Abhanga 1590
Tukaram goes through his daily chores in body only, since his whole mind and heart have already left for the place he longs for.
The verse
आरोनियां पाहे वाट । कटकट सोसेना ॥१॥ आलियांस पुसें मात । तेथें चत्ति लागलें ॥ध्रु.॥ दळीं कांडीं लोकांऐसें । परि मी नसें ते ठायीं ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे येथें पिसें । तेथें तैसें असेल ॥३॥
Literal translation
Looking, I watch the road — kaṭa-kaṭa I cannot bear. To anyone who comes, I ask news — chitta has attached there. I grind, pound, like other people — but I am not in that place. Tuka says: here I am piśē — there it will be thus.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| आरोनियां पाहे वाट | "looking-watching — I watch — the road (vāṭa)" |
| कटकट सोसेना | "the kaṭa-kaṭa (clamor, irritation) — I cannot bear" |
| आलियांस पुसें मात | "to (whoever) comes — I ask — news (māta)" |
| तेथें चत्ति लागलें | "there — the chitta — has attached" |
| दळीं कांडीं लोकांऐसें | "I grind, pound — like other people" |
| परि मी नसें ते ठायीं | "but — I am not — in that place" |
| तुका म्हणे येथें पिसें | "Tuka says — here — (I am) piśē (mad / besotted)" |
| तेथें तैसें असेल | "there — thus — it will be" |
What it means
Outwardly-functioning-inwardly-elsewhere abhang. Vaikuṇṭha-gamana cluster.
The road-watching: āraōniyām pāhē vāṭa — kaṭa-kaṭa sōsēnā — looking, I watch the road — kaṭa-kaṭa I cannot bear. Kaṭa-kaṭa = the clamor / clatter / quarreling-noise of household-life. The bhakta watches the road for the divine-summons-bringer; cannot bear the household-noise around him.
The news-asking: āliyāmsa pusēm māta — tēthē chitti lāgalēm — to anyone who comes, I ask news; the chitta has attached there. Pusēm māta — I ask news / tidings. The bhakta interrogates every visitor for news of the māhera; the chitta is attached to that-place.
The doing-without-being: daḷīm kāṇḍīm lōkā-aisēm — parī mī nasēm tē ṭhāyīm — I grind, pound, like other people — but I am not in that place. Daḷīm kāṇḍīm — grinding (grain) and pounding (rice / spices) — the daily household-tasks. I do these tasks like everyone else, but I am not in that place (= my being is not in the doing). The body grinds and pounds; the chitta is at the māhera. (Striking-formulation: classical body-here-mind-elsewhere with a gendered-domestic-task-image — the daḷaṇa-kāṇḍaṇa is women's-work; this connects to the bhakta-as-bride/Sāsuravāsa register found across Tukaram's corpus.)
The closing: yēthē pisēm — tēthēm taisēm asēla — here I am piśē (mad / besotted) — there it will be thus. Piśē = mad / besotted / love-crazed. Here I am love-mad; there (in māhera), it will be thus too. (= the love-madness will not change with the change-of-place; a continuity-claim.)
[T]
For someone today
For today: I keep watching the road — I can't bear the household-clamor; I ask news from anyone who comes — my chitta has attached to that-place; I grind and pound like other people, but I am not in that place; Tuka says — here I am love-besotted, and there too it will be thus.
Where this applies
- When you go through daily chores while your mind is completely somewhere else
- When you find yourself asking every visitor or message for news of someone you are waiting on
- When ordinary household noise or routine feels unbearable because your heart is elsewhere
- When you realize a longing has become so constant it will not fade once you get what you want