Abhanga 1787
For today: I will take birth, deva, for this sake — to attain your caraṇa-sevā; Hari-nāma-kīrtana, the worship of the saints — full-prostration at the great-door; with ānanda, full, let us be anywhere — sukha-duḥkha have no charm for us; no other effort do I make, no other hope do I hold — I'll become udāsa with full-bhāva; mokṣa in our house is the maidservant, the handmaid — she becomes as we say, Tuka says.
The verse
घेईंन मी जन्म याजसाठीं देवा । तुझी चरणसेवा साधावया ॥१॥ हरिनामकीर्तन संतांचे पूजन । घालूं लोटांगण महाद्वारीं ॥ध्रु.॥ आनंदें निर्भर असों भलते ठायीं । सुखदुःख नाहीं चाड आम्हां ॥२॥ आणीक सायास न करीं न धरीं आस । होईंन उदास सर्व भावें ॥३॥ मोक्ष आम्हां घरीं कामारी ते दासी । होय सांगों तैसी तुका म्हणे ॥४॥
Literal translation
English: I will take birth for this sake, deva — to attain your caraṇa-sevā. Hari-nāma-kīrtana, the pūjana of the saints — we offer a full-prostration at the great-door. With ānanda, full, let us be in any place — sukha-duḥkha has no charm for us. No other effort do I make — no other hope do I hold — I will become udāsa with full-bhāva. Mokṣa in our house is the kāmārī, the dāsī — she becomes as we say, Tuka says.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| घेईंन मी जन्म याजसाठीं देवा | "I will take — birth — for this sake — deva" |
| तुझी चरणसेवा साधावया | "to attain — your caraṇa-sevā" |
| हरिनामकीर्तन संतांचे पूजन | "Hari-nāma-kīrtana — the pūjana of the saints" |
| घालूं लोटांगण महाद्वारीं | "we offer — a lōṭāngaṇa (full-prostration) — at the great-door" |
| आनंदें निर्भर असों भलते ठायीं | "with ānanda, full — let us be — in any place" |
| सुखदुःख नाहीं चाड आम्हां | "sukha-duḥkha — no charm — for us" |
| आणीक सायास न करीं न धरीं आस | "another effort — I do not make — I do not hold — (other) hope" |
| होईंन उदास सर्व भावें | "I will become — udāsa — with all-bhāva" |
| मोक्ष आम्हां घरीं कामारी ते दासी | "mokṣa — in our house — the kāmārī (work-girl) — the dāsī" |
| होय सांगों तैसी तुका म्हणे | "(she) becomes — as we say — Tuka says" |
What it means
Birth-for-the-sake-of-service + mokṣa-as-our-housemaid abhang. A foundational anti-mokṣa-bhakti-supremacy abhang — one of the most-quoted in the gatha.
The opening: ghē'īn mī janma yājasāṭhīm dēvā — tujhī caraṇa-sēvā sādhāvayā — I will take birth for this sake, deva — to attain your caraṇa-sevā. Birth-itself is welcomed, not as bondage, but as opportunity-for-caraṇa-sevā (the worship-of-the-feet). Anti-mokṣa stance — Tuka does not seek-release-from-rebirth; he wants-rebirth-to-continue-the-service.
The kīrtana-line: Hari-nāma-kīrtana santāñcē pūjana — ghālūm lōṭāngaṇa mahā-dvārīm — Hari-nāma-kīrtana, the pūjana of the saints — full-prostration at the great-door. Mahā-dvāra = the great-door (= the door-of-Pandhari-temple, of any-bhakta's-heart, of any-saintly-place). The bhakta's life-program is just-this: kīrtana, saint-worship, prostration.
The ānanda-everywhere line: ānandēm nirbhara asōm bhalatē ṭhāyīm — sukha-duḥkha nāhīm cāḍa āmhām — with ānanda, full, let us be in any place — sukha-duḥkha have no charm for us. Nirbhara = fully-loaded, full-of, brimming. Brimming-with-ānanda anywhere; sukha-and-duḥkha have-no-attractive-pull.
The udāsa-line: āṇīka sāyāsa na karīm na dharīm āsa — hō'īna udāsa sarva-bhāvē — I make no other effort, hold no other hope — I'll become udāsa with full-bhāva. Sāyāsa = strenuous-effort; udāsa = detached, indifferent (= the asanga state). No-other-effort, no-other-hope; total-udāsīnatā with full-bhāva. (= passion-for-Hari combined-with detachment-from-everything-else.)
The closing — the famous mōkṣa-as-housemaid line: mōkṣa āmhā gharīm kāmārī tē dāsī — hōya sāngōm taisī — mokṣa in our house is the kāmārī, the dāsī — she becomes as we say. Kāmārī = the work-girl (a household servant who does daily-chores); dāsī = handmaid. Mokṣa is reduced from the highest-Vedānta-goal to a household-servant-girl in the bhakta's-house — she does as we say. The most-radical bhakti-supremacy claim in the gatha: liberation is at-our-disposal, not we at-its-pursuit.
The implicit-theology: bhakti-rasa is so much-higher than mokṣa that mokṣa serves-the-bhakta as a maidservant. The bhakta does not strive-for-liberation; he strives-only-for-service. Mokṣa-comes-running-as-a-handmaid to the bhakta-engaged-in-Hari-nāma.
This abhang is one of the most-quoted Tukaram abhangs — its mokṣa-as-housemaid line is foundational for the Vārkarī claim that bhakti-is-higher-than-mokṣa. (Pairs with other anti-mokṣa-bhakti-supremacy abhangs in the gatha.)
[T]
For someone today
For today: I will take birth, deva, for this sake — to attain your caraṇa-sevā; Hari-nāma-kīrtana, the worship of the saints — full-prostration at the great-door; with ānanda, full, let us be anywhere — sukha-duḥkha have no charm for us; no other effort do I make, no other hope do I hold — I'll become udāsa with full-bhāva; mokṣa in our house is the maidservant, the handmaid — she becomes as we say, Tuka says.
Where this applies
- Birth-for-the-sake-of-caraṇa-sevā.* Janma-yājasāṭhī-caraṇa-sevā.
- Hari-nāma-kīrtana-santa-pūjana-mahā-dvāra-prostration.* Hari-nāma-kīrtana-santa-pūjana.
- Ānanda-anywhere-sukha-duḥkha-no-charm.* Ānanda-bhalatē-ṭhāyī-sukha-duḥkha-na.
- No-other-effort-udāsa-with-full-bhāva.* Sāyāsa-na-udāsa-sarva-bhāva.
- Mokṣa-is-our-housemaid-she-becomes-as-we-say.* Mokṣa-kāmārī-dāsī-sāngōm-taisī.