Abhanga 1868
Outward show of devotion without real inner love cannot carry you across; being called good by the world means nothing without genuine love inside.
The verse
नाहीं तुम्ही केला । अंगीकार तो विठ्ठला ॥१॥ सोंगें न पवीजे थडी । माजी फुटकी सांगडी ॥ध्रु.॥ प्रेम नाही अंगीं । भले म्हणविलें जगीं ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे देवा । मज वांयां कां चाळवा ॥३॥
Literal translation
You have not done that angīkāra, Viṭhṭhal. By show, one doesn't reach the shore — the broken ferry-raft is in the middle. No prēma in body — got-called bhalē in the world. Tuka says: deva, why do you keep deluding me to waste?.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| नाहीं तुम्ही केला | "you have not done" |
| अंगीकार तो विठ्ठला | "that angīkāra — Viṭhṭhal" |
| सोंगें न पवीजे थडी | "by show — one doesn't reach the shore (thaḍī)" |
| माजी फुटकी सांगडी | "in the middle — the broken ferry-raft (sāngaḍī)" |
| प्रेम नाही अंगीं | "no prēma in body" |
| भले म्हणविलें जगीं | "got-called bhalē — in the world" |
| तुका म्हणे देवा | "Tuka says — deva" |
| मज वांयां कां चाळवा | "me — why — do you keep deluding — to waste" |
What it means
No-angīkāra-no-prēma-don't-waste-me abhang.
The opening: nāhīm tumhī kēlā — angīkāra tō Viṭhṭhalā — you have not done that angīkāra, Viṭhṭhal. Direct charge: the angīkāra-(acceptance) hasn't-yet-happened.
The broken-raft image: sōngē na pavījē thaḍī — mājī phuṭakī sāngaḍī — by show, one doesn't reach the shore — the broken ferry-raft is in the middle. Sāngaḍī = a ferry-raft (typically of joined gourds or wooden-boards). Show-of-bhakti can't-take-one-across; mid-stream the raft-is-broken. (= external-display alone fails; the bhakta is stranded mid-samsāra.)
The no-prēma line: prēma nāhīm angī — bhalē mhaṇavilē jagī — no prēma in body — got-called bhalē in the world. The bhakta is publicly-called bhalē (good-bhakta), but-internally has-no-prēma. (Echoes 1774's vācā-cāpalyē-kuśaḷa-pūjya-jālōm register.)
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē devā — maja vāmyām kām cāḷavā — Tuka says: deva — why do you keep deluding me to waste?. Cāḷavā = delude, mislead, toy-with; vāmyām = to waste. Why-toy-with-me-to-waste, deva?.
The implicit-message: external-show (sōnga, bhalē-name-in-world) without-internal-prēma + Lord's-non-angīkāra = wasted-bhakta-life.
[T]
For someone today
For today: you have not done that angīkāra, Viṭhṭhal; by show, one doesn't reach the shore — the broken ferry-raft is in the middle; no prēma in body — got called bhalē in the world; Tuka says — deva — why do you keep deluding me to waste?.
Where this applies
- When you're praised as devout or good by others but privately know your heart isn't really in it
- When you feel stuck halfway, as if your spiritual practice isn't actually taking you anywhere
- When you rely on rituals or outward show instead of asking what you genuinely feel inside
- When your public reputation and your private truth don't match