Abhanga 1752
Pride in caste, family, and status is as unreal as a mirage or a child's pretend cooking game, so let go of it, surrender fully, and rest in simple constant remembrance instead of needing every answer.
The verse
मीतूंपणापासाव गुंतलों । मिथ्या संकल्प तो माझा तोडीं । तुझिये चरणीं माझे दोन्ही पक्ष । अवघी करुनि दाखवीं पिंडी रे रे ॥१॥ माझें साच काय केलें मृगजळ । वर्णा याती कुळ अभिमान । कुमारी भातुकें खेळती कवतुकें । काय त्यांचें साचपण ॥ध्रु.॥ जाणोनियां त्याग सर्वस्वें केला । सांभाळीं आपुलें जाळें ॥२॥ चाड कवणिये काजीं । अधिक असे उणें कवण कवण्या गुणें । हे माव न कळे चि तुझी । म्हणोनि चिंतनीं राहिलों श्रीपती । तुका म्हणे भाक माझी ॥३॥
Literal translation
I am caught from the I-and-you-distinction — cut this false samkalpa. At your feet, both my pakṣas — make everything show in this body. What truth has been made of mine? — mṛga-jaḷa — varṇa, yāti, kuḷa, abhimāna. Girls play with cooking-toys playfully — what is their truth? Knowingly, tyāga of all has been done — preserve your net. What longing in any matter — what's more, what's less, by what guṇa? — your māyā I don't know — therefore I stayed in cintana, Śrīpati — Tuka says — my pledge.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| मीतूंपणापासाव गुंतलों | "caught from — I-and-you-distinction" |
| मिथ्या संकल्प तो माझा तोडीं | "the false samkalpa — cut it" |
| तुझिये चरणीं माझे दोन्ही पक्ष | "at your feet — both my pakṣas" |
| अवघी करुनि दाखवीं पिंडी | "make all show — in this body" |
| माझें साच काय केलें मृगजळ | "what truth — mṛga-jaḷa" |
| वर्णा याती कुळ अभिमान | "varṇa-yāti-kuḷa-abhimāna" |
| कुमारी भातुकें खेळती कवतुकें | "girls play — with cooking-toys — playfully" |
| काय त्यांचें साचपण | "what is — their truth" |
| जाणोनियां त्याग सर्वस्वें केला | "knowingly — tyāga of all done" |
| सांभाळीं आपुलें जाळें | "preserve your net" |
| चाड कवणिये काजीं | "what longing in any matter" |
| हे माव न कळे चि तुझी | "your māyā I don't know" |
| चिंतनीं राहिलों श्रीपती | "stayed in cintana, Śrīpati" |
| तुका म्हणे भाक माझी | "Tuka says — my pledge" |
What it means
Anti-mī-tūm-paṇa + anti-varṇa-jāti-kuḷa-abhimāna + girls-play-cooking-toys-image abhang. A long-meter philosophical-petition.
The opening: mī-tūm-paṇāpāsāva guṇtalōm — mithyā samkalpa tō mājhā tōḍīm — I am caught from I-and-you-distinction — cut this false samkalpa. Mī-tūm-paṇa = the I-and-you-distinction (= the root duality of self-and-other); mithyā samkalpa = false intentional-distinction. Cut this root-duality.
The both-pakṣa: tujhiyē caraṇīm mājhē dōnhī pakṣa — avaghī karuni dākhavīm piṇḍī — at your feet, both my pakṣas — make all show in this body. Pakṣa = side, party. Place both-my-sides at your feet; make everything visible in this body.
The mṛga-jaḷa: mājhēm sāca kāya kēlēm mṛga-jaḷa — varṇā yātī kuḷa abhimāna — what truth has been made of mine — mṛga-jaḷa — varṇa, yāti, kuḷa, abhimāna. The radical anti-caste-pride claim: varṇa, yāti, kuḷa-pride is mṛga-jaḷa (mirage). No-truth in caste-pride.
The girls-cooking-toys-image: kumārī bhātukēm khēḷatī kavatukē — kāya tyāñcēm sāca-paṇa — girls play with cooking-toys playfully — what is their truth? Kumārī = young girls; bhātukēm = miniature cooking-pots and toys. Just as little-girls' play-cooking has no real-truth, varṇa-yāti-kuḷa-distinctions are play-imitations of reality.
The tyāga-and-net: jāṇōniyām tyāga sarvasvē kēlā — sāmbhāḷīm āpulēm jāḷē — knowingly tyāga of all done — preserve your net. I have knowingly-renounced all; you preserve your-net (= your māyā-net which holds-all).
The closing: cāḍa kavaṇiyē kājīm — adhika asē uṇēm kavaṇa kavaṇyā guṇē — hē māva na kaḷē chi tujhī — mhaṇōni cintanīm rāhilōm Śrīpati — Tukā mhaṇē bhāka mājhī — what longing in any matter — what's more, what's less, by what guṇa — your māyā I don't know — therefore stayed in cintana, Śrīpati — Tuka says — my pledge. Don't know-the-whys-and-the-mores-and-lesses — only-stay in cintana — that's my pledge.
[T]
For someone today
For today: I have gotten caught up in the illusion that you and I are separate — cut through this false idea for me, and let me place both sides of myself at your feet so everything shows plainly in this body. What truth is there in pride of caste, lineage, or family? It's only a mirage — like little girls playing at cooking with their toy pots, a game with no real truth in it. I have knowingly renounced everything; now it's you who must guard your own net. I don't understand what's more or less, or by what quality things are judged — I don't know your māyā — so I simply stay fixed in remembering you, Śrīpati. Tuka says: this is my pledge.
मराठी: आजसाठी: मी आणि तू वेगळे आहोत या भ्रमात मी अडकलो आहे — हा खोटा भाव तोडून टाक, आणि माझ्या दोन्ही बाजू तुझ्या चरणी ठेवून या देहात सगळे उघड होऊ दे. वर्ण, जात, कुळ यांचा अभिमान यात काय सत्य आहे? हा केवळ मृगजळ आहे — जशा लहान मुली भातुकलीच्या खेळण्यांनी खेळतात, त्या खेळात जसे खरेपण नसते तसेच. मी जाणूनबुजून सर्वस्वाचा त्याग केला आहे; आता तुझे जाळे तूच सांभाळ. काय अधिक, काय उणे, कोणत्या गुणाने हे मला कळत नाही — तुझी माया मला उमगत नाही — म्हणून मी फक्त तुझ्या चिंतनात राहतो, श्रीपती. तुका म्हणतो: हीच माझी प्रतिज्ञा आहे.
Where this applies
- When you catch yourself taking pride in your family name, caste, or social background as if it were your real worth
- When you're anxious about surrendering control and feel you need every reason explained before you can let go
- When you notice how much of your identity is really just performance, like a child's pretend cooking game
- When you feel torn between two loyalties and want to simply place both at the feet of what you trust most