Abhanga 2255
Real devotion refuses to trade for anything temporary, not even occult powers or liberation itself, because love given for love in return is the only fair and lasting exchange.
The verse
चित्ती घेऊनियां तू काय देसी । ऐसें मजपासीं सांग आधीं ॥१॥ तरि च पंढरिराया करिन साटोवाटी । नेघें जया तुटी येईंल तें ॥ध्रु.॥ रिद्धिसिद्धि कांहीं दाविसी अभिळास । नाहीं मज आस मुक्तीची ही ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे तुझें माझें घडे तर । भक्तीचा भाव रे देणें घेणें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Taking [it] in [your] chitta — what will you give — tell me first, this much. Then I'll do the trade, Paṇḍharī-rāyā — I'll not take that which will be cut-off [later]. If you show riddhi-siddhi, [some] abhilāṣa — I have no āśā even for mukti. Tuka says: if our [trade] is to happen — the bhāva of bhakti is the give-and-take.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| चित्ती घेऊनियां तू काय देसी | "taking [it] in [your] chitta — what will you give" |
| ऐसें मजपासीं सांग आधीं | "tell me first, this much" |
| तरि च पंढरिराया करिन साटोवाटी | "then I'll do the trade, Paṇḍharī-rāyā" |
| नेघें जया तुटी येईंल तें | "I'll not take that which will be cut-off [later]" |
| रिद्धिसिद्धि कांहीं दाविसी अभिळास | "if you show riddhi-siddhi, [some] abhilāṣa" |
| नाहीं मज आस मुक्तीची ही | "I have no āśā even for mukti" |
| तुका म्हणे तुझें माझें घडे तर | "Tuka says — if our [trade] is to happen" |
| भक्तीचा भाव रे देणें घेणें | "the bhāva of bhakti is the give-and-take" |
What it means
Bhakti's-trade + only-bhakti-bhāva-as-currency abhang. The classic bhakti-over-mukti position.
The opening — preliminary inquiry: chittī ghē'ūniyām tūm kāya dēsī — aisē majapāsīm sānga ādhīm — taking [it] in [your] chitta — what will you give — tell me first, this much. (I'll-place-(my-bhakti)-in-your-chitta — but) what-will-you-give? Tell-me-first.
The trade-with-no-cut-off: tari cha Paṇḍharī-rāyā karina sāṭō-vāṭī — nēghē jayā tuṭī yē'īmla tē — then I'll do the trade, Paṇḍharī-rāyā — I'll not take that which will be cut-off [later]. Sāṭō-vāṭī = barter, trade. Tuṭī = cut, break-off. Then I'll-do the-trade, Paṇḍharī-rāyā; I-won't take that which will-be-cut-off-(later) (= I-won't take impermanent-goods).
The riddhi-siddhi-and-mukti refusals: riddhi-siddhi kāmhīm dāvisī abhiḷāsa — nāhīm maja āsa muktīcī hī — if you show riddhi-siddhi, [some] abhilāṣa — I have no āśā even for mukti. Riddhi-siddhi = the eight occult-powers. Mukti = liberation. Āśā = hope, longing. If you-show riddhi-siddhi, abhilāṣa-(arises in-the-show); (but) I-have-no-āśā even-for-mukti. THE CLASSIC TUKĀRĀM POSITION: bhakti-is-superior-even-to-mukti; the bhakta doesn't-even-want-liberation, much-less occult-powers.
The closing — bhakti-bhāva as currency: Tukā mhaṇē tujhē mājhē ghaḍē tara — bhaktīcā bhāva rē dēṇē-ghēṇē — Tuka says: if our [trade] is to happen — the bhāva of bhakti is the give-and-take. If-our-(transaction) is-to-happen, the-bhāva-of-bhakti is-the-give-and-take (= the only-currency-of-this-trade).
Echoes 2106's mukti kōṇī tēthē hātīm nēghē phukā — luṭatīla sukhā prēmāchiyā (mukti — no-one takes-it-free there — they-plunder the-sukha-of-prema). The bhakti-over-mukti doctrine again.
[T]
For someone today
For today: taking it in your chitta — what will you give — tell me first; then I'll do the trade, Paṇḍharī-rāyā — won't take what will be cut off; riddhi-siddhi some abhilāṣa — no āśā for mukti; Tuka says — bhakti's bhāva is the give-and-take.
Where this applies
- When you catch yourself chasing rewards or powers instead of valuing the relationship itself.
- When something you worked hard for turns out to be temporary and leaves you empty.
- When you are offered success or status but sense it will not truly satisfy you.
- When you realize that love given for love's own sake matters more than any prize it might bring.