Abhanga 1764
For today: save or kill — do whatever, dātāra — I have become yours; the child has no belly-worry when mother and father are above the head; even the root of Omkāra is pervaded by māyā — bhāva doesn't hold there — so I abandoned all elaborate effort and grasped your Name only; no desire for this-world or the next — let me always be born in this body; make māyā-moha-pāśa become like poison to me, Tuka says — to my place.
The verse
तारीं मारीं करीं भलतें दातारा । होऊन तुझा आतां ठेलों रे ॥१॥ बाळकासी चिंता काय पोटवेथा । जया शिरीं मायबाप ॥ध्रु.॥ ओंकाराचें मूळ व्यापिलें माया । तेथें न धरे च भाव । म्हणऊन काबाड सांडिलें उपसतां । धरिलें तुझें चि नांव ॥२॥ आहिक्यें परत्रें चाड नाहीं सर्वथा । जन्म सदा मज देहीं । मायामोहपाश करीं विष तैसें । तुका म्हणे माझ्याठायीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: Save or kill — do whatever, dātāra — having become yours, now I have stopped. For the child, what worry, what belly-pain — to whom on the head are mother and father? The root of Omkāra has been pervaded by māyā — bhāva does not hold there. Therefore I abandoned the kābāḍa of upasatām — I have grasped your Name only. No desire for this-world or the next at all — let birth always be for me in this body. Make māyā-moha-pāśa like poison, Tuka says — to my place.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| तारीं मारीं करीं भलतें दातारा | "save-or-kill — do whatever — dātāra" |
| होऊन तुझा आतां ठेलों रे | "having-become yours — now — I have stopped" |
| बाळकासी चिंता काय पोटवेथा | "for the child — what worry — belly-pain" |
| जया शिरीं मायबाप | "to whom — on the head — mother-and-father" |
| ओंकाराचें मूळ व्यापिलें माया | "the root of Omkāra — māyā has pervaded" |
| तेथें न धरे च भाव | "there — bhāva — does not hold" |
| म्हणऊन काबाड सांडिलें उपसतां | "therefore — I have abandoned the kābāḍa (= heavy-labor) of upasatām (= dredging-up)" |
| धरिलें तुझें चि नांव | "I have grasped — your Name only" |
| आहिक्यें परत्रें चाड नाहीं सर्वथा | "this-world, the-next — no desire at all" |
| जन्म सदा मज देहीं | "birth — always — for me — in this body" |
| मायामोहपाश करीं विष तैसें | "māyā-moha-pāśa — make like poison" |
| तुका म्हणे माझ्याठायीं | "Tuka says — to my place" |
What it means
Omkāra-mūḷa-vyāpilē-māyā + grasp-only-the-Name abhang.
The opening: tārīm mārīm karīm bhalatēm dātārā — hō'ūna tujhā ātām ṭhēlōm rē — save or kill, do whatever, dātāra — having become yours, now I have stopped. Total-self-surrender: the bhakta has stopped self-effort; whatever the Lord does is acceptable.
The child-image: bāḷakāsī cintā kāya pōṭa-vēthā — jayā śirīm māya-bāpa — for the child, what worry, what belly-pain — to whom on the head are mother and father?. The child whose parents are above-the-head (= protectors-present) has no worry-of-belly (= food-anxiety / survival-anxiety).
The Vedānta-deconstructive turn: Omkārācē mūḷa vyāpilē māyā — tēthē na dharē chi bhāva — mhaṇa'ūna kābāḍa sāṇḍilēm upasatām — dharilēm tujhēm chi nāmva — the root of Omkāra has been pervaded by māyā — bhāva does not hold there. Therefore I abandoned the kābāḍa of upasatām — I have grasped your Name only. Strikingly-deconstructive: even Omkāra — the root-syllable of all jñāna-discourse — has its-very-root pervaded-by-māyā; bhāva (= devotional-feeling) does not hold there. So Tuka abandons the heavy-labor (kābāḍa) of dredging-up (upasatām) through jñāna-margā and grasps the Name (Nāma) only. The anti-elaborate-jñāna + pro-Nāma move.
The closing: āhikyē paratrē cāḍa nāhīm sarvathā — janma sadā maja dēhīm — māyā-mōha-pāśa karīm viṣa taisēm — Tukā mhaṇē mājhyā-ṭhāyīm — no desire for this-world or the next at all — let birth always be for me in this body. Make māyā-moha-pāśa like poison, Tuka says — to my place. Anti-svarga + anti-mukti + pro-deha-bhakti: let me be born again-and-again in this very-body; only let māyā-moha-pāśa become like poison to me (= let me be repulsed by them).
This abhang has one of the gatha's most-striking lines — Omkārācē mūḷa vyāpilē māyā — the root of Omkāra (= the foundational Vedic syllable) has been pervaded by māyā. A deeply-anti-jñāna-mārga line that drives the bhakta back to Nāma-only.
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For someone today
For today: save or kill — do whatever, dātāra — I have become yours; the child has no belly-worry when mother and father are above the head; even the root of Omkāra is pervaded by māyā — bhāva doesn't hold there — so I abandoned all elaborate effort and grasped your Name only; no desire for this-world or the next — let me always be born in this body; make māyā-moha-pāśa become like poison to me, Tuka says — to my place.
Where this applies
- Save-or-kill-do-anything-I'm-yours.* Tārīm-mārīm-bhalatēm-dātāra.
- Child-no-worry-with-māyabāpa.* Bāḷaka-māyabāpa-cintā-na.
- Omkāra-root-pervaded-by-māyā-grasp-only-Name.* Omkāra-mūḷa-māyā-Nāma-dharilē.
- No-desire-for-here-or-hereafter-poison-to-māyā-moha.* Āhikya-paratrē-cāḍa-na-māyā-mōha-viṣa.