संत साहित्य
Work in progress. Translations and commentary are AI-generated and may contain inaccuracies or hallucinations — please use your own judgement and check against the original sources.
संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 2229 of 4582

Abhanga 2229

For today: nothing at the beginning or end — very hard; all powers spent — no upāya works; spoken word lost in the sky — descended, standing as before; Tuka says — nothing more can be done — stuck, wealth uselessly.

When you'd reach absolute-bottom-no-upāya-words-lost-in-sky — kāmhīm-na-lagē-ādi-avasāna-kaṭhīṇa; vēchaviliyā-śaktī-yukti; vachana-hārapalē-nabhīm-ubhīm; karāvēmsē-thakita-vitta-ugē

The verse

कांहीं च न लगे आदि अवसान । बहुत कठीण दिसतसां ॥१॥ अवघ्याच माझ्या वेचविल्या शक्ती । न चलेसी युक्ति जाली पुढें ॥ध्रु.॥ बोलिलें वचन हारपलें नभीं । उतरलों तों उभीं आहों तैसीं ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे कांहीं न करावेंसें जालें । थकित चि ठेलें वित्त उगें ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: Nothing at all is held at the beginning or the end — seems very hard. All my powers have been spent — no upāya works ahead. The spoken word was lost in the sky — we descended, we're standing as we were. Tuka says: nothing more can be done — I'm stuck, my wealth uselessly.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
कांहीं च न लगे आदि अवसान "nothing at all is held at the beginning or the end"
बहुत कठीण दिसतसां "seems very hard"
अवघ्याच माझ्या वेचविल्या शक्ती "all my powers have been spent"
न चलेसी युक्ति जाली पुढें "no upāya works ahead"
बोलिलें वचन हारपलें नभीं "the spoken word was lost in the sky"
उतरलों तों उभीं आहों तैसीं "we descended — we're standing as we were"
तुका म्हणे कांहीं न करावेंसें जालें "Tuka says — nothing more can be done"
थकित चि ठेलें वित्त उगें "I'm stuck, my wealth uselessly"

What it means

All-powers-spent-words-lost-in-sky + nothing-more-to-do-stuck-uselessly abhang. Nineteenth abhang of the niḍrā-cluster — the absolute-bottom point.

The opening — nothing-at-the-ends: kāmhīm cha na lagē ādi avasāna — bahuta kaṭhīṇa disatasāmnothing at all is held at the beginning or the end — seems very hard. Nothing-holds at beginning-or-end (= no-resolution-anywhere); seems-very-hard.

The exhaustion-of-powers: avaghyācha mājhyā vēchaviliyā śaktī — na chalēsī yukti jālī puḍhēall my powers have been spent — no upāya works ahead. All-my-powers spent; no yukti (technique) works-ahead.

The spoken-word-lost-in-sky image: bōlilē vachana hārapalē nabhīm — utaralōm tōm ubhīm āhōm taisīmthe spoken word was lost in the sky — we descended, we're standing as we were. Hārapalē = was lost. Nabha = sky. The spoken-word was-lost-in-the-sky (= went-up-and-disappeared); we-descended (came-down-from-the-effort) and-stand-as-before. An image of cosmic-prayer-disappearance — words-vanish-into-the-void.

The closing — stuck-with-wealth-useless: Tukā mhaṇē kāmhīm na karāvēmsē jālē — thakita chi ṭhēlē vitta ugēTuka says: nothing more can be done — I'm stuck, my wealth uselessly. Thakita = stuck, halted. Vitta = wealth (the bhakti-wealth). Nothing-more-can-be-done; I'm-stuck, my-wealth (lying)-uselessly.

The penultimate position: this is the absolute-bottom of-the-niḍrā-cluster. All-effort-exhausted, words-lost-to-the-sky, the bhakta-stuck. The very-next abhang (2230) will-contain the resolution.

[T]

For someone today

For today: nothing at the beginning or end — very hard; all powers spent — no upāya works; spoken word lost in the sky — descended, standing as before; Tuka says — nothing more can be done — stuck, wealth uselessly.

Where this applies

Related verses