Abhanga 2146
Speaking taught words without inner feeling, or sitting in solitude without stilling your cravings, is not the same as real spiritual steadiness.
The verse
शिकविले बोल । बोलें तैसी नाहीं ओल ॥१॥ आतां देवा संदेह नाहीं । वांयां गेलों यासी कांहीं ॥ध्रु.॥ एकांताचा वास । नाहीं संकल्पाचा नास ॥२॥ बुद्धि नाहीं स्थिर । तुका म्हणे शब्दा धीर ॥३॥
Literal translation
Taught words — I speak — but no moisture as I speak. Now Deva, no doubt — I've gone to waste somehow. Solitude-dwelling — no destruction of sankalpa. Tuka says: buddhi not firm — patience only with words.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| शिकविले बोल | "taught words" |
| बोलें तैसी नाहीं ओल | "I speak — but no moisture as I speak" |
| आतां देवा संदेह नाहीं | "now Deva, no doubt" |
| वांयां गेलों यासी कांहीं | "I've gone to waste somehow" |
| एकांताचा वास | "solitude-dwelling" |
| नाहीं संकल्पाचा नास | "no destruction of sankalpa" |
| बुद्धि नाहीं स्थिर | "buddhi not firm" |
| तुका म्हणे शब्दा धीर | "Tuka says — patience only with words" |
What it means
Taught-words-no-moisture + solitude-but-sankalpas-remain + buddhi-not-firm abhang. HONEST SELF-AUDIT.
The opening — dry-words: śikavilē bōla — bōlē taisī nāhīm ōla — taught words, I speak — but no moisture as I speak. Ōla = moisture, freshness, sap. I-speak-the-taught-words, but-without-inner-moisture (= dry, mechanical). The danger of-trained-repetition without-experience.
The doubt-removed: ātām Dēvā sandēha nāhīm — vāmyām gēlōm yāsī kāhīm — now Deva, no doubt — I've gone to waste somehow. No-doubt-now: I've-gone-to-waste somewhere.
The solitude-but-sankalpa-line: ēkāntācā vāsa — nāhīm sankalpāchā nāsa — solitude-dwelling — no destruction of sankalpa. Living-in-solitude, but sankalpas (mental-resolutions / cravings) not-destroyed. The truth that-physical-isolation doesn't-end mental-activity.
The closing — buddhi-and-patience: buddhi nāhīm sthira — Tukā mhaṇē śabdā dhīra — buddhi not firm — patience only with words. Buddhi-not-firm; only the-words have-patience (i.e., the practice is purely verbal).
[T]
For someone today
For today: taught words, I speak — but no moisture as I speak; now Deva, no doubt — I've gone to waste somehow; solitude-dwelling — no destruction of sankalpa; Tuka says — buddhi not firm — patience only with words.
Where this applies
- When you recite the right words or prayers but feel nothing real behind them
- When you withdraw into solitude yet notice your cravings and restless thoughts haven't actually settled
- When you honestly admit that some part of your practice has become mechanical or wasted
- When you catch the difference between speaking calmly and actually being calm inside