Abhanga 2305
For today: the Deva served the temple — yet kept the water dry; no hidden mata — look at your own self; the flood overflowed from behind — river-ocean filled-stilled; thirsty-child in barren home — one earring in two ears; Tuka says — the place — the experiencer knows the gōḍī-rasa.
The verse
देवें देऊळ सेविलें । उदक कोरडें चि ठेविलें ॥१॥ नव्हे मत गूढ उमानें कांहीं । तूं आपणआपणापें पाहीं ॥ध्रु.॥ पाठें पूर वोसंडला । सरिता सागर तुंबोनि ठेला ॥२॥ वांजेघरीं बाळ तान्हा । एक बाळी दों कानां ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे पैस । अनुभविया ठावा गोडीरस ॥४॥ ॥ लोहागांवीं कीर्तनांत मेलें मूल जीत झालें ते समयीं स्वामींनीं अभंग केले ते ॥
Literal translation
English: The Deva served the temple — yet kept the water dry. There's no hidden umāna — look at your own self — yourself. From behind, the flood overflowed — river and ocean are filled-and-stilled. A thirsty-child in a barren home — one earring in two ears. Tuka says: the place — the experiencer knows the gōḍī-rasa.
★ Prose-marginalia: At Lōhā-gāva, in the kīrtana, a dead child came-back-to-life; at that time, the Swami composed these abhangs ★
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| देवें देऊळ सेविलें | "the Deva served the temple" |
| उदक कोरडें चि ठेविलें | "yet kept the water dry" |
| नव्हे मत गूढ उमानें कांहीं | "there's no hidden umāna" |
| तूं आपणआपणापें पाहीं | "look at your own self — yourself" |
| पाठें पूर वोसंडला | "from behind, the flood overflowed" |
| सरिता सागर तुंबोनि ठेला | "river and ocean are filled-and-stilled" |
| वांजेघरीं बाळ तान्हा | "a thirsty-child in a barren home" |
| एक बाळी दों कानां | "one earring in two ears" |
| तुका म्हणे पैस | "Tuka says — the place" |
| अनुभविया ठावा गोडीरस | "the experiencer knows the gōḍī-rasa" |
| (prose-marginalia) | "At Lōhā-gāva, in the kīrtana, a dead child came-back-to-life; at that time, the Swami composed these abhangs" |
What it means
★ THE LŌHĀ-GĀVA-MIRACLE-PROSE-MARGINALIA ABHANG ★. Series of paradoxical-images + biographical-marker.
The opening — Deva-serves-temple-dry-water: dēvē dē'ūḷa sēvilē — udaka kōraḍē chi ṭhēvilē — the Deva served the temple — yet kept the water dry. The Deva-served-the-temple-yet-kept-the-water-dry (= a paradoxical-situation where one-thing-happens-but-its-natural-corollary-doesn't).
The no-hidden-umāna: navhē mata gūḍha umānē kāmhīm — tūm āpaṇa-āpaṇāpē pāhīm — there's no hidden umāna — look at your own self — yourself. There's no-hidden mata (doctrine); look at-your-own-self yourself.
The paradoxical-images (paradoxical-bhakti-koans): - pāṭhē pūra vōsaṇḍalā — saritā sāgara tumbōni ṭhēlā — from behind, the flood overflowed — river and ocean are filled-and-stilled - vāñjē gharīm bāḷa tānhā — ēka bāḷī dōm kānām — a thirsty-child in a barren home — one earring in two ears (= the child in barren home = the bhakta-as-anomaly; one earring in two ears = the impossible-divided-unity)
The closing — gōḍī-rasa: Tukā mhaṇē paisa — anubhaviyā ṭhāva gōḍī-rasa — Tuka says: the place — the experiencer knows the gōḍī-rasa. Only the experiencer knows-the-gōḍī-rasa.
★ THE PROSE-MARGINALIA — HISTORICALLY CRITICAL ★: लोहागांवीं कीर्तनांत मेलें मूल जीत झालें ते समयीं स्वामींनीं अभंग केले ते — "At Lōhā-gāva (Lōhā-village), in the kīrtana, a dead child came-back-to-life; at that time, the Swami composed these abhangs."
The Lōhā-gāva-miracle is one of the most-celebrated miracle-stories in Tukārām's-hagiography. According to Vārkarī tradition, while Tukārām was conducting a kīrtana at Lōhā-gāva, a child who had died was revived during-the-singing-of-the-Name. The biographical-marker here-confirms that-this abhang (and-the-following 2306) were-composed at-the-occasion-of-this-miracle.
The paradoxical-content of-the-abhang itself (Deva-serving-temple-but-keeping-water-dry; thirsty-child-in-barren-home; one-earring-in-two-ears) makes-sense in-light-of-the-miracle-context: the dead-but-alive child is-itself-a-paradox the-rational-mind-can't-grasp; anubhaviyā ṭhāva gōḍī-rasa — only-the-experiencer-knows-the-taste.
[T]
For someone today
For today: the Deva served the temple — yet kept the water dry; no hidden mata — look at your own self; the flood overflowed from behind — river-ocean filled-stilled; thirsty-child in barren home — one earring in two ears; Tuka says — the place — the experiencer knows the gōḍī-rasa.
Biographical-note: This abhang was composed at-the-Lōhā-gāva miracle, when-a-dead-child-was-revived during-the-kīrtana.
Where this applies
- Deva-serves-temple-but-water-dry-paradox.* Dēvē-dē'ūḷa-sēvilē-udaka-kōraḍē.
- No-hidden-umāna-look-at-self.* Mata-gūḍha-umānē-āpaṇa-āpaṇāpē.
- Flood-overflowed-from-behind-river-ocean.* Pāṭhē-pūra-saritā-sāgara-tumbōni.
- Thirsty-child-barren-home-one-earring-two-ears.* Vāñjē-gharīm-bāḷa-tānhā-ēka-bāḷī-dōm-kānām.
- Experiencer-knows-gōḍī-rasa.* Paisa-anubhaviyā-gōḍī-rasa.
- Prose-marginalia-Lōhā-gāva-miracle. Dead-child-revived-in-kīrtana.