Abhanga 1690
For today: be it a man or a woman — whoever has Hari as their beloved — they are equal to Viṭhobā for me; I will venerate those people with longing; whose inner is pure, their outer-and-inner is soft; Tuka says — with bhāva, let prema overflow from your tongue.
The verse
हो कां नर अथवा नारी । ज्यांचा आवडता हरि ॥१॥ ते मज विठोबासमान । नमूं आवडी ते जन ॥ध्रु.॥ ज्याचें अंतर निर्मळ । त्याचें सबाह्य कोमळ ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे भावें । जिव्हें प्रेम वोसंडावें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Be it man or woman — whose beloved is Hari — they are equal to Viṭhobā for me; will venerate those people with longing. Whose inner is nirmaḷa — their outer-and-inner is kōmaḷa. Tuka says: with bhāva — let prema overflow from the tongue.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| हो कां नर अथवा नारी | "be it — man — or woman" |
| ज्यांचा आवडता हरि | "whose beloved — Hari" |
| ते मज विठोबासमान | "they — to me — Viṭhobā-equal" |
| नमूं आवडी ते जन | "will venerate — with longing — those people" |
| ज्याचें अंतर निर्मळ | "whose inner — nirmaḷa" |
| त्याचें सबाह्य कोमळ | "theirs — outer-and-inner — kōmaḷa (soft)" |
| तुका म्हणे भावें | "Tuka says — with bhāva" |
| जिव्हें प्रेम वोसंडावें | "from tongue — prema — let it overflow" |
What it means
Gender-egalitarian Hari-bhakta-equal-Viṭhobā abhang.
The opening gender-egalitarian: hō kām nara athavā nārī — jyāñcā āvaḍatā Hari — be it man or woman — whose beloved is Hari. The explicit gender-equality: man-or-woman, the criterion is only whose beloved is Hari.
The equation: tē maja Viṭhōbā-samāna — namūm āvaḍī tē jana — they are equal to Viṭhobā for me — will venerate those people with longing. The radical-claim: the Hari-bhakta is Viṭhobā-equal (= the bhakta of the Lord is equivalent to the Lord himself for the bhakta-of-bhaktas); Tukaram will venerate them.
The inner-outer: jyācēm antara nirmaḷa — tyācēm sa-bāhya kōmaḷa — whose inner is nirmaḷa — their outer-and-inner is kōmaḷa (soft). Inner-purity radiates outward as soft-tenderness.
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē bhāvē — jivhē prēma vōsamḍāvē — Tuka says: with bhāva — let prema overflow from the tongue. Vōsamḍa- = overflow / spill-over. Let prema overflow from the bhakta's tongue.
This abhang joins 1606 (Candrabhāgē-bhalatē-yātī), 1676 (yāti-kriyā-karma-bhraṣṭa), 1687 (yāti-hīna-kuḷa-but-Rakhumāī-mā) in Tukaram's egalitarian-corpus — adding gender-equality to the caste-equality theme.
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For someone today
For today: be it a man or a woman — whoever has Hari as their beloved — they are equal to Viṭhobā for me; I will venerate those people with longing; whose inner is pure, their outer-and-inner is soft; Tuka says — with bhāva, let prema overflow from your tongue.
Where this applies
- When you assume devotion or spiritual worth depends on gender
- When you meet someone whose love for God moves you, no matter who they are
- When you notice that a genuinely pure heart makes someone gentle rather than harsh
- When you hold back expressing your love and devotion instead of letting it show