Abhanga 1751
For today: whose family-deity is Paṇḍharī-nātha — let me be the maidservant's-son in their very house; I have no longing for pure caste, clan, varṇa — make me your servant anywhere; whoever goes as wārkarī to Paṇḍharī — let me be even an animal-being in their house; whose day-and-night dhyāna is Viṭhṭhal-cintana — let me be the shoe-stand at their feet; whose courtyard has the tulasī-vṛndāvana — let me be the broom in their house; Tuka says — this very is the bhāva in my chitta — no longing for any other gati.
The verse
कुळींचे दैवत ज्याचें पंढरीनाथ । होईंन दासीसुत त्याचे घरीं ॥१॥ शुद्ध यातिकुळवर्णा चाड नाहीं । करीं भलते ठायीं दास तुझा ॥ध्रु.॥ पंढरीस कोणी जाती वारेकरी । होईंन त्यांचे घरीं पशुयाति ॥२॥ विठ्ठलचिंतन दिवसरात्रीं ध्यान । होईंन पायतन त्याचे पायीं ॥३॥ तुळसीवृंदावन जयाचे अंगणीं । होइन केरसुणी त्याचे घरीं ॥४॥ तुका म्हणे हा चि भाव माझ्या चित्ती । नाहीं आणिकां गती चाड मज ॥५॥
Literal translation
English: Whose family-deity is Paṇḍharī-nātha — I'd be maidservant's-son in their house. No longing for pure yāti-kuḷa-varṇa — make me your dāsa anywhere. Whoever goes as wārkarī to Paṇḍharī — I'd be an animal-being in their house. Whose day-night dhyāna is Viṭhṭhal-cintana — I'd be the shoe-stand at their feet. Whose courtyard has tulasī-vṛndāvana — I'd be the broom in their house. Tuka says: this very bhāva in my chitta — no other gati-longing for me.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| कुळींचे दैवत ज्याचें पंढरीनाथ | "whose family-deity — Paṇḍharī-nātha" |
| होईंन दासीसुत त्याचे घरीं | "I'd be — maidservant's-son — in their house" |
| शुद्ध यातिकुळवर्णा चाड नाहीं | "pure yāti-kuḷa-varṇa — no longing" |
| करीं भलते ठायीं दास तुझा | "do (= make me) anywhere — your dāsa" |
| पंढरीस कोणी जाती वारेकरी | "whoever go to Paṇḍharī as wārkarī" |
| होईंन त्यांचे घरीं पशुयाति | "I'd be in their house — animal-being" |
| विठ्ठलचिंतन दिवसरात्रीं ध्यान | "Viṭhṭhal-cintana — day-night dhyāna" |
| होईंन पायतन त्याचे पायीं | "I'd be the shoe-stand — at their feet" |
| तुळसीवृंदावन जयाचे अंगणीं | "whose courtyard has — tulasī-vṛndāvana" |
| होइन केरसुणी त्याचे घरीं | "I'd be the broom — in their house" |
| तुका म्हणे हा चि भाव माझ्या चित्ती | "Tuka says — this very — bhāva in my chitta" |
| नाहीं आणिकां गती चाड मज | "no other gati — longing for me" |
What it means
Foundational anti-caste + bhakta-as-warkari-house-servant abhang.
A 5-verse cascade of self-positioning as menial-servant in any-warkari-bhakta's-house — explicitly renouncing all caste-purity-claims.
Self-positioning cascade:
- Paṇḍharī-nātha-family-deity house → I'd be the maidservant's-son.
- No longing for śuddha yāti-kuḷa-varṇa; make me your dāsa anywhere.
- Wārkarī-house → I'd be an animal-being (paśu-yāti).
- Viṭhṭhal-cintana-house's feet → shoe-stand.
- Tulasī-vṛndāvana-courtyard house → broom.
The closing: no-other-gati-longing.
The radical-anti-caste claim: śuddha yāti-kuḷa-varṇā cāḍa nāhīm — no longing for pure caste-clan-varṇa — Tukaram explicitly rejects pure-caste as a value. Make me your servant anywhere.
This abhang joins: - 1606 (Candrabhāgē-bhalatē-yātī) - 1676 (yāti-kriyā-karma-bhraṣṭa Lord-known-to) - 1687 (yāti-hīna-kuḷa-but-Rakhumāī-mā) - 1690 (man-or-woman-Hari-bhakta-equal) - 1718 (self-as-every-temple-instrument)
Together these form the core of Tukaram's anti-caste self-positioning corpus. 1751 is uniquely-radical in saying let me be the maidservant's-illegitimate-son in any Paṇḍhari-nātha-bhakta's-house — no caste-purity-claim.
[T]
For someone today
For today: whose family-deity is Paṇḍharī-nātha — let me be the maidservant's-son in their very house; I have no longing for pure caste, clan, varṇa — make me your servant anywhere; whoever goes as wārkarī to Paṇḍharī — let me be even an animal-being in their house; whose day-and-night dhyāna is Viṭhṭhal-cintana — let me be the shoe-stand at their feet; whose courtyard has the tulasī-vṛndāvana — let me be the broom in their house; Tuka says — this very is the bhāva in my chitta — no longing for any other gati.
Where this applies
- Maidservant's-son-in-Paṇḍharī-family-house.* Paṇḍharī-nātha-kuḷa-dāsī-suta.
- No-yāti-kuḷa-varṇa-longing-make-me-servant-anywhere.* Yāti-kuḷa-varṇa-cāḍa-na-bhalatē-ṭhāyīm-dāsa.
- Animal-being-in-wārkarī-house.* Vārkarī-paśu-yāti.
- Shoe-stand-at-Viṭhṭhal-cintana-feet.* Viṭhṭhal-cintana-pāyatana.
- Broom-in-tulasī-courtyard-house.* Tuḷasī-vṛndāvana-kērasuṇī.