Abhanga 1515
For today: some bellow about their pilgrimage and tapa with fake pride; Viṣṇu-dāsas aren't coarse — they fall at each other's feet; Veda-syllables can bring pride into the body and the wish to be honored; those drowned in the vidhi-niṣedha pool never have Hari.
The verse
तीर्थाटणें एकें तपें हुंबरती । नाथिले धरिती अभिमान ॥१॥ तैसे विष्णुदास नव्हती साबडे । एकाचिया पडे पायां एक ॥ध्रु.॥ अक्षरें आणिती अंगासी जाणीव । इच्छा ते गौरव पूज्य व्हावें ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे विधिनिषधाचे डोहीं । पडिले त्यां नाहीं देव कधीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: Some by tīrthāṭana, by tapa, humbaratī — they hold nāthilē abhimāna. Such, Viṣṇu-dāsa-s are not — sābaḍē; one falls at another's pāyā. Akṣaras bring jāṇīva into body — desire is gaurava, to be pūjya. Tuka says: in vidhi-niṣedha's ḍōha — those who fell — never have Deva.
मराठी: तीर्थाटणें — एकें — तपें — हुंबरती; — नाथिले — धरिती — अभिमान. तैसे — विष्णु-दास — नव्हती — साबडे; — एकाचिया — पडे — पायां — एक. अक्षरें — आणिती — अंगासी — जाणीव; — इच्छा — ते — गौरव — पूज्य — व्हावें. Tukā म्हणे — विधि-निषधाचे — डोहीं; — पडिले — त्यां — नाहीं — देव — कधीं.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| तीर्थाटणें एकें तपें हुंबरती | "by tīrthāṭanas — some (ēkēm) — by tapa — humbaratī (= bellow / boast)" |
| नाथिले धरिती अभिमान | "nāthilē (= fictitious / unattested) — they hold — abhimāna (pride)" |
| तैसे विष्णुदास नव्हती साबडे | "such — Viṣṇu-dāsas — are not — sābaḍē (= coarse / boastful)" |
| एकाचिया पडे पायां एक | "at one's (ēkācīyā) — pāya (feet) — falls — another (ēka)" |
| अक्षरें आणिती अंगासी जाणीव | "akṣaras — bring — into the body — jāṇīva (= self-awareness / pride-of-knowledge)" |
| इच्छा ते गौरव पूज्य व्हावें | "icchā — that — gaurava (= honor / weight) — pūjya vhāvēm (= to be worship-worthy)" |
| तुका म्हणे विधिनिषधाचे डोहीं | "Tuka says — in the ḍōha (= deep-pool) — of vidhi-niṣedha (injunctions and prohibitions)" |
| पडिले त्यां नाहीं देव कधीं | "those who fell — to them — Deva — never (kadhīm)" |
What it means
Viṣṇu-dāsas-fall-at-each-other's-feet abhang. The opening: tīrthāṭanēm ēkēm tapēm humbaratī — nāthilē dharitī abhimāna — some — by tīrthāṭanas — by tapa — humbaratī (= bellow / boast like a buffalo); — nāthilē (= fictitious / unfounded) — they hold abhimāna. Some bellow about their pilgrimage and tapa, holding unfounded pride. The verb humbaratī — onomatopoeic for the bellow of cattle — applied derisively to the boastful pilgrim-tapas-doer.
The Viṣṇu-dāsa-contrast: taisē Viṣṇu-dāsa navhatī sābaḍē — ēkācīyā paḍē pāyām ēka — such — Viṣṇu-dāsas are not — sābaḍē (= coarse / rough); — at one's — feet — falls — another. Viṣṇu-dāsas are not coarse-and-boastful; they fall at one another's feet. (= the mutual-prostration of Vaiṣṇavas — sign of true bhakti, contrasted with the self-aggrandizement of the tapas-doers.)
The diagnosis-of-fake-bhakti: akṣarēm āṇitī angāsī jāṇīva — icchā tē gaurava pūjya vhāvēm — the akṣaras (= Vedic-letters / textual-knowledge) — bring into the body — jāṇīva (= pride-of-knowledge); — the icchā — is — gaurava (= weight / honor) — pūjya vhāvēm (= to be worship-worthy). Veda-study brings self-awareness into the body — and the wish becomes: to be honored, worshipped. (= jñāna-pride; cf. 1456's śabda-jñānī.)
The closing-warning: vidhi-niṣadhācē ḍōhīm — paḍilē tyām nāhīm Deva kadhīm — in the ḍōha (= deep-pool) — of vidhi-niṣedha (= injunctions-and-prohibitions); — those who fell — to them — Deva — never. Those drowned in the vidhi-niṣedha-deep-pool — never have Hari. (Striking: legalism-as-drowning; the bhakta who gets caught in injunction-prohibition disputes loses Hari. Compare 1467's vidhi-pāḷīm-until-unmana — vidhi as transitional; here vidhi-niṣedha as drowning-pool if it becomes the destination.)
[T]
For someone today
For today: some bellow about their pilgrimage and tapa with fake pride; Viṣṇu-dāsas aren't coarse — they fall at each other's feet; Veda-syllables can bring pride into the body and the wish to be honored; those drowned in the vidhi-niṣedha pool never have Hari.
Where this applies
- Pilgrim-tapa-doers-bellow-fake-pride.* Tīrthāṭana-tapa-humbaratī-nāthilē-abhimāna.
- Viṣṇu-dāsas-fall-at-each-other's-feet.* Viṣṇu-dāsa-na-sābaḍē-ēkācīyā-pāyām.
- Akṣaras-bring-self-awareness-and-honor-wish.* Akṣara-angāsī-jāṇīva-pūjya-vhāvēm.
- Vidhi-niṣedha-pool-drowns-Hari.* Vidhi-niṣedha-ḍōha-Deva-na-kadhīm.