Abhanga 1480
For today: we are samnyāsīs of our region — body-filled with Hari, not formally renounced; what comes unsought is our share; Pāṇḍuranga the giver, we make ourselves carefree; the daṇḍa, muṇḍana, kaupīna, sky-garment are all interior; Kāla conquered by abiding in Time; we stay in sva-rūpa alone; not costume-wearers but as-we-are.
The verse
आम्ही क्षेत्रींचे संन्यासी । देहभरित हृषीकेशी । नाहीं केली ऐशी । आशाकामबोहरी ॥१॥ आलें अयाचित अंगा । सहज तें आम्हां भागा । दाता पांडुरंगा । ऐसा करितां निश्चिंती ॥ध्रु.॥ दंड धरिला दंडायमान । मुळीं मुंडिलें मुंडण । बंदी बंद कौपीन । बहिरवास औठडें ॥२॥ काळें साधियेला काळ । मन करूनि निश्चळ । लौकिकीं विटाळ । धरूनि असों ऐकांत ॥३॥ कार्यकारणाची चाली । वाचावाचत्वें नेमिली । एका नेमें चाली । स्वरूपीं च राहाणें ॥४॥ नव्हे वेषधारी । तुका आहाच वरवरी । आहे तैसीं बरीं । खंडें निवडितों वेदांची ॥५॥
Literal translation
English: We are kṣētrīñcē samnyāsīs — body-filled with Hṛṣīkeśa — haven't done āśā-kāma-bōharī. What came unsought to body — naturally our bhāga — Pāṇḍuranga the dātā — being so, we make niścinti. Daṇḍa held, daṇḍāyamāna — muṇḍana at the root — bandī banda kaupīna — bahir-vāsa au-ṭhaḍē. By Time, Kāla conquered — mind made niścaḷa — laukika-viṭāḷa — staying in aikānta. The cālī of kārya-kāraṇa — by vācā-vācatva regulated — by one nēma the cālī — staying only in sva-rūpa. Tuka is not vēṣa-dhārī — not āhāca varavarī — as-it-is, correctly — I sort the khaṇḍas of the Vēdas.
मराठी: आम्ही — क्षेत्रींचे — संन्यासी; — देह-भरित — हृषीकेशी; — नाहीं — केली — ऐशी — आशा-काम-बोहरी. आलें — अयाचित — अंगा; — सहज — तें — आम्हां — भागा; — दाता — पांडुरंगा; — ऐसा — करितां — निश्चिंती. दंड — धरिला — दंडायमान; — मुळीं — मुंडिलें — मुंडण; — बंदी — बंद — कौपीन; — बहिर-वास — औठडें. काळें — साधियेला — काळ; — मन — करूनि — निश्चळ; — लौकिकीं — विटाळ; — धरूनि — असों — ऐकांत. कार्य-कारणाची — चाली; — वाचा-वाचत्वें — नेमिली; — एका — नेमें — चाली; — स्वरूपीं — च — राहाणें. नव्हे — वेष-धारी; — Tukā — आहाच — वरवरी; — आहे — तैसीं — बरीं; — खंडें — निवडितों — वेदांची.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| आम्ही क्षेत्रींचे संन्यासी | "we are — of kṣētra (= region / village / sacred-place) — samnyāsīs" |
| देहभरित हृषीकेशी | "body-filled (dēha-bharita) — with Hṛṣīkēśī (= the lord-of-the-senses, Hari)" |
| नाहीं केली ऐशी आशाकामबोहरी | "have not done — such — āśā-kāma-bōharī (= the sweeping-out / formal-renunciation of desire-and-lust)" |
| आलें अयाचित अंगा | "came — ayācita (unsought) — to (the) body" |
| सहज तें आम्हां भागा | "naturally — to us — by bhāga (share)" |
| दाता पांडुरंगा | "dātā (= giver) — Pāṇḍuranga" |
| ऐसा करितां निश्चिंती | "being so (aisā) — we make — niścinti (carefree)" |
| दंड धरिला दंडायमान | "daṇḍa (= staff) — has been held (dharilā) — daṇḍāyamāna (= standing-firm-disciplined)" |
| मुळीं मुंडिलें मुंडण | "at the muḷa (= root) — muṇḍana (shaving) has been done" |
| बंदी बंद कौपीन | "bandī (= bound) — banda (= bond) — kaupīna (= loincloth)" |
| बहिरवास औठडें | "bahir-vāsa (= outer-garment) — au-ṭhaḍē (= sky-bare / without)" |
| काळें साधियेला काळ | "by kāḷa (Time) — Kāla (= death/Time) — has been conquered (sādhiyēlā)" |
| मन करूनि निश्चळ | "mana — having made — niścaḷa (unmoving)" |
| लौकिकीं विटाळ | "in laukika (worldly affairs) — viṭāḷa (= avoidance)" |
| धरूनि असों ऐकांत | "having held — we stay — aikānta (solitude)" |
| कार्यकारणाची चाली | "the cālī (conduct) — of kārya-kāraṇa (effect-cause)" |
| वाचावाचत्वें नेमिली | "by vācā-vācatvēm (= speech-and-its-suspension) — regulated" |
| एका नेमें चाली | "by one nēma — the cālī" |
| स्वरूपीं च राहाणें | "in sva-rūpa — alone — staying" |
| नव्हे वेषधारी | "(Tuka) is not — vēṣa-dhārī (= costume-wearer)" |
| तुका आहाच वरवरी | "Tuka — āhāca varavarī (= [is not] just-on-the-surface / outwardly)" |
| आहे तैसीं बरीं | "as-it-is (āhē taisīm) — barīm (= correctly / well)" |
| खंडें निवडितों वेदांची | "khaṇḍas (= sections / portions) — I sort (nivaḍitōm) — of (the) Vēdas" |
What it means
We-are-kṣētrī-samnyāsīs self-portrait abhang. A 6-verse manifesto of internal-samnyāsa-vs-formal-samnyāsa. The opening claim: āmhī kṣētrīñcē samnyāsī — dēha-bharita Hṛṣīkēśī — nāhīm kēlī aiśī āśā-kāma-bōharī — we are kṣētrīñcē (= region-samnyāsīs, not formally-initiated); — body-filled with Hṛṣīkēśī (Hari); — have not done — āśā-kāma-bōharī (= the formal sweeping-out of desire-lust). Striking-claim: we are samnyāsīs of-our-region (= warkari-bhakta-style, not the formal Daśanāmi-samnyāsa); — body-filled with Hari — but we did not do the formal renunciation. (= Tuka redefines samnyāsa as internal-state*, not formal-initiation.)
The carefree-stance: ālēm ayācita angā — sahaja tēm āmhām bhāgā — dātā Pāṇḍurangā — aisā karitām niścinti — what comes — unsought — to (the) body; — naturally — our share; — Pāṇḍuranga the dātā; — we are carefree. Whatever comes unsought is our share — Pāṇḍuranga is the giver; thus, niścinti (carefree). (Compare 1420's ālā-bhāgāsī-vēvasāva — same theme.)
The metaphorical-samnyāsi-paraphernalia: daṇḍa dharilā daṇḍāyamāna — muḷīm muṇḍilēm muṇḍaṇa — bandī banda kaupīna — bahir-vāsa au-ṭhaḍē — daṇḍa held standing firm; muṇḍana at the root (= mind-shaving, not head-shaving); bandī-banda-kaupīna (= the bond is the kaupīna); outer-garment is sky-bare (= we wear the sky as outer garment). Each formal-samnyāsa-paraphernalia is reinterpreted internally. (One of the most distinctive internal-samnyāsa portraits in the Gatha.)
The Time-conquest: kāḷē sādhiyēlā kāḷa — mana karūnī niścaḷa — laukikīm viṭāḷa — dharūnī asōm aikānta — by Time-itself, Kāla — conquered; — mind made niścaḷa; — laukika-viṭāḷa (= worldly-avoidance); — holding — staying in aikānta (solitude). (= Time conquered by Time-itself / by abiding-in-time without resisting.)
The kārya-kāraṇa-regulation: kārya-kāraṇācī cālī — vācā-vācatvēm nēmilī — ēkā nēmēm cālī — sva-rūpīm chi rāhāṇē — the conduct of cause-effect — regulated by speech-and-its-suspension; — by one rule, the conduct — staying in sva-rūpa alone. (= behavior is speech-and-silence-balanced; one rule = staying in sva-rūpa.)
The closing-claim: navhē vēṣa-dhārī — Tukā āhāca varavarī — āhē taisīm barīm — khaṇḍē nivaḍitōm Vēdāñcī — Tuka is not — vēṣa-dhārī (costume-keeper); — not just-on-the-surface; — as-it-is, correctly; — I sort the khaṇḍas (sections) of the Vedas. I'm not in costume — what I show is what I am — I sort even the Veda's sections (= I'm not just performing renunciation; I'm in fact at the level where I evaluate Veda-content). The Tuka-as-Veda-sorter is a strong-self-claim about his own spiritual-authority.
[T]
For someone today
For today: we are samnyāsīs of our region — body-filled with Hari, not formally renounced; what comes unsought is our share; Pāṇḍuranga the giver, we make ourselves carefree; the daṇḍa, muṇḍana, kaupīna, sky-garment are all interior; Kāla conquered by abiding in Time; we stay in sva-rūpa alone; not costume-wearers but as-we-are.
Where this applies
- Kṣētrī-samnyāsī-body-filled-Hari.* Kṣētrīñcē-samnyāsī-dēha-bharita-Hṛṣīkēśī.
- What-comes-unsought-our-share-Pāṇḍuranga-giver.* Ayācita-bhāga-Pāṇḍuranga-dātā-niścinti.
- Internal-samnyāsi-paraphernalia.* Daṇḍa-muṇḍana-kaupīna-bahir-vāsa-au-ṭhaḍē.
- Time-conquered-mind-niścaḷa-laukika-viṭāḷa-aikānta.* Kāḷē-Kāḷa-sādhilā-aikānta.
- Stay-in-sva-rūpa-alone.* Sva-rūpīm-chi-rāhāṇē.
- Not-costume-wearer-as-i-am-sort-Veda-sections.* Vēṣa-dhārī-na-Vēdāñcī-khaṇḍē.