संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 2413 of 4582

Abhanga 2413

Real devotion can overwhelm the body with tears and joy, and in that moment the endless tallying of sin and virtue simply falls away.

When you feel your throat tighten and tears come during a moment of genuine devotion or gratitude.

When you are tired of judging yourself by a ledger of good and bad deeds.

When you want to let go of the past and just be present with what you love.

The verse

दाटे कंठ लागे डोळियां पाझर । गुणाची अपार वृष्टि वरी ॥१॥ तेणें सुखें छंदें घेईंन सोंहळा । होऊनि निराळा पापपुण्यां ॥ध्रु.॥ तुझ्या मोहें पडो मागील विसर । आलापें सुस्वर करिन कंठ ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे येथें पाहिजे सौरस । तुम्हांविण रस गोड नव्हे॥३॥

Literal translation

Throat fills, tears stream from eyes — incomparable rain of virtues. By that joy I'll take the celebration — becoming apart from pāpa-puṇya. By your love, may past be forgotten — I'll make my throat sing in tune. Tuka says: need rasa here — without you, no sweet rasa.

What it means

THE ECSTATIC-BHAKTI ABHANG — THROAT-FILLS-TEARS-FLOW + BEYOND-PĀPA-PUṆYA.

THE OPENING: dāṭē kaṇṭha lāgē ḍōḷiyām pājhara — guṇāchī apāra vṛṣṭi varī — throat fills, tears stream from eyes — incomparable rain of virtues. Throat-chokes-with-emotion; tears-stream from-eyes; incomparable-rain of-[Lord's]-virtues falls. Classic ecstatic-bhakti-symptoms — the body's-involuntary-response to-divine-contemplation.

THE BEYOND-PĀPA-PUṆYA: tēṇē sukhē chhandē ghē'īmna sōnhaḷā — hō'ūni nirāḷā pāpa-puṇyām — by that joy I'll take the celebration — becoming apart from pāpa-puṇya. By-that-joy I'll-take-the-celebration; becoming nirāḷā (apart) from-pāpa-and-puṇya. The bhakta moves-beyond-the-moral-binary — bhakti-ecstasy transcends-both-sin-and-virtue.

[T]

For someone today

For today: throat fills, tears flow — virtues rain incomparably; by that joy — beyond pāpa-puṇya ; past forgotten by your love; throat sings in tune; without you, no sweet rasa.

Where this applies

When you find yourself in tears during prayer or kirtan and wonder if that is allowed or if you should hold it back
When you are stuck tallying your good deeds against your mistakes instead of simply feeling close to what you love
When an old regret keeps resurfacing and you want to finally set it down
When ordinary pleasures have started to feel flat and you realize you are craving something deeper

Bhakti