Abhanga 1821
For today: to the lust-stricken — no fear, no shame, no consideration — the body is worthless, equal to a blade-of-grass; marvelous, this līḷā — the doer's lāghava — by prārabdha, bhāva was shown; greed targets only one wealth — others' convenience has no charm; Tuka says — hunger doesn't consider kind — whatever applies at the time is the essence.
The verse
कामातुरा भय लाज ना विचार । शरीर असार तृणतुल्य ॥१॥ नवल हे लीळा करात्याचें लाघव । प्रारब्धें भाव दाखविले ॥ध्रु.॥ लोभालोभ एका धनाचिये ठायीं । आणिकांची सोईं चाड नाहीं ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे भूक न विचारी प्रकार । योजे तें चि सार यथाकाळें ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: To the kāmā'tura — no fear, no shame, no consideration — the body is asāra, tṛṇa-tulya. Marvelous, this līḷā — the doer's lāghava — by prārabdha, the bhāva was shown. Greed — of one wealth-target — others' convenience, no charm. Tuka says: hunger does not consider kind — whatever applies at the time is the essence.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| कामातुरा भय लाज ना विचार | "to the kāmā'tura (lust-stricken) — no fear, shame, consideration" |
| शरीर असार तृणतुल्य | "the body — is worthless — equal to a tṛṇa (blade-of-grass)" |
| नवल हे लीळा करात्याचें लाघव | "marvelous — this līḷā — of the doer's lāghava (= cleverness / sleight)" |
| प्रारब्धें भाव दाखविले | "by prārabdha — the bhāva — was shown" |
| लोभालोभ एका धनाचिये ठायीं | "greed — of one — wealth-target / wealth-place" |
| आणिकांची सोईं चाड नाहीं | "others' convenience — no charm" |
| तुका म्हणे भूक न विचारी प्रकार | "Tuka says — hunger — doesn't consider — kind" |
| योजे तें चि सार यथाकाळें | "whatever applies — (is) the essence — at the time" |
What it means
Three-impulses-bypass-discrimination abhang. A diagnostic of the three-impulses (kāma, lōbha, bhūka) that bypass-vicāra.
Impulse 1 — Kāma: kāmā'turā bhaya lāja nā vicāra — śarīra asāra tṛṇa-tulya — to the lust-stricken — no fear, no shame, no consideration — the body is asāra (worthless), tṛṇa-tulya (= equal to a blade-of-grass). Kāmā'tura = lust-stricken. The lust-stricken treats his-body as straw — no-fear-of-consequence, no-shame-before-others, no-rational-consideration.
The interlude: navala hē līḷā karātyāñce lāghava — prārabdhē bhāva dākhavilē — marvelous, this līḷā — the doer's lāghava — by prārabdha, the bhāva was shown. Lāghava = cleverness, agility, sleight-of-hand. The cosmic-doer (= the Lord) plays-his-līḷā so-cleverly that prārabdha-itself shows-the-bhāva (= the entire-three-impulse-display is a līḷā, not real-substance).
Impulse 2 — Lōbha: lōbhālōbha ēkā dhanāciyē ṭhāyīm — āṇikāñcī sōīm cāḍa nāhīm — greed — of one wealth-target — others' convenience, no charm. Greed-fixates-on-one-wealth-object, ignoring-the-convenience-of-others. (= single-target-fixation.)
Impulse 3 — Bhūka: Tukā mhaṇē bhūka na vicārī prakāra — yōjē tē chi sāra yathā-kāḷē — Tuka says: hunger does not consider kind — whatever applies at the time is the essence. Hunger doesn't-discriminate-kind-of-food; whatever-comes-to-hand at-that-moment is-essential.
The triple-implicit-message: the three-impulses (lust, greed, hunger) all-bypass-vicāra; once they-grip the body, fear-shame-discrimination all-vanish. The bhakta-as-witness recognizes them as līḷā-displayed by-prārabdha — but warns that they-strip-the-body-of-vicāra.
This abhang is a concise-diagnostic-typology of the body's-impulse-bypass-of-discrimination — pairs with abhangs about manas-disobedience (1818) and the anti-fake-yogi (1762) registers.
[T]
For someone today
For today: to the lust-stricken — no fear, no shame, no consideration — the body is worthless, equal to a blade-of-grass; marvelous, this līḷā — the doer's lāghava — by prārabdha, bhāva was shown; greed targets only one wealth — others' convenience has no charm; Tuka says — hunger doesn't consider kind — whatever applies at the time is the essence.
Where this applies
- Lust-bypasses-fear-shame-vicāra.* Kāmā'tura-bhaya-lāja-na.
- Body-as-straw-tṛṇa-tulya.* Śarīra-asāra-tṛṇa-tulya.
- Greed-targets-one-no-charm-for-others.* Lōbha-ēkā-dhana-cāḍa-na.
- Hunger-doesn't-discriminate-kind.* Bhūka-na-vicāra-yōjē-sāra.