Abhanga 1584
For today: Tuka has been weighed against Tuka — and Tuka stands distinct from Tuka. (= the empirical-self has been equated to the transcendent-self, yet the witness-self remains distinct from the equation.)
The verse
तुका तुकासी तुकला । तुका तुकाहुनि निराळा ॥१॥
Literal translation
Tuka has been weighed against Tuka — Tuka is distinct from Tuka.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| तुका तुकासी तुकला | "Tuka — to Tuka (tukāsī) — has been weighed (tukalā)" |
| तुका तुकाहुनि निराळा | "Tuka — from Tuka — is separate (nirāḷā)" |
What it means
The most condensed self-as-non-self abhang. A single-line declaration that uses the triple-meaning of his own name.
The name Tukā-rāma — Tukā literally means weighed-equal-to / measure / counterpart (cf. Sanskrit-Marathi tul = to weigh / equate); Tukā-rāma = equal-to-Rāma (or Rāma-as-the-measure).
Tukā tukāsī tukalā — Tuka has been weighed against Tuka — by making Tuka the measure of Tuka, the outer Tuka has been equated to the inner Tuka. (Or: the empirical-Tuka has been weighed against the transcendental-Tuka.)
Tukā tukāhuni nirāḷā — Tuka is distinct (nirāḷā) from Tuka — but the result is: Tuka stands distinct from Tuka. The transcendent-Tuka is separate from the empirical-Tuka, even after the weighing.
The line in two-clauses captures the entire jīvan-mukta paradox: (a) the equation has been made / the weighing complete; (b) yet the witness-Tuka stands apart from the weighed-Tuka. Both equality (advaita) and distinction (the witnessing remainder) hold simultaneously.
This single-line is the gnomic distillation of the longer abhangs in the surrounding sub-series (1581 visaralā Tukā — bōlōm cālōm jālā mukā; 1582 Tukīm tukalā Tukā — viśvīm bharōni uralā lōkām; 1583 triple-paradox; this 1584 — single-line distillation).
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For someone today
For today: Tuka has been weighed against Tuka — and Tuka stands distinct from Tuka. (= the empirical-self has been equated to the transcendent-self, yet the witness-self remains distinct from the equation.)
Where this applies
- When you finally feel at peace and equal to your own inner sense of who you truly are
- When you notice you can watch your own thoughts and reactions instead of being completely swept up in them
- When you accept yourself fully yet still feel a quiet part of you standing back and observing
- When someone asks you to describe your identity and you realize a simple label cannot fully capture it