Abhanga 1630
Let each experience simply pass as an old debt being paid, hold onto inner peace, and remember that helping others, not the body, is your true and lasting inheritance.
The verse
भोग भोगावरी द्यावा । संचिताचा करुनी ठेवा ॥१॥ शांती धरणें जिवासाटीं । दशा उत्तम गोमटी ॥ध्रु.॥ देह लेखावें असार । सत्य परउपकार ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे हे मिरासी । बुडी द्यावी ब्रम्हरसी ॥३॥
Literal translation
Bhōga upon bhōga — give (= let it pass) — making the deposit of samcita. Holding śānti for the jīva — the daśā is uttama gōmaṭī. Count deha as asāra — truth is para-upakāra. Tuka says: this is mirāsī — give a dive into Brahma-rasa.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| भोग भोगावरी द्यावा | "bhōga — upon bhōga — give (= let pass)" |
| संचिताचा करुनी ठेवा | "of samcita — making — deposit" |
| शांती धरणें जिवासाटीं | "holding śānti — for the jīva" |
| दशा उत्तम गोमटी | "the state — highest — gōmaṭī (excellent)" |
| देह लेखावें असार | "deha — count — asāra" |
| सत्य परउपकार | "truth — para-upakāra" |
| तुका म्हणे हे मिरासी | "Tuka says — this — is mirāsī" |
| बुडी द्यावी ब्रम्हरसी | "give a dive — into Brahma-rasa" |
What it means
Para-upakāra-as-mirāsī + Brahma-rasa-dive abhang.
The bhōga-pass: bhōga bhōgāvarī dyāvā — samcitācā karunī ṭhēvā — bhōga upon bhōga — give (let pass) — making the deposit of samcita. Bhōga = experience / enjoyment-or-suffering as karmic-debt. Let bhōga-after-bhōga pass — count it as the discharge of samcita-deposit. (= don't resist bhōga, let it pass-through as the mātrā of samcita-paying-itself-off.)
The śānti-state: śāntī dharaṇē jīvā-sāṭīm — daśā uttama gōmaṭī — holding śānti for the jīva — the highest state is gōmaṭī (excellent). Daśā = state, condition; gōmaṭī = good, excellent, agreeable. Holding śānti is the jīva's highest excellent-state.
The deha-asāra + para-upakāra-truth: dēha lēkhāvēm asāra — satya para-upakāra — count deha as asāra — truth is para-upakāra. Asāra = essenceless, without-substance; para-upakāra = helping-others. The body is essenceless; what is satya (true / lasting) is para-upakāra.
The closing claim: Tukā mhaṇē hē mirāsī — buḍī dyāvī Brahma-rasī — Tuka says: this is mirāsī — give a dive into Brahma-rasa. Mirāsī = the birth-right hereditary-inheritance (= the property-rights inherited by birth in Maratha-tradition; mirāsdar = the holder of mirāsī). Para-upakāra is our mirāsī (= helping-others is our hereditary-birth-right); now dive into Brahma-rasa. (Striking-formulation: para-upakāra elevated to inheritance-status — not a virtue-to-acquire but one's birth-right-property.)
The bhakta's mirāsī = para-upakāra + Brahma-rasa-dive: this is one of Tukaram's strongest socially-engaged-bhakti statements. Real-truth is helping-others; what is essenceless is the body; let bhōga-pass-as-samcita-discharge; hold-śānti; this is our hereditary-inheritance; dive-into-Brahma-rasa.
[T]
For someone today
For today: let bhōga upon bhōga simply pass — counting it as the deposit of your samcita being discharged; hold śānti for the soul's sake — that highest state is the excellent one; count the body as essenceless — what is true and lasting is para-upakāra (helping-others); Tuka says — this very is our birth-right inheritance — now take a dive into the Brahma-rasa.
Where this applies
- When painful or joyful experiences come and go and you want to stop fighting each one
- When you are trying to hold onto inner calm during a difficult stretch of life
- When you catch yourself overvaluing appearance or comfort of the body over what actually lasts
- When you help someone and it feels less like a favor and more like something you were always meant to do