Abhanga 1998
For today: we have tied bhakti-bhāva in a knot — we sell at the market, take, anyone; opened a shop in the sukha-market — spread out the goods, Rāma-Nāma; sukha for free — essence of all — to ferry across the bhava-sindhu; the great-fortunate ones of the past — made this their stock-in-trade; no false-broken, no harm-or-blow there — Tuka says — make the chitta pure.
The verse
भक्तिभाव आम्ही बांधिलासे गांठी । साधावितों हाटीं घ्या रे कोणी ॥१॥ सुखाचिया पेंठे घातला दुकान । मांडियेले वान रामनाम ॥ध्रु.॥ सुखाचें फुकाचें सकळांचें सार । तरावया पार भवसिंधु ॥२॥ मागें भाग्यवंत जाले थोर थोर । तिहीं केला फार हा चि सांटा ॥३॥ खोटें कुडें तेथें नाहीं घातपात । तुका म्हणे चत्ति शुद्ध करीं ॥४॥
Literal translation
English: We have tied bhakti-bhāva in a knot — we sell at the market, take, anyone. Opened a shop in the sukha-market — spread out the goods, Rāma-Nāma. Sukha for free — essence of all — to ferry across the bhava-sindhu. The great-fortunate ones of the past — they too made this their stock-in-trade. No false-broken, no harm-or-blow there — Tuka says: make the chitta pure.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| भक्तिभाव आम्ही बांधिलासे गांठी | "we have tied bhakti-bhāva in a knot" |
| साधावितों हाटीं घ्या रे कोणी | "we sell at the market — take, anyone" |
| सुखाचिया पेंठे घातला दुकान | "opened a shop in the sukha-market" |
| मांडियेले वान रामनाम | "spread out the goods — Rāma-Nāma" |
| सुखाचें फुकाचें सकळांचें सार | "sukha for free — the essence of all" |
| तरावया पार भवसिंधु | "to ferry across the bhava-sindhu" |
| मागें भाग्यवंत जाले थोर थोर | "the great-fortunate ones of the past" |
| तिहीं केला फार हा चि सांटा | "they too made this their stock-in-trade" |
| खोटें कुडें तेथें नाहीं घातपात | "no false-broken, no harm-or-blow there" |
| तुका म्हणे चत्ति शुद्ध करीं | "Tuka says — make the chitta pure" |
What it means
Bhakti-as-shop-in-sukha-market abhang.
The opening — bhakta as merchant: bhakti-bhāva āmhī bāndhilāsē gāṭhī — sādhāvitōm hāṭīm ghyā rē kōṇī — we have tied bhakti-bhāva in a knot — we sell at the market, take, anyone. Tukārām (whose own family-trade was money-lending/grocery) frames bhakti-as-merchandise: come-to-the-market and-take.
The shop: sukhāciyā pēṇṭhē ghātalā dukāna — māṇḍiyēlē vāna Rāma-Nāma — opened a shop in the sukha-market — spread out the goods, Rāma-Nāma. Pēṇṭhē = bazaar, market-row. Vāna = merchandise. The shop-in-the-sukha-market sells Rāma-Nāma as-goods.
The free-essence: sukhāchē phukāchē sakaḷāñchē sāra — tarāvayā pāra bhava-sindhu — sukha for free — essence of all — to ferry across bhava-sindhu. Phukā = free, no-cost. Free-sukha; the-essence-of-all; ferries-across the-bhava-ocean. A radically-democratic bhakti: the goods are free; anyone can take.
The precedent: māgē bhāgyavanta jālē thōra thōra — tihīm kēlā phāra hā chi sāṇṭā — the great-fortunate ones of the past — made this their stock-in-trade. Saints-of-the-past traded-in-this-very-thing.
The closing: khōṭē kuḍē tēthē nāhīm ghāta-pāta — Tukā mhaṇē chitta śuddha karī — no false-broken, no harm-or-blow — Tuka says: make chitta pure. No counterfeits, no scams; only-pure-chitta required as-currency.
[T]
For someone today
For today: we have tied bhakti-bhāva in a knot — we sell at the market, take, anyone; opened a shop in the sukha-market — spread out the goods, Rāma-Nāma; sukha for free — essence of all — to ferry across the bhava-sindhu; the great-fortunate ones of the past — made this their stock-in-trade; no false-broken, no harm-or-blow there — Tuka says — make the chitta pure.
Where this applies
- Bhakti-bhāva-knot-sell-at-market.* Bhakti-bhāva-bāndhilāsē-gāṭhī-hāṭīm.
- Shop-in-sukha-market-Rāma-Nāma.* Sukhāciyā-pēṇṭhē-dukāna-Rāma-Nāma.
- Sukha-for-free-ferry-bhava-sindhu.* Sukhāchē-phukāchē-sāra-bhava-sindhu.
- Saints-of-past-this-stock-in-trade.* Bhāgyavanta-thōra-sāṇṭā.
- No-counterfeits-make-chitta-pure.* Khōṭē-kuḍē-na-ghāta-pāta-chitta-śuddha.