Abhanga 1585
For today: I will make the Brahma-jñānī swallow drool from his own hand, the muktas abandon their realized-state; in kīrtana the very body becomes Brahma — Deva himself becomes my debtor; to the pilgrimage-wanderer I will bring laziness, heaven-dwelling I will make bitter; the tapas-treasury-keeper I will make abandon his pride, yajña and dāna I will shame; by bhakti-bhāgya-prema I will accomplish the highest aim — the meaning of Brahma is one's own nija-store; I will have us declared blessed in this world — our fortune is: we have seen Tuka.
The verse
घोंटवीन लाळ ब्रम्हज्ञान्या हातीं । मुक्तां आत्मस्थिती सांडवीन ॥१॥ ब्रम्हभूत होते काया च कीर्तनीं । भाग्य तरी ॠणी देवा ऐसा ॥ध्रु.॥ तीर्थ भ्रमकासी आणीन आळस । कडु स्वर्गवास करिन भोग ॥२॥ सांडवीन तपोनिधा अभिमान । यज्ञा आणि दान लाजवीन ॥३॥ भक्तिभाग्यप्रेमा साधीन पुरुषार्थ । ब्रम्हींचा जो अर्थ निजठेवा ॥४॥ धन्य म्हणवीन येहे लोकीं लोकां । भाग्य आम्हीं तुका देखियेला ॥५॥
Literal translation
English: I will make the Brahma-jñānī swallow drool from his own hand — I will make the muktas abandon their ātma-sthiti. The body itself becomes Brahma-bhūta in kīrtana — fortune indeed: Deva himself becomes debtor. To the tīrtha-wanderer, I will bring laziness; svarga-vāsa-enjoyment I will make bitter. I will make the tapo-nidhi abandon his abhimāna — yajña and dāna I will shame. By bhakti-bhāgya-prema I will accomplish the puruṣārtha — the meaning of Brahma is the nija-store. I will have it declared blessed here, to the people — our fortune is: we have seen Tuka.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| घोंटवीन लाळ ब्रम्हज्ञान्या हातीं | "I will make swallow — drool (lāḷa) — at (the) Brahma-jñānī's hand" |
| मुक्तां आत्मस्थिती सांडवीन | "to (the) muktas — I will make abandon — ātma-sthiti" |
| ब्रम्हभूत होते काया च कीर्तनीं | "Brahma-bhūta — becomes — the body itself — in kīrtana" |
| भाग्य तरी ॠणी देवा ऐसा | "fortune — if — debtor (ṛṇī) — Deva — thus" |
| तीर्थ भ्रमकासी आणीन आळस | "to (the) tīrtha-wanderer — I will bring — laziness" |
| कडु स्वर्गवास करिन भोग | "bitter — svarga-vāsa — I will make — the enjoyment" |
| सांडवीन तपोनिधा अभिमान | "I will make abandon — to (the) tapo-nidhi — (his) abhimāna (pride)" |
| यज्ञा आणि दान लाजवीन | "yajña and dāna — I will shame (lājavīna)" |
| भक्तिभाग्यप्रेमा साधीन पुरुषार्थ | "by bhakti-bhāgya-prema — I will accomplish — the puruṣārtha" |
| ब्रम्हींचा जो अर्थ निजठेवा | "the meaning — which — is of Brahma — is the nija-store" |
| धन्य म्हणवीन येहे लोकीं लोकां | "blessed — I will make declared — here — to people" |
| भाग्य आम्हीं तुका देखियेला | "fortune — we — Tuka — have seen" |
What it means
Bhakti-supremacist declaration abhang. One of the strongest claims of bhakti-over-all-other-paths in the gatha.
The opening jñāna-mukta-defeat: ghōmṭavīna lāḷa Brahma-jñānyā hātīm — muktām ātma-sthitī sāṇḍavīna — I will make the Brahma-jñānī swallow drool from his own hand; I will make the muktas abandon their ātma-sthiti. Ghōmṭavīna lāḷa — I will make him swallow his drool — image of open-mouthed astonishment (= I will reduce him to gaping wonder); muktas will abandon their ātma-sthiti (= the realized-state of the muktas will be out-classed by bhakti). (= bhakti is higher even than mukti; cf. 1579's same-thrust.)
The kīrtana-Brahma claim: Brahma-bhūta hōtē kāyā chi kīrtanīm — bhāgya tarī ṛṇī Devā aisā — the body itself becomes Brahma-bhūta in kīrtana — fortune indeed: Deva-himself becomes debtor. In kīrtana, the very body becomes Brahma-bhūta (= Brahma-realized-state in the body); Deva-himself becomes ṛṇī (= debtor) to such a kīrtana-bhakta. (= kīrtana directly produces Brahma-realization in the body + the Lord is in the bhakta's debt.)
The tīrtha-svarga-defeat: tīrtha-bhramakāsī āṇīna āḷasa — kaḍu svarga-vāsa karina bhōga — to the tīrtha-wanderer, I will bring laziness; svarga-vāsa-enjoyment I will make bitter. Tīrtha-bhrama (= pilgrimage) is rendered unappealing; svarga-vāsa (= heaven-dwelling) made kaḍu (bitter). (= bhakti makes pilgrimage and heaven seem worthless.)
The tapas-yajña-dāna-defeat: sāṇḍavīna tapō-nidhā abhimāna — yajñā āṇi dāna lājavīna — I will make the tapo-nidhi (= treasury-of-tapas) abandon his pride; yajña and dāna I will shame. The tapo-nidhi, the yajña-performer, the dāna-giver — all are shamed by bhakti.
The puruṣārtha-claim: bhakti-bhāgya-prēmā sādhīna puruṣārtha — Brahmīñcā jō artha nija-ṭhēvā — by bhakti-bhāgya-prema I will accomplish the puruṣārtha — the meaning of Brahma is the nija-store. Puruṣārtha (= the four life-aims, but here the highest aim) is accomplished by bhakti-bhāgya-prema; the very meaning of Brahma is the nija-ṭhēva (= one's own treasure-store).
The closing self-blessing: dhanya mhaṇavīna yēhē lōkīm lōkām — bhāgya āmhīm Tukā dēkhiyēlā — I will have them declare us blessed here, to the people — our fortune is: we have seen Tuka. The remarkable self-blessing in the third-person: Tukā dēkhiyēlā — we have seen Tuka. Tukaram speaks of seeing himself as the supreme fortune — declaring himself the goal. (Striking-formulation: Tuka declares his own seeing as the people's fortune — the self-as-tīrtha statement; this is one of his strongest self-attestation lines.)
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For someone today
For today: I will make the Brahma-jñānī swallow drool from his own hand, the muktas abandon their realized-state; in kīrtana the very body becomes Brahma — Deva himself becomes my debtor; to the pilgrimage-wanderer I will bring laziness, heaven-dwelling I will make bitter; the tapas-treasury-keeper I will make abandon his pride, yajña and dāna I will shame; by bhakti-bhāgya-prema I will accomplish the highest aim — the meaning of Brahma is one's own nija-store; I will have us declared blessed in this world — our fortune is: we have seen Tuka.
Where this applies
- Brahma-jñānī-swallows-drool-muktas-abandon-ātma-sthiti.* Brahma-jñānyā-lāḷa-mukta-ātma-sthiti-sāṇḍa.
- Body-becomes-Brahma-in-kīrtana-Deva-debtor.* Kāyā-Brahma-kīrtana-Devā-ṛṇī.
- Tīrtha-laziness-svarga-bitter.* Tīrtha-āḷasa-svarga-kaḍu.
- Tapo-nidhi-abandons-pride-yajña-dāna-shamed.* Tapō-nidhā-abhimāna-yajña-dāna-lāja.
- Bhakti-bhāgya-prema-accomplishes-puruṣārtha.* Bhakti-bhāgya-prēmā-puruṣārtha.
- Our-fortune-we-have-seen-Tuka.* Bhāgya-Tukā-dēkhiyēlā.