Abhanga 1590
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.
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
English: 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
- Watch-road-can't-bear-clamor.* Vāṭa-pāhē-kaṭa-kaṭa-sōsēnā.
- Ask-news-from-comers-chitta-elsewhere.* Pusēm-māta-chitta-tēthē.
- Grind-pound-like-others-but-not-there.* Daḷīm-kāṇḍīm-mī-nasēm.
- Here-besotted-there-thus.* Pisēm-yēthē-taisēm-tēthēm.