bāpuḍē, helpless.)
The cooking-image: rucī nēdī anna — jyāñta nasatām lavaṇa — food doesn't give taste — when there's no salt in it. The classic salt-without-which-food-has-no-taste image. Bhakti is the salt in the food-of-jñāna. Without it, jñāna-anna is unflavored.
The blind-image: andhaḷyācē śrama — śikaviliyācēm chi nāma — the andhaḷā (blind)'s śrama (toil); — only the nāma — of what was taught. The blind-disciple's toil = he can only recite what was taught, not see it. (Compare 1402's andhaḷyānēm-nayē-dēkhaṇyācī-cālī* — the blind shouldn't adopt the seeing's gait; here the inverse-image: blind disciple keeps reciting taught-names without sight.)
The closing-image: Tukā mhaṇē tārā — nāva tambūṛyācyā sārā — Tuka says — the tāra (string); — (just) the nāma — of the tambūrā's sāra (= essence-string). The tambūrā — the drone-string instrument used by warkari kīrtana-singers — has a sāra-tāra (essence-string, the tonic). Without striking the sāra-string, the others sound discordant. (= bhakti is the sāra-tāra; jñāna-music without it is just noise. Tāra puns: string + redemption-of-tāra.)
[T]
For someone today
For today: milk is sweet by name, but sugar has dhīra; jñāna without bhakti is bāpuḍa-helpless; food without salt gives no taste; the blind disciple's toil is just the name of what was taught; bhakti is the tambūrā's sāra-tāra — without it, no music.
Where this applies
- Milk-sweet-but-sugar-stronger.* Gōḍa-kṣīra-sākarēcā-dhīra.
- Jñāna-without-bhakti-helpless.* Brahma-jñāna-bhakti-vīṇa-bāpuḍēm.
- Food-without-salt-no-taste.* Anna-lavaṇa-rucī-na.
- Blind-only-recites-taught-names.* Andhaḷyā-śikaviliyācēm-nāma.
- Bhakti-is-tambūrā's-essence-string.* Tāra-tambūrā-sāra.