Abhanga 1602
For today: Tuka came down into Tuka — wonder arose in the three lokas; daily I do kīrtana — this very is my discipline; Tuka sat in the vimāna — and the saints watched with their own eyes; Deva is hungry for sincere bhāva — and Tuka was taken to Vaikuṇṭha.
The verse
तुका उतरला तुकीं । नवल जालें तिहीं लोकीं ॥१॥ नित्य करितों कीर्तन । हें चि माझें अनुष्ठान ॥ध्रु.॥ तुका बैसला विमानीं । संत पाहाती लोचनीं ॥२॥ देव भावाचा भुकेला । तुका वैकुंठासी नेला ॥३॥
Literal translation
Tuka came down into Tuka — wonder came in the three lokas. Daily I do kīrtana — this very is my anuṣṭhāna. Tuka sat in the vimāna — the saints watch with their eyes. Deva is bhāvācā bhukēlā — Tuka was taken to Vaikuṇṭha.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| तुका उतरला तुकीं | "Tuka — has come down (utaralā) — into Tuka" |
| नवल जालें तिहीं लोकीं | "wonder — has come — in (the) three lokas" |
| नित्य करितों कीर्तन | "daily — I do — kīrtana" |
| हें चि माझें अनुष्ठान | "this very — is my — anuṣṭhāna" |
| तुका बैसला विमानीं | "Tuka — has seated — in (the) vimāna" |
| संत पाहाती लोचनीं | "the saints — watch — with (their) eyes" |
| देव भावाचा भुकेला | "Deva — is hungry-for-bhāva" |
| तुका वैकुंठासी नेला | "Tuka — to Vaikuṇṭha — has been taken" |
What it means
Witnessed-vimāna-ascension abhang. Companion to 1601.
The opening: Tukā utaralā tukīm — navala jālēm tihīm lōkīm — Tuka came down into Tuka — wonder came in the three lokas. Utaralā tukīm — descended / came-down into Tuka (= the empirical-Tuka has descended into / been resolved into the transcendental-Tuka; the Tuka-pun of 1582+1584 fulfilled here at the moment of ascension). Navala (= wonder) arose in the three-lokas — the cosmic-witnessing.
The kīrtana-claim: nitya karitōm kīrtana — hēm chi mājhē anuṣṭhāna — daily I do kīrtana — this very is my anuṣṭhāna. Anuṣṭhāna = the formal-religious-discipline / ritual-practice that earns merit. My only anuṣṭhāna has been daily-kīrtana — and that very has produced this result. (= the kīrtana-anuṣṭhāna led to the vimāna-ascension.)
The vimāna-image: Tukā baisalā vimānīm — samta pāhātī lōcanīm — Tuka sat in the vimāna — the saints watch with their eyes. The vimāna (= heavenly-chariot) descends; Tuka takes his seat in it; the saints witness with their own eyes (lōcanī). The witnessed-public-ascension — not a private-mystical-event.
The closing-explanation: Deva bhāvācā bhukēlā — Tukā Vaikuṇṭhāsī nēlā — Deva is hungry-for-bhāva — Tuka was taken to Vaikuṇṭha. The theological reason: the Lord is bhāvācā-bhukēlā (= hungry for sincere-feeling); Tuka's pure-bhāva fed that divine-hunger; therefore Tuka was taken to Vaikuṇṭha.
This is one of the most-cited vaikuṇṭha-gamana abhangs — the vimāna-image gives concrete-form to the kuḍī-sahita-gupta of 1601. The saints-as-witnesses establishes the historical-public-character of the event in the warkari-tradition.
[T]
For someone today
For today: Tuka came down into Tuka — wonder arose in the three lokas; daily I do kīrtana — this very is my discipline; Tuka sat in the vimāna — and the saints watched with their own eyes; Deva is hungry for sincere bhāva — and Tuka was taken to Vaikuṇṭha.
Where this applies
- When you feel your daily practice, whether it is prayer, chanting, or quiet devotion, seems too small or ordinary to matter
- When you wonder whether you need elaborate rituals or special knowledge before your faith counts as real
- When you are doing something sincere in private and worry no one notices or believes it
- When you need reassurance that consistency and honest feeling, repeated daily, are themselves a complete spiritual path