संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 2417 of 4582

Abhanga 2417

For today: ask in your own place, empty ahankāra; word-net is māyā; fruit-is-seed, seed-is-fruit ; all are wheat-varieties — gold's ornaments are name-only-illusion .

When you catch yourself arguing cleverly just to defend your ego rather than to find the truth.

When you notice how differently you are labeled in different roles and wonder what stays the same underneath.

When you want to look past someone's title or reputation to see who they really are.

The verse

पुसावें तें ठाईं आपुल्या आपण । अहंकारा शून्य घालूनियां ॥१॥ येर वाग्जाळ मायेचा अहंकार । वचनाशीं थार अज्ञान तें ॥ध्रु.॥ फळ तें चि बीज बीज तें ची फळ । उपनांवें मूळ न पालटे ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे अवघे गव्हांचे प्रकार । सोनें अलंकार मिथ्या नांव ॥३॥

Literal translation

Ask in your own place — emptying out ahankāra. Word-net is māyā's ahankāra — refuge in words is ignorance. Fruit is seed, seed is fruit — names don't change the root. Tuka says: all are wheat-varieties — gold's-ornaments are name-only-illusion.

What it means

THE FRUIT-IS-SEED + GOLD-AS-ORNAMENT-NAMES-ARE-ILLUSION ABHANG. A celebrated non-dual identity statement.

The empty-ahankāra: pusāvē tē ṭhāīm āpulyā āpaṇa — ahankārā śūnya ghālūniyām — ask in your own place — emptying out ahankāra. Ask-in-your-own-place (= self-inquiry); emptying-out ahankāra.

THE FRUIT-IS-SEED IDENTITY: phaḷa tē chi bīja bīja tē chi phaḷa — upanāmvē mūḷa na palaṭē — fruit is seed, seed is fruit — names don't change the root. Fruit-is-seed, seed-is-fruit; names (upa-nāma) don't-change the-root (mūḷa). Cyclical-identity — the fruit-contains-the-seed which-becomes-the-fruit; the underlying-root is-the-same regardless of naming.

THE GOLD-ORNAMENT IDENTITY: Tukā mhaṇē avaghē gavhāñchē prakāra — sōnē alankāra mithyā nāmva — all are wheat-varieties — gold's-ornaments are name-only-illusion. All-(forms-of-wheat-flour-products) are-wheat-varieties; gold's-ornaments are mithyā-nāma (false-names). The names (bangle, necklace, ring) differ; the gold underneath is-one. Vedāntic identity-doctrine in concrete-image: forms-vary, substance-is-one.

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For someone today

For today: ask in your own place, empty ahankāra; word-net is māyā; fruit-is-seed, seed-is-fruit ; all are wheat-varieties — gold's ornaments are name-only-illusion .

Where this applies

When you are caught up in a clever argument or debate and realize it is really just your ego talking
When you feel like a different person in each role you play, parent, employee, friend, and want to remember what stays constant underneath
When someone judges you only by a label or title and you know there is more to you than that name
When you are trying to understand yourself and keep looking outward for answers instead of asking within

Nāma (the Name) Bhakti