Abhanga 1746
For today: with a pure chitta — even enemies become friends — tigers do not eat, snakes do not bite him; poison becomes amṛta — destruction reveals the good — even what should not be done becomes the proper-norm for him; duḥkha will give all sukha as fruit — even the flames of fire will become cool; he will be loved by all beings as their own life — in all-inner, one bhāva; Tuka says — Nārāyaṇa has done this grace — it is known by this very direct-experience.
The verse
चित्त शुद्ध तरी शत्रु मित्र होती । व्याघ्र हे न खाती सर्प तया ॥१॥ विष तें अमृत अघातें हित । अकर्तव्य नीत होय त्यासी ॥ध्रु.॥ दुःख तें देईंल सर्व सुख फळ । होतील शीतळ अग्निज्वाळा ॥२॥ आवडेल जीवां जीवाचे परी । सकळां अंतरीं एक भाव ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे कृपा केली नारायणें । जाणियेते येणें अनुभवें ॥४॥
Literal translation
English: Chitta śuddha — then enemies become friends — tigers don't eat — snakes (don't bite) to him. Poison is amṛta — destruction reveals hita — akarttavya becomes nīti for him. Duḥkha will give all sukha-fruit — agni-flames will become śītaḷa. Will be loved by jīvas as their own jīva — in all inner, one bhāva. Tuka says: Nārāyaṇa has done kṛpā — known by this very anubhava.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| चित्त शुद्ध तरी शत्रु मित्र होती | "chitta śuddha — then enemies become friends" |
| व्याघ्र हे न खाती सर्प तया | "tigers don't eat — snakes (don't bite) — to him" |
| विष तें अमृत अघातें हित | "poison amṛta — destruction reveals hita" |
| अकर्तव्य नीत होय त्यासी | "akarttavya — becomes nīti — for him" |
| दुःख तें देईंल सर्व सुख फळ | "duḥkha will give — all sukha-fruit" |
| होतील शीतळ अग्निज्वाळा | "will become śītaḷa — agni-flames" |
| आवडेल जीवां जीवाचे परी | "will be loved — by jīvas — as their own jīva" |
| सकळां अंतरीं एक भाव | "in all inner — one bhāva" |
| तुका म्हणे कृपा केली नारायणें | "Tuka says — Nārāyaṇa has done kṛpā" |
| जाणियेते येणें अनुभवें | "known by this anubhava" |
What it means
The famous Tukaram-Rāmeśvara-bhaṭṭa fever-extinguishing abhang. Identified by the editorial-marker at 1745 as the abhang composed by Tukaram which calmed the dāha (burning-fever) in Rāmeśvara-bhaṭṭa's-body caused by Anaghaḍasiddha's-word.
The opening principle: chitta śuddha tarī śatru mitra hōtī — vyāghra hē na khātī sarpa tayā — with chitta śuddha — enemies become friends — tigers don't eat — snakes (don't bite) to him. The chitta-śuddhi-causes-cosmic-friendship doctrine: natural-hostility transforms; predatory-animals don't attack. The key-image that literally cooled Rāmeśvara-bhaṭṭa's-burning.
The transformation-cluster: viṣa tēm amṛta aghātēm hita — akarttavya nīta hōya tyāsī — poison is amṛta — destruction reveals hita — akarttavya becomes nīti for him. Akarttavya = what shouldn't-be-done; nīti = the proper-norm. Even the wrong-action becomes the proper-norm for him.
The fire-cool: duḥkha tēm dē'īla sarva sukha phaḷa — hōtīla śītaḷa agni-jvāḷa — duḥkha will give all-sukha-fruit — agni-flames will become śītaḷa. The famous śītaḷa-agni-jvāḷa line that literally cooled the burning.
The universal-love: āvaḍēla jīvām jīvācē parī — sakaḷām antarīm ēka bhāva — will be loved by jīvas as their own jīva — in all inner, one bhāva. The chitta-śuddha bhakta is loved-by-all-jīvas as-their-own; one-bhāva pervades-all-inner.
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē kṛpā kēlī Nārāyaṇē — jāṇiyētē yēṇē anubhavē — Tuka says: Nārāyaṇa has done kṛpā — known by this very anubhava. Known by direct-experience.
This abhang is widely-known in warkari tradition as the fever-extinguishing-abhang — its very-utterance is believed to cool burning, transform hostility into friendship, render the bhakta safe-from-tigers-snakes-poison-and-fire.
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For someone today
For today: with a pure chitta — even enemies become friends — tigers do not eat, snakes do not bite him; poison becomes amṛta — destruction reveals the good — even what should not be done becomes the proper-norm for him; duḥkha will give all sukha as fruit — even the flames of fire will become cool; he will be loved by all beings as their own life — in all-inner, one bhāva; Tuka says — Nārāyaṇa has done this grace — it is known by this very direct-experience.
Where this applies
- Pure-chitta-enemies-friends-tigers-don't-eat.* Chitta-śuddha-śatru-mitra-vyāghra-na-khātī.
- Poison-amṛta-akarttavya-becomes-nīti.* Viṣa-amṛta-akarttavya-nīta.
- Duḥkha-gives-sukha-agni-cool.* Duḥkha-sukha-phaḷa-agni-śītaḷa.
- Loved-by-jīvas-as-own-jīva-one-bhāva-in-all-inner.* Jīvām-jīvācē-parī-sakaḷām-antarīm-ēka-bhāva.
- Nārāyaṇa-kṛpā-known-by-anubhava.* Nārāyaṇē-kṛpā-anubhavē.