Abhanga 1791
For today: Ganga-water has no front-or-back — what defect could be in amṛta?; what does the diamond know of sun-lamp-darkness — by it the other darkness is destroyed; in pounding camphor, what chaff? — meeting the ocean, what walks?; parisa and cintāmaṇi touch others' substrate — they don't themselves change into the touched; Tuka says — thus know the santa-people — everywhere complete, like the gagana.
The verse
गंगाजळा पाहीं पाठी पोट नाहीं । अवगुण तो कांहीं अमृतासी ॥१॥ रवि दीप काळिमा काय जाणे हिरा । आणिका तिमिरा नासे तेणे ॥ध्रु.॥ कर्पूरकांडणी काय कोंडा कणी । सिंधू मिळावणीं काय चाले ॥२॥ परिस चिंतामणि आणिकांचा गुणी । पालटे लागोनि नव्हे तैसा ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे तैसे जाणा संतजन । सर्वत्र संपूर्ण गगन जैसें ॥४॥
Literal translation
English: Ganga-water — behold — no front-or-back — what defect could be in amṛta? Ravi-dīpa-kāḷimā — what does the diamond know? — by it the other timira is destroyed. In pounding camphor — what chaff or grain? — meeting the ocean, what walks? Parisa, cintāmaṇi, touching others' guṇa-substrate — they don't themselves change into the touched. Tuka says: thus know the santa-people — everywhere complete, like the gagana.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| गंगाजळा पाहीं पाठी पोट नाहीं | "Ganga-water — behold — no front-or-back" |
| अवगुण तो कांहीं अमृतासी | "what defect — (is) there — to amṛta" |
| रवि दीप काळिमा काय जाणे हिरा | "ravi-dīpa-kāḷimā (sun-lamp-darkness) — what does the diamond know" |
| आणिका तिमिरा नासे तेणे | "the other-timira (darkness) — is destroyed — by it" |
| कर्पूरकांडणी काय कोंडा कणी | "in pounding camphor — what kōṇḍā (chaff) — grain" |
| सिंधू मिळावणीं काय चाले | "meeting the ocean — what walks (= what passes-as-impediment)" |
| परिस चिंतामणि आणिकांचा गुणी | "parisa, cintāmaṇi — touching others' guṇa (= substrate)" |
| पालटे लागोनि नव्हे तैसा | "they don't change — by-touching — into-the-touched-thing" |
| तुका म्हणे तैसे जाणा संतजन | "Tuka says — thus know — the santa-people" |
| सर्वत्र संपूर्ण गगन जैसें | "everywhere — complete — like the gagana (sky)" |
What it means
Sant-praise pentad abhang. Five classical-similes for the changeless-purity of saints, closing with complete-like-the-sky.
Simile 1 — Gangā-amṛta: gangā-jaḷā pāhīm pāṭhī pōṭa nāhīm — avaguṇa tō kāhīm amṛtāsī — Ganga-water has no front-or-back — what defect could be in amṛta?. Ganga-water has no impure-side; the same all-around; amṛta has no defect. (= the saint-substance has no flawed-side.)
Simile 2 — Hīrā vs. timira: ravi-dīpa kāḷimā kāya jāṇē hīrā — āṇikā timirā nāsē tēṇē — what does the diamond know of sun-lamp-darkness? — by it the other-timira is destroyed. The diamond doesn't-know-the-darkness of sun-or-lamp (= it doesn't-experience-darkness); rather, it destroys other-darkness by its own-radiance. (= the saint doesn't experience darkness; he destroys-darkness-in-others.)
Simile 3 — Karpūra & sindhū: karpūra-kāṇḍaṇī kāya kōṇḍā kaṇī — sindhū miḷāvaṇī kāya cālē — in pounding camphor, what chaff? meeting the ocean, what walks?. Pounding camphor yields no chaff (= all-essence, no-husk); meeting the ocean, no impediment-passes (= all-merger). (= the saint is all-essence, all-merger.)
Simile 4 — Parisa & cintāmaṇi: parisa cintāmaṇi āṇikāñcā guṇī — pālaṭē lāgōnī navhē taisā — parisa, cintāmaṇi, touching others' guṇa — they don't themselves change into the touched. Parisa (philosopher's-stone) and cintāmaṇi (the wishing-jewel) transform-others by-contact, but-themselves remain unchanged. (= the saint transforms-others without-himself-being-altered.)
The synthesis: Tukā mhaṇē taisē jāṇā santa-jana — sarvatra sampūrṇa gagana jaisēm — Tuka says: thus know the santa-people — everywhere complete, like the gagana. Sarvatra sampūrṇa = complete-everywhere; gagana jaisēm = like the sky. The saints are like the sky — everywhere-the-same, complete-everywhere, untouched-by-what-touches-them, transforming-without-being-transformed.
This abhang is one of the canonical sant-praise abhangs in the gatha, drawing on classical-Indian similes (Gangā-amṛta-hīrā-karpūra-sindhū-parisa-cintāmaṇi-gagana) to articulate the changeless-purity-and-radiating-influence of saints.
[T]
For someone today
For today: Ganga-water has no front-or-back — what defect could be in amṛta?; what does the diamond know of sun-lamp-darkness — by it the other darkness is destroyed; in pounding camphor, what chaff? — meeting the ocean, what walks?; parisa and cintāmaṇi touch others' substrate — they don't themselves change into the touched; Tuka says — thus know the santa-people — everywhere complete, like the gagana.
Where this applies
- Ganga-amṛta-no-front-back-no-defect.* Gangā-amṛta-pāṭhī-pōṭa-na-avaguṇa-na.
- Diamond-doesn't-know-darkness-destroys-it.* Hīrā-kāḷimā-na-jāṇē-timira-nāsē.
- Camphor-no-chaff-ocean-no-impediment.* Karpūra-kōṇḍā-na-sindhū-cālē-na.
- Parisa-cintāmaṇi-transform-without-changing.* Parisa-cintāmaṇi-pālaṭa-na.
- Saints-everywhere-complete-like-sky.* Santa-sarvatra-gagana.