Abhanga 2624
Body, voice, mind are watching for Śrī-mukha — indifferent to other thoughts. What mokṣa to make now, Deva — my entanglement is in your darśana. When a vow is made, stand up — what is vowed by bhāva does not change. Tukā: the more you delay, the more you'll make me cry.
The verse
काया वाचा मनें श्रीमुखाची वास । आणीक उदास विचारासी ॥१॥
काय आतां मोक्ष करावा जी देवा । तुमचिया गोवा दर्शनासी ॥ध्रु.॥
केलिया नेमासी उभें ठाडें व्हावें । नेमलें तें भावें पालटेना ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे जों जों कराल उशीर । तों तों मज फार रडवील ॥३॥
Literal translation
Body, voice, mind are watching for the Śrī-mukha (the auspicious-face); indifferent to other thoughts. What mokṣa to make now, Deva — my gōvā (entanglement, attachment) is in your darśana. Once a vow is made, stand up — what is vowed by bhāva does not change. Tukā says: the more you delay, the more you will make me cry.
What it means
The opening line names the somatic-orientation: kāyā vāchā manēm — Śrī-mukhāchī vāsa — āṇīka udāsa vichārāsī — body, voice, mind — watching for Śrī-mukha — indifferent (udāsa) to other thoughts. Vāsa (watching, looking-out-for) is the same word as in 2597's pāhātōm vāṭulī — the path-watching. Here it is intensified across all three faculties.
The dhrūpada is one of Tukārām's classic bhakti-rejections of mokṣa as a goal: kāya ātām mōkṣa karāvā jī Devā — tumchiyā gōvā darśanāsī — what mokṣa to make now, Deva — my entanglement is in your darśana. Gōvā — entanglement, attachment, knot — is the bhakta's claim. The bhakta does not want mukti (release); the bhakta wants the entanglement of darśana. Mokṣa would release the bhakta from the relationship; the bhakta wants the relationship preserved. This is one of the strongest bhakti-statements against mokṣa-as-goal.
The second verse names a contract: kēliyā nēmāsī ubhē ṭhāḍē vhāvē — nēmilē tē bhāvē pālaṭēnā — once a vow (nēma) is made, stand up; what is vowed by bhāva does not change. Nēma (vow, daily-observance) — the bhakti relationship has already had vows made; ubhē ṭhāḍē vhāvē — stand up — the Lord should not deny the vow. Nēmilē tē bhāvē pālaṭēnā — what is vowed by bhāva does not turn-around — there is no escape clause.
The close is a Tukārām-line that has become quotable: jōm jōm karāl uśīr — tōm tōm maja phāra raḍavīl — the more you delay, the more you will make me cry. The jōm jōm — tōm tōm construction (the more — the more) is a Marathi-poetic form; here it converts delay into tear-production. The bhakta confesses that the protest-tears will grow in proportion to the Lord's tardiness.
For someone today
The verse contains the bhakti claim that is hard to swallow for those trained to consider mokṣa the goal: I don't want release from the relationship; my gōvā (entanglement) IS the darśana. If you have noticed that what you want from your deepest practice is not escape but more entanglement with what you love — Tukārām is your theologian. The jōm jōm — tōm tōm construction is also usable: name to the addressee — divine or human — that delay is producing tears, and that the bhāva-vow does not allow them to turn-around-and-walk-away.
Where this applies
- The bhakti rejection of mokṣa-as-release in favor of relationship-as-goal
- Reminding a long-bound partner of a bhāva-vow that does not change
- The protest-prayer mode — the more you delay, the more you make me cry
- Watching for the Śrī-mukha across body-voice-mind, indifferent to other-thoughts