Abhanga 1853
Real devotion can't be faked or rushed: don't celebrate or perform an experience of grace until it has genuinely happened to you, and don't let announced promises substitute for the real thing.
The verse
आतां तुझा भाव कळों आला देवा । ठकूनियां सेवा घेसी माझी ॥१॥ टाकूनि सांकडें आपुलिये माथां । घातला या संतावरी भार ॥ध्रु.॥ स्तुती करवूनि पिटिला डांगोरा । तें कोण दातारा साच करी ॥२॥ जातीचें वाणी मी पोटींचे कुडें । नका मजपुढें ठकाठकी ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे नाहीं आलें अनुभवा । आधीं च मी देवा कैसें नाचों ॥४॥
Literal translation
Now your bhāva has come to be known, deva — deceiving, you take my service. Throwing the tightness off your own head — placed the burden on these saints. Getting stuti made — (you) struck the drum — who, dātāra, makes (it) true? By jāti, I am vāṇī — false in the belly — don't try trickery before me. Tuka says: (it) hasn't come into experience — prematurely, deva, how shall I dance?.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| आतां तुझा भाव कळों आला देवा | "now — your bhāva — has come to be known — deva" |
| ठकूनियां सेवा घेसी माझी | "deceiving — (you) take my service" |
| टाकूनि सांकडें आपुलिये माथां | "throwing the tightness — off your own head" |
| घातला या संतावरी भार | "placed the burden — on these saints" |
| स्तुती करवूनि पिटिला डांगोरा | "getting stuti made — (you) struck the drum" |
| तें कोण दातारा साच करी | "who, dātāra — makes (it) true" |
| जातीचें वाणी मी पोटींचे कुडें | "by jāti, vāṇī — I am false in the belly" |
| नका मजपुढें ठकाठकी | "don't try — trickery before me" |
| तुका म्हणे नाहीं आलें अनुभवा | "Tuka says — (it) hasn't come — into experience" |
| आधीं च मी देवा कैसें नाचों | "prematurely — deva — how shall I dance" |
What it means
Anti-Lord-trickery + I-am-a-vāṇī-by-trade-don't-trick-me abhang. One of the rare abhangs where Tuka explicitly invokes his merchant-caste.
The opening: ātām tujhā bhāva kaḷōm ālā devā — ṭhakūniyām sēvā ghēsī mājhī — now your bhāva has come to be known, deva — deceiving, (you) take my service. The bhakta has-finally-figured-out the Lord's-game: you-deceive-and-take-service.
The burden-on-saints line: ṭākūni sānkaḍē āpuliyē māthām — ghātalā yā santāvarī bhāra — throwing the tightness off your own head — placed the burden on these saints. The Lord-has-shifted-his-burden onto-the-saints (= it's the saints who have to-mediate-and-bear-the-bhakta's-cause).
The drum-line: stuti karavūni piṭilā ḍāngōrā — tē kōṇa dātārā sāca karī — getting stuti made — (you) struck the drum — who, dātāra, makes (it) true?. Ḍāngōrā = a drum / public-announcement. You got the praises-spread-publicly, but who-actually-makes the promised-thing-true?.
The brilliant vāṇī-line: jātīcē vāṇī mī pōṭīñcē kuḍē — nakā majpuḍhē ṭhakāṭhakī — by jāti, I am vāṇī — false in the belly — don't try trickery before me. Vāṇī = Tuka's actual jāti, the merchant-caste; kuḍē = false, crooked (here used self-deprecatingly: I'm-a-merchant by-birth, naturally-business-shrewd, born-to-deceive-as-trade). Tuka invokes his own merchant-caste-skill in cunning to say: don't-try-trickery-on-me, I'm-an-expert-at-it. (Striking — Tuka rarely names his caste, here turning it into a witty-defense.)
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē nāhīm ālē anubhavā — ādhīm chi mī devā kaisē nācōm — Tuka says: it hasn't come into experience — prematurely, deva, how shall I dance?. The bhakta refuses to dance-the-bhakti-dance prematurely (= before the actual-experience comes). No public-show without inner-realization.
This is a remarkable abhang — Tuka deploys his vāṇī-merchant-identity as proof he can-spot-the-Lord's-trickery; refuses premature-celebration.
[T]
For someone today
For today: now your bhāva has come to be known, deva — deceiving, (you) take my service; throwing the tightness off your own head — placed the burden on these saints; getting stuti made — (you) struck the drum — who, dātāra, makes (it) true?; by jāti, I am vāṇī — false in the belly — don't try trickery before me; Tuka says — (it) hasn't come into experience — prematurely, deva, how shall I dance?.
Where this applies
- When someone or some institution makes big promises and you want proof before you celebrate.
- When you feel like the real work of following through has quietly been shifted onto you or other ordinary people.
- When you're naturally shrewd about deals and want to trust that same instinct in matters of faith.
- When you're tempted to perform excitement or gratitude for something you haven't actually experienced yet.