Abhanga 2161
The sense of separateness between things may be a kind of performance rather than reality, and since the divine dwells within your own heart, it can never go anywhere to escape you.
The verse
काय नव्हेसी तूं एक । देखों कासया पृथक ॥१॥ मुंग्या कैंचे मुंगळे । नटनाट्य तुझे चाळे ॥ध्रु.॥ जाली तरी मर्यादा । किंवा त्रासावें गोविंदा ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे साचा । कोठें जासी हृदयींचा ॥३॥
Literal translation
What aren't you one — why do we see [things] separately? Whence ants, whence ant-pickers — your naṭa-nāṭya, these are your tricks. Even if there be a limit — or should Govinda be troubled? Tuka says: true one — where will you go from within the heart?
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| काय नव्हेसी तूं एक | "what aren't you one" |
| देखों कासया पृथक | "why do we see [things] separately" |
| मुंग्या कैंचे मुंगळे | "whence ants — whence ant-pickers" |
| नटनाट्य तुझे चाळे | "your naṭa-nāṭya — these are your tricks" |
| जाली तरी मर्यादा | "even if there be a limit" |
| किंवा त्रासावें गोविंदा | "or should Govinda be troubled" |
| तुका म्हणे साचा | "Tuka says — true one" |
| कोठें जासी हृदयींचा | "where will you go from within the heart" |
What it means
What-isn't-you-one + where-will-you-go-from-the-heart abhang.
The opening — the advaita-question: kāya navhēsī tūm ēka — dēkhōm kāsayā pṛthaka — what aren't you one — why do we see [things] separately. What-isn't-you-one — why do-we-perceive separately?
The ants-ant-pickers image: mungyā kaiñchē mungaḷē — naṭa-nāṭya tujhē chāḷē — whence ants — whence ant-pickers — your naṭa-nāṭya, these are your tricks. Naṭa-nāṭya = actor's-drama, theatrical-play. Both the ants and the-ones-who-pick-up-the-ants — all your naṭa-nāṭya, your tricks. (= the seeming-multiplicity is your-theatrical-display.)
The limit-or-trouble: jālī tarī maryādā — kimvā trāsāvē Gōvindā — even if there be a limit — or should Govinda be troubled. Even-if there-be a-limit, should-Govinda-be-troubled?
The closing — from-within-the-heart: Tukā mhaṇē sāchā — kōṭhē jāsī hṛdayīñchā — Tuka says: true one — where will you go from within the heart. You-who-are-true — where-will-you-go from-within-the-heart? (= you have-nowhere-to-flee from-the-heart-where-you-dwell.)
[T]
For someone today
For today: what aren't you one — why see separately; whence ants, ant-pickers — your naṭa-nāṭya — these tricks; even if there be limit — should Govinda be troubled; Tuka says — true one — where will you go from within the heart.
Where this applies
- When you feel painfully separate from someone or something you sense is actually deeply connected to you
- When small, insignificant details of daily life start to feel like part of one larger, meaningful pattern
- When you wonder whether the divisions you perceive in the world are as fixed and real as they seem
- When you search outside yourself for something you eventually realize was already within you all along