Abhanga 1655
Complete devotion can take over every faculty at once, mind, eyes, mouth, and ears, until love for the divine becomes a steady flame burning inside a person without ever going out.
The verse
जाय तिकडे लागे पाठीं । नाहीं तुटी आठवाची ॥१॥ हरूनियां नेलें चत्ति । माझें थीत भांडवल ॥ध्रु.॥ दावूनियां रूप डोळां । मन चाळा लावियेलें ॥२॥ आणीक तोंडा पडिली मिठी । कान गोठी नाइकती ॥३॥ बोलिल्याचा आठव न घडे । वाणी ओढे ते सोईं ॥४॥ तुका म्हणे प्रेमधगी । भरली अंगीं अखंड ॥५॥
Literal translation
Wherever (I) go, it follows behind — no break in āṭhava. Snatching, took my chitta — my real bhāṇḍavala. Showing the form to (my) eye — set the mind to play. Another (mouth) got an embrace — ears don't listen to talk. No recall of what's been said — speech draws to that side. Tuka says: prema-flame fills the body unbroken.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| जाय तिकडे लागे पाठीं | "wherever (I) go — follows behind" |
| नाहीं तुटी आठवाची | "no break — of remembrance" |
| हरूनियां नेलें चत्ति | "snatching — took — chitta" |
| माझें थीत भांडवल | "my — real — bhāṇḍavala" |
| दावूनियां रूप डोळां | "showing the form — to eye" |
| मन चाळा लावियेलें | "mind — play — set going" |
| आणीक तोंडा पडिली मिठी | "another (= mouth) — got embrace" |
| कान गोठी नाइकती | "ears — talk — don't listen" |
| बोलिल्याचा आठव न घडे | "of-what's-said — recall — doesn't happen" |
| वाणी ओढे ते सोईं | "speech — draws — that side" |
| तुका म्हणे प्रेमधगी | "Tuka says — prema-flame" |
| भरली अंगीं अखंड | "fills — body — unbroken" |
What it means
Prema-flame-fills-body abhang. A 5-verse description of complete-bhakti-saturation of all faculties.
Faculty 1 — total presence: jāya tikaḍē lāgē pāṭhīm — nāhīm tuṭī āṭhavācī — wherever I go, it follows behind — no break in remembrance. Continuous-attendance, unbroken-recall.
Faculty 2 — chitta-stolen: harūniyām nēlēm chitti — mājhēm thīta bhāṇḍavala — snatching, took my chitta — my real capital. Hari-har (Hari = the snatcher; harūniyām = having-snatched) — the wordplay on Lord-as-snatcher. He took my chitta-which-is-my-real-bhāṇḍavala (capital).
Faculty 3 — eye and mind: dāvūniyām rūpa ḍōḷām — mana cāḷā lāviyēlēm — showing the form to my eye — set the mind to play. By showing-his-form, he set my mind to its (constant) play / fascination.
Faculty 4 — mouth and ears: āṇīka tōṇḍā paḍilī miṭhī — kāna gōṣṭī nā'ikatī — another (mouth) got an embrace — ears don't listen to talk. The mouth has been embraced (= can only utter the nāma); the ears refuse other-talk.
Faculty 5 — speech: bōlilyācā āṭhava na ghaḍē — vāṇī ōḍhē tē sōīm — no recall of what's been said — speech draws to that side. Don't remember what was just said; speech is pulled-toward (the Lord's-side).
Closing — prema-flame: Tukā mhaṇē prēma-dhagī — bharalī angīm akhaṇḍa — Tuka says: prema-flame fills the body unbroken. Dhagī = burning-flame, glowing-coal; prema-dhagī = the love-flame that fills-and-burns the body unbroken. (Striking-image: the body itself is a continuously-burning prema-coal.)
[T]
For someone today
For today: wherever I go, it follows behind me — there is no break in remembrance; he snatched and took my chitta — my real capital; showing his form to my eye, he set the mind into its play; my mouth has been embraced — my ears don't listen to ordinary talk; I cannot recall what's been said — my speech draws toward that side; Tuka says — the love-flame fills my body unbroken.
Where this applies
- When you're so absorbed in someone or something you love that you forget what you were just saying.
- When your mind keeps returning to one thought or presence no matter where you go or what you're doing.
- When ordinary conversation starts to feel uninteresting because your attention is elsewhere, on what truly matters to you.
- When you want to describe a love or devotion so complete that it feels like it has taken over your body.