Abhanga 1765
For today: your Name is sweet, the Name is sweet — all my longing is fulfilled; the tongue tires of other tastes — having taken one gulp of this, it wants more; other rasas bring the death-knot — by this Name, samsāra is cut; Tuka says — this Viṭhṭhal himself has become food for us.
The verse
तुझें नाम गोड नाम गोड । पुरे कोड सकळ ही ॥१॥ रसना येरां रसां विटे । घेतां घोट अधिक हें ॥ध्रु.॥ आणिकां रसें मरण गांठी । येणें तुटी संसारें ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे आहार जाला । हा विठ्ठला आम्हांसी ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: Your Name is sweet — the Name is sweet — all longing is fulfilled. The rasanā tires of other rasas — having taken a gulp, wants more of this. Other rasas bring the death-knot — by this Name, samsāra is cut. Tuka says: this Viṭhṭhalā has become food for us.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| तुझें नाम गोड नाम गोड | "your Name — sweet — Name — sweet" |
| पुरे कोड सकळ ही | "the longing is fulfilled — all of it" |
| रसना येरां रसां विटे | "the rasanā (= tongue) — of-other-rasas — tires" |
| घेतां घोट अधिक हें | "having taken — gulp — more of this" |
| आणिकां रसें मरण गांठी | "by other-rasas — death-knot (gāṇṭhī)" |
| येणें तुटी संसारें | "by-this — samsāra — is cut" |
| तुका म्हणे आहार जाला | "Tuka says — the food — has become" |
| हा विठ्ठला आम्हांसी | "this Viṭhṭhalā — for us" |
What it means
Nāma-as-sweet-food + Viṭhṭhal-as-āhāra abhang.
The opening: tujhēm nāma gōḍa nāma gōḍa — purē kōḍa sakaḷa hī — your Name is sweet, the Name is sweet — all longing is fulfilled. The doubled-gōḍa (= sweet-sweet) is intensifying-repetition; kōḍa = longing, fond-desire; all-the-longing is fulfilled by the sweet-Name.
The tongue-image: rasanā yērām rasām viṭē — ghētām ghōṭa adhika hēm — the rasanā tires of other rasas — having taken a gulp, wants more of this. Rasanā = the tongue / sense-of-taste; yērām rasām = the-other-rasas (= other-tastes / sensory-pleasures); viṭē = tires of, becomes-disgusted-with. The tongue tires-of-other-tastes once it has tasted this Name; the more-it-takes (ghōṭa = gulp), the more-it-wants. Self-amplifying-sweetness.
The death-knot: āṇikām rasē maraṇa gāṇṭhī — yēṇē tuṭī samsārēm — other rasas bring the death-knot — by this Name samsāra is cut. Other-rasas (= other-pleasures) bind-into-the-death-knot (= the samsāra-cycle that ends in death); by-this Name, samsāra is cut. The Name as samsāra-cutter.
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē āhāra jālā — hā Viṭhṭhalā āmhāmsī — Tuka says: this Viṭhṭhalā has become our food. Āhāra = food, sustenance. Viṭhṭhal himself has become our food — the most-intimate-bhakta-image: Lord-as-food, swallowed and assimilated. (The eat-the-Lord image — connects to the Vārī's prasāda-eating and to the bhakta's bhōga-bhāva.)
The image-progression: Name-is-sweet → tongue-tires-of-others → wants-more-of-this → other-rasas-are-death-knot → Name-cuts-samsāra → Lord-himself-becomes-food. From taste to anti-taste to eating-the-Lord.
[T]
For someone today
For today: your Name is sweet, the Name is sweet — all my longing is fulfilled; the tongue tires of other tastes — having taken one gulp of this, it wants more; other rasas bring the death-knot — by this Name, samsāra is cut; Tuka says — this Viṭhṭhal himself has become food for us.
Where this applies
- Name-is-sweet-all-longing-fulfilled.* Nāma-gōḍa-kōḍa-purē.
- Tongue-tires-of-other-rasas.* Rasanā-yērām-rasa-viṭē.
- Other-rasas-bring-death-knot-Name-cuts-samsāra.* Yērā-rasa-maraṇa-Nāma-tuṭī.
- Viṭhṭhal-himself-has-become-our-food.* Viṭhṭhalā-āhāra.