Abhanga 2658
Why do you not do this — when there is nothing destructible ahead?
The verse
ऐसें कां हो न करा कांहीं । पुढें नाहीं नास ज्या ॥१॥
विश्वंभरा शरणागत । भूतजात वंदूनि ॥ध्रु.॥
श्रुतीचें कां नेघा फळ । सारमूळ जाणोनि ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे पुढें कांहीं । वाट नाहीं यावरी ॥३॥
Literal translation
Why do you not do this — when there is nothing destructible ahead? Refuge-taking in Viśvambhara — bowing to bhūta-jāta (all beings-born). Why do you not take the fruit of Śruti, knowing its sāra-mūḷa (essence-root)? Tukā says: there is no path beyond this.
What it means
A small exhortation-verse. Aisē kā hō na karā kāmhī — puḍhe nāhī nāsa jyā — why do you not do this anything — when there is nothing destructible ahead? The rhetorical-question implies: anything beyond this has the property of being nāsa (destructible). This — what is being indicated — does not.
The dhrūpada names the operative practice: Viśvambharā śaraṇāgata — bhūta-jāta vandūnī — refuge-taking in Viśvambhara (the all-sustaining); bowing to bhūta-jāta (all beings-born). The two acts are paired: vertical (refuge in the sustainer) + horizontal (bowing to all-creatures). This matches 2657's bhakti = bowing to jīva-jantu-bhūta definition exactly.
The third verse: śrutīcē kām nēghā phaḷa — sāra-mūḷa jāṇōnī — why do you not take the fruit of Śruti, knowing the essence-root? The Śruti (Vedic-revelation) is offering a phaḷa (fruit); the sāra-mūḷa (essence-root) is the bhakti-component that the verse has just named.
The close: puḍhe kāmhī — vāṭa nāhī yāvarī — there is nothing ahead — no path beyond this. The claim is total: this is the destination, no further movement is required.
For someone today
The verse hands you a direct prompt: why do you not do this? If the operative practice (refuge in the sustainer + bowing to all beings) has been named clearly, what is the postponement-of-it actually waiting for? Tukārām's vāṭa nāhī yāvarī (no path beyond) is a closing-of-options that is also a relief — there is no other-practice-yet-to-find. The vertical refuge and the horizontal bowing-to-creatures are the sāra-mūḷa — the essence-root the Śruti was pointing to all along.
Where this applies
- Rhetorical-prompt to oneself or another: why not do this?
- Recognizing the operative practice — refuge + bowing-to-creatures
- The closing of postponement: no path beyond this
- The Vārkarī claim that bhakti-of-creatures is the essence-root of Śruti