संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 2724 of 4582

Abhanga 2724

Moistened (ōlāvalī) with sudhā-rasa (nectar-juice); the rasanā (tongue), dhālī (filled) does not dhāya (get full / become satiated).

The satiety-without-filling paradox of nectar-experience
Recognizing dhaṇī (quenching) arrived without being-known
Whatever is loved, that is for him — bhakti-redirection of all loves

The verse

सुधारसें ओलावली । रसना धाली न धाय ॥१॥ कळों नये जाली धणी । नारायणीं पूर्णता ॥ध्रु.॥ आवडे तें तें च यासी । ब्रम्हरसीं निरसें ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे बहुतां परी । करूनि करीं सेवन ॥३॥

Literal translation

Moistened (ōlāvalī) with sudhā-rasa (nectar-juice); the rasanā (tongue), dhālī (filled) does not dhāya (get full / become satiated). Without being kaḷō (known), dhaṇī (full-quenching) has come; Nārāyaṇī pūrṇatā (in Nārāyaṇa is pūrṇatā — completeness). Whatever is āvaḍē (loved), that itself is for him; in brahma-rasa it nirasē (dissolves). Tukā says: in many ways, having done — I do the sevana (taking, partaking, serving).

What it means

A short nectar-satiety verse. Sudhārasē ōlāvalī — rasanā dhālī na dhāyamoistened with nectar-juice — the tongue, filled, doesn't become satiated. The paradox: nectar produces filling without full-stop satiety. Each taste-of-nectar fills the tongue, but the tongue does not arrive at the enough-stop-now satiety-point that ordinary food produces. The bhakti-flavor is endlessly-receivable.

The dhrūpada: kaḷō nayē jālī dhaṇī — Nārāyaṇī pūrṇatāwithout being known, dhaṇī (full-quenching) has come; in Nārāyaṇa is pūrṇatā (completeness). Dhaṇī (the full-quenching, the satisfaction-of-the-thirst) has arrived without being noticed-arriving. Pūrṇatā (completeness) is in Nārāyaṇa — the place of completeness is the addressee, not the experience.

The second verse names the redirection: āvaḍē tē tē chi yāsī — brahma-rasīm nirasēwhatever is loved, that itself is for him; in brahma-rasa, it dissolves. The bhakti-claim: any-love-that-arises is for him — the love-flow is naturally-directed to Nārāyaṇa. And in brahma-rasa, it dissolves — the love-flow dissolves into the brahma-rasa (the brahma-essence-flavor).

The close: bahutām parī — karūnī karīm sevanain many ways, having done, I do the sevana (partaking, serving). Sevana (taking-up, partaking, serving) — the bhakta serves-and-partakes in many ways. The plurality of approaches is acknowledged.

For someone today

A useful description of how bhakti-satisfaction works. Nectar moistens the tongue but doesn't produce full-stop satiety; dhaṇī (full-quenching) comes without being-noticed; pūrṇatā is in Nārāyaṇa, not in the experience; whatever you love is for him; it dissolves in brahma-rasa; we partake in many ways. The paradox-of-bhakti-satiety is named: filling without full-stop — the tongue is moistened, the dhaṇī arrives, but the appetite for the next-taste does not end. This is structurally different from food-satiety; bhakti-experience does not turn off the longing-channel even while satisfying it.

Where this applies

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