Abhanga 2259
The verse
वेदाचा तो अर्थ आम्हांसी च ठावा । येरांनी वाहावा भार माथां ॥१॥ खादल्याची गोडी देखिल्यासी नाहीं । भार धन वाही मजुरीचें ॥ध्रु.॥ उत्पत्तिपाळणसंहाराचें निज । जेणें नेलें बीज त्याचे हातीं ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे आलें आपण चि फळ । हातोहातीं मूळ सांपडलें ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: ★ The meaning of the Veda is known only to us — let others bear it as a burden on the head. ★ The one who has eaten knows the sweetness — not the seer — the porter carries the wealth as wages. The true [knowledge] of creation-preservation-dissolution — the one in whose hand the seed has been taken. Tuka says: the fruit has come of itself — the root has been found, hand-to-hand.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| वेदाचा तो अर्थ आम्हांसी च ठावा | "the meaning of the Veda is known only to us" |
| येरांनी वाहावा भार माथां | "let others bear it as a burden on the head" |
| खादल्याची गोडी देखिल्यासी नाहीं | "the one who has eaten knows the sweetness — not the seer" |
| भार धन वाही मजुरीचें | "the porter carries the wealth as wages" |
| उत्पत्तिपाळणसंहाराचें निज | "the true [knowledge] of creation-preservation-dissolution" |
| जेणें नेलें बीज त्याचे हातीं | "the one in whose hand the seed has been taken" |
| तुका म्हणे आलें आपण चि फळ | "Tuka says — the fruit has come of itself" |
| हातोहातीं मूळ सांपडलें | "the root has been found, hand-to-hand" |
What it means
★ THE CELEBRATED VĒDĀRTHA-CLAIM ABHANG ★. Veda's-meaning-known-only-to-us + eater-vs-porter + fruit-came-of-itself + root-found-hand-to-hand abhang.
★ THE FAMOUS VĒDĀRTHA-LINE ★: vēdācā tō artha āmhāmsī cha ṭhāvā — yērānī vāhāvā bhāra māthām — the meaning of the Veda is known only to us — let others bear it as a burden on the head. ★ THE CLAIM: *the Veda's real-meaning (artha) is-known-only-to-us (= the bhaktas of-Viṭhṭhal, the non-Brahmin śūdra-poet); others (= ritualist-reciters, paṇḍitas) merely carry-it as-a-burden-on-the-head (= as text-without-comprehension). ★ One-of-Tukārām's-most-controversial-and-celebrated lines — an explicit non-Brahmin claim to-the-Veda's-essence-over-the-ritualist-reciter's-form. ★
The eater-vs-porter image: khādalyāchī gōḍī dēkhilyāsī nāhīm — bhāra dhana vāhī majurīchē — the one who has eaten knows the sweetness — not the seer — the porter carries the wealth as wages. Khādalyāchī gōḍī = the sweetness-of-eating. Dēkhilyāsī = to the one-who-merely-sees. Majurī = wages. The eater knows-the-sweetness, not-the-mere-seer; the porter carries-the-wealth as-wages (= carries-without-owning). The PROFOUND distinction: experiential-knowledge vs. mere-textual-handling.
The creation-preservation-dissolution knowledge: utpatti-pāḷaṇa-samhārāchē nija — jēṇē nēlē bīja tyāchē hātīm — the true [knowledge] of creation-preservation-dissolution — the one in whose hand the seed has been taken. The true (nija) [knowledge] of-utpatti-pāḷana-samhāra (creation-preservation-dissolution) belongs-to-the-one in-whose-hand the-seed (bīja) has-been-taken (= the bhakta who has-grasped-the-seed-of-the-Name-and-bhakti, not-the-cosmologist-who-recites-the-three-functions).
The closing — fruit-came-of-itself: Tukā mhaṇē ālē āpaṇa chi phaḷa — hātō-hātīm mūḷa sāmpaḍalē — Tuka says: the fruit has come of itself — the root has been found, hand-to-hand. The fruit-has-come of-its-own-accord; the root has-been-found hand-to-hand (= passed-directly).
The historical-significance: this abhang is-foundational-for-the-Vārkarī (and-bhakti-movement-generally) claim of-the-non-Brahmin's-access to-Vedic-essence through-direct-bhakti-experience, bypassing-Sanskrit-recitation. One of Tukārām's most-cited statements.
[T]
For someone today
For today: ★ Veda's meaning known only to us — others bear as burden on head; eater knows sweetness, not the mere seer; porter carries wealth as wages; the true knowledge of creation-preservation-dissolution — to the one in whose hand the seed is taken; Tuka says — fruit came of itself — root found hand-to-hand. ★
Where this applies
- Veda's-meaning-known-only-to-us-others-bear-as-burden. Vēdācā-artha-āmhāmsī-chi-ṭhāvā-yērānī-vāhāvā-bhāra-māthām.
- Eater-knows-sweetness-not-the-seer-porter-carries-as-wages.* Khādalyāchī-gōḍī-dēkhilyāsī-nāhīm-bhāra-dhana-vāhī-majurīchē.
- Creation-preservation-dissolution-knowledge-in-seed-grasper's-hand.* Utpatti-pāḷaṇa-samhārāchē-nija-jēṇē-nēlē-bīja-tyāchē-hātīm.
- Fruit-came-of-itself-root-found-hand-to-hand.* Ālē-āpaṇa-phaḷa-hātō-hātīm-mūḷa-sāmpaḍalē.