Abhanga 2339

For today: my death itself has died — made me immortal; the place wiped, the base wiped — deha-bhāva desolate; the flood came and went — patience held in jīvana; Tuka says — the foundation's true settling.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

ONE OF THE MOST CELEBRATED TUKĀRĀM LINES : maraṇa mājhē marōn gēlē — maja kēlē amara — the my-death-itself-died moksha-declaration.

THE OPENING LINE: maraṇa mājhē marōn gēlē — maja kēlē amara — my death itself has died — made me immortal. My-death (the fear-of-death, the dying-process itself) has-died; (this) made-me amara (immortal). A profound paradox-of-bhakti-realization: the death-of-death-itself is-immortality. This is one-of-the-most-cited Tukārām-lines in Marathi-bhakti, expressing-the-moksha-experience.

The place-wiped: ṭhāva pusilē buḍa pusilē — vōsa vōsalē dēha-bhāvā — the place is wiped, the base is wiped — deha-bhāva became desolate. Pusaṇē = to wipe, erase. Vōsa = desolate. The place-(of-the-self)-is-wiped, the base-is-wiped; deha-bhāva (body-identification) became desolate.

The flood: ālā hōtā gēlā pūra — dharilā dhīra jīvanīm — the flood that came has gone — the patience has been held in jīvana. The flood-that-came (= the samsāra-flood) has-gone; patience has-been-held in-jīvana (= the bhakta held-firm in-life).

The closing — true-settling: Tukā mhaṇē bunādīchē — jālē sāchē ujavaṇē — Tuka says: the foundation — its true settling has happened. Bunādī = foundation. Ujavaṇē = settling, lighting-up. The foundation's true-settling has-happened.

Historical-significance: this abhang articulates Tukārām's-realized-state in-the-most-concise-and-paradoxical-form: maraṇa mājhē marōn gēlē — maja kēlē amara. The line is among-the-most-quoted-in-Vārkarī-literature as-evidence of-Tukārām's-jīvan-mukti.

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For someone today

For today: my death itself has died — made me immortal; the place wiped, the base wiped — deha-bhāva desolate; the flood came and went — patience held in jīvana; Tuka says — the foundation's true settling.

Where this applies

• When you are gripped by fear of death or of losing everything
• When you have just come through a major crisis or flood of trouble and feel unexpectedly steady
• When your old sense of being only this body starts to loosen and you wonder what remains
• When you finally feel settled after a long stretch of spiritual struggle

Related verses

• Abhanga 2448 — The easiest path to God is repeating divine names with love at home, right where you are,
• Abhanga 2464 — For today: Pāṇḍuranga is sukha-rūpa ; no wandering, no shaving, no sādhana-pressure ; Chan
• Abhanga 2477 — Like a child too absorbed in play to notice how tired he is, let go and trust the parent c
• Abhanga 2481 — Pandharpur surpasses even the greatest pilgrimage cities because people there set aside pr