Abhanga 1801

Understanding that separation is often an illusion is valuable, but it should never be used as a clever excuse instead of real, felt closeness.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

Advaita-Vedānta-images-but-bhakta-protest abhang. Three classical advaita-illusion images in three verses — and a closing protest from the bhakta who refuses to be toyed-with.

Image 1 — Rajju-sarpa (rope-snake): rajju dharūnīyām hātīm — bhēḍasāvilīm nēṇatīm — kaḷōm yētām chittī — dōrī dōghām sārikhī — holding the rope in hand, you frightened the unknowing — when known to chitta, the rope is the same to both. Rajju = rope; the classical-Vedānta-illusion = the rope mistaken-for-a-snake; once the chitta knows-it-is-rope, the snake-illusion vanishes. Dōrī dōghām sārikhī = the rope is the same to both (= rope-and-rope, no-different; = for the knowing-one, both samsāra and brahman are seen-as-rope; no different).

Image 2 — Mṛga-jaḷa (mirage-water): tumhām-āmhā-madhyē Hari — jālī hōtī taisī parī — mṛga-jaḷācyā purī — ṭhāva pāhōm tarāvayā — between you-and-me, Hari, the same was — in the mirage-flood, looking for a place to cross. Mṛga-jaḷa = the deer-water (= the mirage that thirsty-deer chase). Between you-and-me, Hari, the same illusion was — we were-looking-for-a-place-to-cross-the-flood that-was-only-mirage. (= the very-distance between you-and-me was an illusion — like trying-to-cross a mirage.)

Image 3 — Suvarṇa-alankāra (gold-ornaments): sarī citāka bhōmvarī — alankārācīyā parī — nāmē jālīm durī — ēka sōnē āṭitām — necklace, citāka, bhōmvarī — as alankāras — names have distanced them — but one gold when melted. Sarī = necklace; citāka = small pendant; bhōmvarī = eye-pendant. These-different-named ornaments are-distanced-by-their-names; but melt them down, all-one-gold. (= all-the-different-named-things are-one-substance.)

The closing protest: pisāñcīm pāravīm — karōni bāja-girī dāvī — Tukā mhaṇē tēvīm — maja nakō cāḷavūm — making pisa-ripples, you show pomp — Tuka says: like that, don't toy with me. Pisa = cob-web-fluff / mad-flutter; pāravīm = ripples / waves; bāja-girī = pomp, fanfare; cāḷavūm = to toy-with, play-with. Striking turn: after-three-classical-advaita-images, Tuka pivots — "you show pomp like making cob-web-ripples; don't toy with me". (= the-bhakta-acknowledges-advaita-imagery but refuses-to-be-cheated of the bhakti-relationship by it. Yes, the rope-snake, mirage, gold-ornaments are all true — but I want my Hari, not your-pisa-pomp.)

This is one of Tuka's most-philosophically-rich abhangs — displaying full-mastery of classical-advaita-imagery and yet closing with the bhakta-personalist-refusal of being-toyed-with by Hari's-illusion-display. The Vārkarī bhēdābheda position-paper in compressed form.

[T]

For someone today

For today: holding the rope in hand, you frightened the unknowing — when known to chitta, the rope is the same to both; between you and me, Hari, the same was — in the mirage-flood, looking for a place to cross; necklace, citāka, bhōmvarī — as ornaments — names have distanced them, but one gold when melted; making cob-web-ripples, you show pomp — Tuka says: like that, don't toy with me.

Where this applies

• When you realize a fear or a divide you believed in turns out to be an illusion once you look at it clearly
• When someone offers you clever arguments or philosophy in place of real presence or real care
• When you notice that things called by different names, like different roles or labels, are actually made of the same underlying substance
• When you want to honor an idea's truth but still insist on the real relationship behind it

Related verses

• Abhanga 3265 — Fear and confusion come from mistaking appearances, like a reflection or a rope in the dar
• Abhanga 3737 — The formless became form purely so devotion could exist, and worshipping that form is not
• Abhanga 3995 — You do not need endless arguments or complicated practices to be freed from your past; sim
• Abhanga 4128 — You don't need mastery of ritual or technique to serve wholeheartedly, since sincere devot