Abhanga 1536
English: Bhakti is kaṭhiṇa — śuḷā-varīla pōḷī — winnows the baḷī, viraḷā śūra.
The verse
भक्ति तों कठिण शुळावरील पोळी । निवडे तो बळी विरळा शूर ॥१॥ जेथें पाहें तेथें देखीचा पर्वत । पायाविण भिंत तांतडीची ॥ध्रु.॥ कामावलें तरि पाका ओज घडे । रुचि आणि जोडे श्लाघ्यता हे ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे मना पाहिजे अंकुश । नित्य नवा दिस जागृतीचा ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: Bhakti is kaṭhiṇa — śuḷā-varīla pōḷī — winnows the baḷī, viraḷā śūra. Wherever I look, parvata of dēkhī — pāyā-vīṇa bhinta of tāntaḍī. When kāmāvalēm, only then pāka gets ōja — rucī and ślāghyatā joined. Tuka says: mana needs ankuśa — every day a new disa of jāgṛti.
मराठी: भक्ति — तों — कठिण — शुळा-वरील — पोळी; — निवडे — तो — बळी — विरळा — शूर. जेथें — पाहें — तेथें — देखीचा — पर्वत; — पाया-विण — भिंत — तांतडीची. कामावलें — तरि — पाका — ओज — घडे; — रुचि — आणि — जोडे — श्लाघ्यता — हे. Tukā म्हणे — मना — पाहिजे — अंकुश; — नित्य — नवा — दिस — जागृतीचा.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| भक्ति तों कठिण शुळावरील पोळी | "bhakti — is — kaṭhiṇa (hard); — śuḷā-varīla pōḷī (= bread on the spike)" |
| निवडे तो बळी विरळा शूर | "winnows / sorts-out (nivaḍē) — that one — baḷī (mighty); — viraḷā (rare) — the śūra (warrior)" |
| जेथें पाहें तेथें देखीचा पर्वत | "wherever I look — there — a parvata — of dēkhī (= apparent things)" |
| पायाविण भिंत तांतडीची | "pāyā-vīṇa (without foundation) — bhinta (wall) — of tāntaḍī (haste)" |
| कामावलें तरि पाका ओज घडे | "(when) kāmāvalēm (= ardent) — only then — to pāka (= cooked-food) — ōja (radiance) — happens" |
| रुचि आणि जोडे श्लाघ्यता हे | "rucī (taste) — and — ślāghyatā (praise-worthy-quality) — gets joined" |
| तुका म्हणे मना पाहिजे अंकुश | "Tuka says — to (the) mana — ankuśa (elephant-goad) — is required" |
| नित्य नवा दिस जागृतीचा | "every-day — new — a disa — of jāgṛti (wakefulness)" |
What it means
Bhakti-is-bread-on-spike abhang. One of the most-quoted lines on bhakti's-difficulty. The opening: bhakti tōm kaṭhiṇa śuḷā-varīla pōḷī — nivaḍē tō baḷī viraḷā śūra — bhakti is — kaṭhiṇa (= hard); — śuḷā-varīla pōḷī (= the bread that has to be eaten while balancing on the spike); — winnows-out — that one — the baḷī (mighty); — viraḷā (rare) — the śūra (warrior). The famous śuḷā-varīla-pōḷī image: bhakti is like eating roti while balancing on the point of a spike (= you can't fall off; you can't be casual). Only the rare-warrior survives the test. (Compare 1397's power-of-abhyāsa; here the difficulty-side of the same theme.)
The diagnosis: jēthēm pāhēm tēthēm dēkhīcā parvata — pāyā-vīṇa bhinta tāntaḍīcī — wherever I look — a parvata (mountain) — of dēkhī (= apparent / seen-things); — foundation-less — bhinta (wall) — of tāntaḍī (= haste). Wherever you look, a mountain of pretentious-display; foundation-less hasty-walls. (= the world full of fake-bhakti-displays; cf. anti-fake-bhakti register.)
The cooking-image: kāmāvalēm tarī pākā ōja ghaḍē — ruci āṇi jōḍē ślāghyatā hē — when one is kāmāvalēm (= ardent / engaged); — only then — to pāka (cooked-food) — ōja (= splendor) — happens; — rucī and ślāghyatā (praise-worthy-quality) — get joined. Only the ardent-cook produces radiant food with taste-and-praise-worthiness. (= the bhakti-meal requires engaged-cooking*, not casual-throwing-together.)
The closing-counsel: manā pāhijē ankuśa — nitya navā disa jāgṛtīcā — the mana — needs — ankuśa (= elephant-goad); — every-day — new — a day of jāgṛti (= wakefulness). The mind is an elephant — it needs the goad; every day must be a new-day-of-wakefulness. (Compare Bhagavad-Gītā 6.34: cañcalam hi manaḥ kṛṣṇa — the mind is restless; here ankuśa as response.)
[T]
For someone today
For today: bhakti is hard — bread-on-the-spike, winnowing only the rare-warrior; wherever you look, mountain of show-display, foundation-less haste-walls; only the ardent-cook produces radiant food with taste; mind needs the elephant-goad — every day a new day of wakefulness.
Where this applies
- Bhakti-is-hard-bread-on-spike-winnows-rare-warrior.* Bhakti-kaṭhiṇa-śuḷā-pōḷī-baḷī-viraḷā.
- Mountain-of-display-foundation-less-haste-walls.* Dēkhī-parvata-pāyā-vīṇa-bhinta-tāntaḍī.
- Only-ardent-cook-gets-food-radiance.* Kāmāvalēm-pāka-ōja-rucī-ślāghyatā.
- Mind-needs-elephant-goad-every-day-wakefulness.* Manā-ankuśa-nitya-navā-jāgṛti.