Abhanga 2723
A useful clean reminder. Empty-fruit is samsāra; here the essence is Bhagavanta. Rouse the mind together with people. Negate all other-work and take Viṭhoba's Name. Without Deva, all struggle is illusory. The verse compresses the bhakti-orientation into a single short prayer. The communal-element (janā-sahita — together with the people) is critical: the rousing is not a solitary-effort but a sarasē (in-tandem-with) practice. And the diagnostic mithyā-sīṇa (illusory-struggle) is a useful test: am I struggling-with-Deva, or Devāvīṇa (without-Deva)? The latter is mithyā.
The verse
फळकट तो संसार । येथें सार भगवंत ॥१॥
ऐसें जागवितों मना । सरसें जनासहित ॥ध्रु.॥
अवघें निरसूनि काम । घ्यावें नाम विठोबाचें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे देवाविण । केला सीण तो मिथ्या ॥३॥
Literal translation
Phaḷakaṭa tō samsāra — that samsāra isphaḷakaṭa(empty-of-fruit, fruitless). Yēthē sāra Bhagavanta — here thesāra(essence) is Bhagavanta. Thus I jāgavitōm manā (rouse-the-mind); sarasē janā-sahita (together-with the people). Avaghe nirasūnī kāma — negating all (work); ghyāve nāma Viṭhōbā'ce — take the Name of Viṭhoba. Tukā says: Devāvīṇa kelā sīṇa tō mithyā — without Deva, thesīṇa(struggle) made ismithyā(illusory).
What it means
A short clean essence-statement verse. Phaḷakaṭa tō samsāra — yēthē sāra Bhagavanta — empty-of-fruit is samsāra — here, the essence is Bhagavanta. The contrast: samsāra-as-phaḷakaṭa (fruitless) vs Bhagavanta-as-sāra (essence-bearing). The bhakta has identified where the sāra is.
The dhrūpada: aisē jāgavitōm manā — sarasē janā-sahita — thus I rouse the mind — together with the people. Jāgavitōm (causing-to-wake-up, rousing) — the bhakta is actively-rousing his own mind. And sarasē janā-sahita — together with the people — the rousing is communal, not solitary. This matches 2722's smaravitām smaraṇa — the practice is mutual.
The second verse offers the operative instruction: avaghe nirasūnī kāma — ghyāve nāma Viṭhōbā'ce — negating all other-work — take the Name of Viṭhoba. Nirasūnī (negating, dissolving, dismissing) — set aside all kāma (desire-driven-work) and take the Name.
The close: Devāvīṇa kelā sīṇa tō mithyā — without Deva, the struggle made is illusory. The diagnostic: any sīṇa (struggle, effort) done without Deva is mithyā (false, illusory). Effort without the central-orientation produces nothing real.
For someone today
A useful clean reminder. Empty-fruit is samsāra; here the essence is Bhagavanta. Rouse the mind together with people. Negate all other-work and take Viṭhoba's Name. Without Deva, all struggle is illusory. The verse compresses the bhakti-orientation into a single short prayer. The communal-element (janā-sahita — together with the people) is critical: the rousing is not a solitary-effort but a sarasē (in-tandem-with) practice. And the diagnostic mithyā-sīṇa (illusory-struggle) is a useful test: am I struggling-with-Deva, or Devāvīṇa (without-Deva)? The latter is mithyā.
Where this applies
- When you notice you're exhausted from chasing goals that never quite satisfy you
- When you want to wake yourself up spiritually, and you'd rather do it alongside friends or family than alone
- When you're deciding whether to keep pushing at something purely out of desire or ambition
- When you ask yourself whether your daily hustle has any real center or purpose