संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 2421 of 4582

Abhanga 2421

Reciting intellectual claims about the Self does not free the mind, real devotion and honest experience matter more than clever theory.

When you notice that repeating a calming idea in your head hasn't actually settled your restless mind.

When you're offered polished theories in place of something real and lived, and you sense the words are empty.

When you realize the bondage you feel comes from your own desires and intentions, not from something outside you.

The verse

करूनि राहों जरी आत्मा चि प्रमाण । नश्चिळ नव्हे मन काय करूं ॥१॥ जेवलिया विण काशाचे ढेंकर । शब्दाचे प्रकार शब्द चि ते ॥ध्रु.॥ पुरे पुरे आतां तुमचें ब्रम्हज्ञान । आम्हासी चरण न सोडणें ॥२॥ विरोधें विरोध वाढे पुढतोपुढती । वासनेचे हातीं गर्भवास ॥३॥ सांडीमांडीअंगीं वसे पुण्यपाप । बंधन संकल्प या चि नांवें ॥४॥ तुका म्हणे नाहीं मुक्तता मोकळी । ऐसा कोण बळी निरसी देह ॥५॥

Literal translation

Even if I take ātmā as proof — the mind isn't still — what to do. Without eating, what's the belch — word-types are just words. Enough, enough now of your Brahma-jñāna — we won't release the feet. Opposition grows opposition repeatedly — garbha-vāsa in vāsanā's hand. Let-go-and-arrangement, in the body live puṇya-pāpa — bondage is the very name of sankalpa. Tuka says: no free-mukti — what strong-one removes the body.

What it means

THE CELEBRATED ANTI-BRAHMA-JÑĀNA POLEMIC. One of Tukārām's sharpest critiques of intellectual-Vedānta.

The mind-not-still: karūni rāhōm jarī ātmā chi pramāṇa — naśchiḷa navhē mana kāya karūm — even if I take ātmā as proof — the mind isn't still. Even-with ātmā-as-proof-doctrine, the-mind doesn't-become-still.

The empty-belch: jēvaliyā viṇa kāśāchē ḍhēnkara — śabdāchē prakāra śabda chi tē — without eating, what's the belch — word-types are just words. Without-actually-eating, no-belch (of-satisfaction); word-types are-just-words (= jñāna-talk without-experience is-empty).

THE CELEBRATED LINE: purē purē ātām tumchē Brahma-jñāna — āmhāsī charaṇa na sōḍaṇē — enough, enough now of your Brahma-jñāna — we won't release the feet. ENOUGH, ENOUGH now of-your-Brahma-jñāna; WE WON'T RELEASE the-feet (of-the-Lord). Tukārām's-firm-bhakti-stance against-the-Advaita-Vedānta-philosophers: their-Brahma-jñāna-theory cannot-displace the bhakta's-grip on-the-Lord's-feet.

The bondage-of-sankalpa: sāṇḍī-māṇḍī angīm vasē puṇya-pāpa — bandhana sankalpa yā chi nāmvē — bondage is the very name of sankalpa. The very-name of-bondage IS sankalpa (= intentional-mental-formation) — the bondage-is-not-some-external-thing.

The mukti-question: Tukā mhaṇē nāhīm muktatā mōkaḷī — aiśā kōṇa baḷī nirasī dēha — no free-mukti — what strong-one removes the body. There's-no-free-mukti; what-strong-one can-actually-remove-the-body?

HISTORICAL CONTEXT: This abhang is a direct-polemic against the Vedānta-jñāna-mārga popular among-Brahmin-philosophers of-the-time. Tukārām's position: jñāna-without-experience is-empty-words; give-us-the-feet, not-your-theories. The line charaṇa na sōḍaṇē (we-won't-release-the-feet) has become a Vārkarī-cliché for bhakti-prevails-over-jñāna.

[T]

For someone today

For today: ātmā-proof doesn't still the mind; words without experience are empty; enough of your Brahma-jñāna — we won't release the feet ; bondage is sankalpa's name; no free-mukti — body remains.

Where this applies

When you keep telling yourself calming affirmations but your mind still won't settle down
When someone offers you clever theories or arguments instead of lived experience or real comfort
When you're tempted to trade a steady, felt relationship or practice for an impressive-sounding idea
When you blame outside circumstances for feeling trapped, when really it's your own wants and intentions keeping you stuck