Abhanga 1895
For today: you claim to have accepted me as your own, God — but how am I truly to know that? Why hasn't anything in my own experience changed? When I really look, I'm exactly the same as before. You've burdened me with public honor, like a crown that only weighs on me with sorrow. Tuka says: nothing has changed within — and from where I stand, Hari, this looks like a trick.
The verse
माझा तुम्ही देवा केला अंगीकार । हें मज साचार कैसें कळे ॥१॥ कां हो कांहीं माझ्या नये अनुभवा । विचारितां देवा आहें तैसा ॥ध्रु.॥ लौकिकाचा मज लाविसी आभार । शिरोरत्नभार दुःखाचा हा ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे नाहीं पालट अंतरीं । तेथें दिसे हरी ठकाठकी ॥३॥
Literal translation
You have made my angīkāra, deva — how do I know this for sure? Why hasn't anything come into my anubhava — when I consider, it's just-as-it-was. You put on me the burden of laukika — this is a head-jewel-burden of duḥkha. Tuka says: no change in the inner — there, Hari, looks like trickery.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| माझा तुम्ही देवा केला अंगीकार | "you have made my angīkāra — deva" |
| हें मज साचार कैसें कळे | "how do I know this for sure" |
| कां हो कांहीं माझ्या नये अनुभवा | "why hasn't anything come into my anubhava" |
| विचारितां देवा आहें तैसा | "when I consider — (it's) just-as-it-was" |
| लौकिकाचा मज लाविसी आभार | "you put on me — the burden of laukika" |
| शिरोरत्नभार दुःखाचा हा | "this is a head-jewel-burden of duḥkha" |
| तुका म्हणे नाहीं पालट अंतरीं | "Tuka says — no change in the inner" |
| तेथें दिसे हरी ठकाठकी | "there, Hari, looks like trickery (ṭhakāṭhakī)" |
What it means
Demand-actual-anubhava-not-just-laukika abhang.
The opening: mājhā tumhī devā kēlā angīkāra — hē maja sācāra kaisē kaḷē — you have made my angīkāra, deva — how do I know this for sure?. The bhakta demands evidence.
The anubhava-line: kām hō kāhīm mājhyā nayē anubhavā — vicāritām devā āhē taisā — why hasn't anything come into my anubhava — when I consider, it's just-as-it-was. Anubhava = direct-experience. No-change in the inner-state.
The laukika-burden line: laukikācā maja lāvisī ābhāra — śirō-ratna-bhāra duḥkhācā hā — you put on me the burden of laukika — this is a head-jewel-burden of duḥkha. Śirō-ratna = the head-jewel (= the crown-ornament). Striking image: you-make-people-honor-me (laukika) — but-this-public-crown is-a-burden-of-duḥkha to-me, not-a-blessing. (Pairs with 1867's santa mānitīla maja — vāṭatasē lāja.)
The closing-charge: Tukā mhaṇē nāhīm pālaṭa antarī — tēthē disē Hari ṭhakāṭhakī — Tuka says: no change in the inner — there, Hari, looks like trickery. Pālaṭa = change; ṭhakāṭhakī = trickery. No-inner-change; from-here, Hari-looks-like-a-trickster.
The implicit-message: the public-honor (laukika) is no-substitute-for inner-change (anubhava); Hari, you've-given-me-the-crown but-not-the-inner-transformation; this-looks-like-trickery.
[T]
For someone today
For today: you claim to have accepted me as your own, God — but how am I truly to know that? Why hasn't anything in my own experience changed? When I really look, I'm exactly the same as before. You've burdened me with public honor, like a crown that only weighs on me with sorrow. Tuka says: nothing has changed within — and from where I stand, Hari, this looks like a trick.
मराठी: आजसाठी: तू मला आपलेसे केले आहेस असे तू म्हणतोस, देवा — पण हे मला खरे कसे कळावे? माझ्या अनुभवात काहीच का बदलले नाही? नीट पाहिले तर मी आधी होतो तसाच आहे. तू माझ्यावर लौकिक मानाचा भार टाकलास — तो जणू दुःखाचा मुकुटच माझ्या डोक्यावर आहे. तुका म्हणतो: आतून काहीच बदल झालेला नाही — आणि इथून पाहता, हरी, हे तर एखाद्या फसवणुकीसारखे वाटते.
Where this applies
- When people around you say you've grown or changed, but inside you feel exactly the same as before
- When you're given praise, status, or a title that feels more like a burden than an honor
- When you start doubting a promise or claim because your own daily experience doesn't match it
- When you'd rather have real inner change than public recognition that doesn't touch how you actually feel