Abhanga 1828
Even though no scripture or system can fully know God, love is allowed to speak to God by name and with familiarity, because that closeness is what devotion is for.
The verse
वेदश्रुति तुज नेणती कोणी । चोवीस ठेंगणीं धांडोळितां॥१॥ आतां मज क्षमा करावें देवा । सलगी ते केशवा बोलियेलों ॥ध्रु.॥ तो आम्ही भावें केलासी लहान । ठेवूनियां नांवें पाचारितों ॥२॥ तेथें माझी देहबुद्धि तें काईं । थोर मी अन्यायी तुका म्हणे ॥३॥
Literal translation
Veda-Śruti don't know you — anyone — the twenty-four (tattvas) fall short while searching. Now forgive me, deva — with familiarity I have spoken to Kēśava. We have, by bhāva, made you small — placing names and calling you. There, what is my deha-buddhi? — great is my anyāya, Tuka says.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| वेदश्रुति तुज नेणती कोणी | "Veda-Śruti — don't know you — anyone" |
| चोवीस ठेंगणीं धांडोळितां | "the twenty-four (24 tattvas) — fall short — while searching" |
| आतां मज क्षमा करावें देवा | "now — forgive me, deva" |
| सलगी ते केशवा बोलियेलों | "with familiarity (salagī) — Kēśava — I have spoken" |
| तो आम्ही भावें केलासी लहान | "you — we — by bhāva — made small" |
| ठेवूनियां नांवें पाचारितों | "placing names — (we) call" |
| तेथें माझी देहबुद्धि तें काईं | "there — my deha-buddhi — what is it" |
| थोर मी अन्यायी तुका म्हणे | "great — my anyāya — Tuka says" |
What it means
Apology-for-familiarity + Veda-doesn't-know-you abhang.
The opening: vēda-śruti tuja nēṇatī kōṇī — cōvīsa ṭhēngaṇīm dhāṇḍōḷitām — Veda-Śruti don't know you — the twenty-four fall short while searching. Cōvīsa = the 24 tattvas of Sāmkhya (= prakṛti, mahat, ahamkāra, manas, 5 jñānendriyas, 5 karmendriyas, 5 tanmātras, 5 mahābhūtas — the 24 categories that-build-up-the-cosmos); ṭhēngaṇīm = fall-short / are inadequate; dhāṇḍōḷitām = while searching. Even Veda-Śruti and the entire 24-tattva-system fall-short of knowing you.
The apology: ātām maja kṣamā karāvē dēvā — salagī tē Kēśavā bōliyēlōm — now forgive me, deva — with familiarity I have spoken to Kēśava. Salagī = familiarity, intimate-acquaintance (= the over-familiar-tone of the bhakta calling-the-Lord-by-name). Forgive me for the familiarity-of-tone.
The bhāva-line: tō āmhī bhāvē kēlāsī lahāna — ṭhē'ūniyām nāmē pācāritōm — we made you small by bhāva — placing names, calling you. The bhakta's-bhāva makes-the-cosmic-Lord into-a-small-personal-Lord; we-place-names on-the-unnameable. (= the bhāva-of-bhakti reduces-the-cosmic-to-the-personal, which is itself a bold-act.)
The closing: tēthē mājhī deha-buddhī tē kāīm — thōra mī anyāyī Tukā mhaṇē — there, what is my deha-buddhi? — great is my anyāya, Tuka says. Anyāya = injustice, wrong-act. In-the-face-of the cosmic-Lord, what-is-my-deha-buddhi (= my body-based-cognition)? — great is my anyāya in even-naming-you.
The implicit-message: the bhakta acknowledges the gap between the cosmic-unknowable-Lord and the personal-named-Lord he calls-with-familiarity; he apologizes for the gap, but-the-bhāva justifies it. The Vārkarī's bridging-of-cosmic-and-personal.
[T]
For someone today
For today: Veda-Śruti don't know you — the twenty-four (tattvas) fall short while searching; now forgive me, deva — with familiarity I have spoken to Kēśava; we, by bhāva, made you small — placing names and calling you; there, what is my deha-buddhi? — great is my anyāya, Tuka says.
Where this applies
- When you feel awkward praying or speaking to God in casual, personal language instead of formal words
- When you worry that your understanding of something vast and sacred is too small or too simple
- When you catch yourself treating someone you deeply respect with more familiarity than seems proper
- When love makes you bold enough to reach for something greater than you, even while you feel unworthy of it