संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 1895 of 4582

Abhanga 1895

English: You have made my angīkāra, deva — how do I know this for sure?

When you'd demand actual-anubhava-not-just-laukika-fame — angīkāra-sācāra-na-kaḷē; anubhava-na-vicāritā-taisā; laukika-ābhāra-śirō-ratna-duḥkha; pālaṭa-antarī-na-Hari-ṭhakāṭhakī

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

English: 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 methe 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 kaḷēyou 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 taisāwhy 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 hāyou 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 ṭhakāṭhakīTuka 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 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.

Where this applies

Related verses