Abhanga 2758
Any practice, whether silence, meditation, or hardship, is empty unless Hari is truly at its center, and a heart without Hari makes a person as good as a corpse.
The verse
लटिका तो प्रपंच एक हरि साचा । हरिविण आहाच सर्व इंद्रियें ॥१॥
लटिकें तें मौन्य भ्रमाचें स्वप्न । हरिविण ध्यान नश्वर आहे ॥ध्रु.॥
लटिकिया विपत्ति हरिविण करिती । हरि नाहीं चित्ती तो शव जाणा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे हरि हें धरिसी निर्धारीं । तरीं तूं झडकरी जासी वैकुंठा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Laṭikā tō prapaṇcha eka Hari sāchā — samsāra islaṭikā(false, empty) — only Hari issāchā(real, true); Hari-vīṇa āhāca sarva indriyē — without Hari, all theindriyē(senses) areāhāca(vain). Laṭikē tē mauna bhramāñce svapna — false is themauna(silence) — dream-of-bhrama(confusion); Hari-vīṇa dhyāna naśvara āhe — without Hari, dhyāna isnaśvara(destructible). Laṭikiyā vipattī Hari-vīṇa karitī — false are thevipatti(adversities, austerities) done without Hari; Hari nāhī chittī tō śava jāṇā — one without Hari in chitta, know him as aśava(corpse). Tukā says: Hari hē dharisī nirdhārī — if you hold Hari firmly; tarī tūm jhaḍakarī jāsī vaikuṇṭhā — then you will gojhaḍakarī(quickly) to vaikuṇṭha.
What it means
A short canonical-claim verse. Laṭikā tō prapaṇcha eka Hari sāchā — Hari-vīṇa āhāca sarva indriyē — samsāra is false, only Hari is real; without Hari, all the senses are vain. The foundational-claim: Hari is the only truth; the senses-without-Hari are āhāca (vain, empty).
The verse then names three Hari-less failure-modes: 1. Mauna (silence) without Hari = bhrama-svapna (dream of confusion). The silence-of-the-yogi is false-dream-of-confusion if Hari is not its content. 2. Dhyāna (meditation) without Hari = naśvara (destructible). The dhyāna that doesn't have Hari as its object dies. 3. Vipatti (austerities, hardship-undertakings) without Hari = laṭikā (false). The struggles undertaken without Hari are all false-effort.
And the diagnostic-close: Hari nāhī chittī tō śava jāṇā — one in whose chitta Hari is not, know him to be a corpse. The body-without-Hari-in-chitta is a śava — a corpse. The biological-life is not the criterion; the Hari-in-chitta is.
The final-promise: Hari hē dharisī nirdhārī — jhaḍakarī jāsī vaikuṇṭhā — hold Hari firmly — you will go to vaikuṇṭha quickly. The route is direct.
For someone today
A useful canonical foundational-test. Samsāra is false — only Hari is real. Hari-less senses are vain; Hari-less mauna is false-dream; Hari-less dhyāna is destructible; Hari-less austerities are false; one without Hari in chitta is a corpse. Hold Hari firmly — and quickly go to vaikuṇṭha. The diagnostic-test for any practice: is Hari the actual content, or is the practice Hari-less? The verse insists that the Hari-content is the operating-criterion — not the outward form the practice takes. Even silence, dhyāna, and austerity can be laṭikā (false) if Hari is not at the center.
मराठी: कोणत्याही साधनेसाठी उपयुक्त असा एक पारंपरिक कसोटीचा निकष. संसार खोटा आहे — फक्त हरीच खरा आहे. हरीशिवाय इंद्रियं व्यर्थ आहेत; हरीशिवाय मौन हे भ्रमाचं खोटं स्वप्न आहे; हरीशिवाय ध्यान नाशवंत आहे; हरीशिवाय तपश्चर्या खोटी आहे; ज्याच्या चित्तात हरी नाही तो प्रेतासमान आहे. हरीला घट्ट धरून ठेव — आणि झटपट वैकुंठाला जाशील. कोणत्याही साधनेची खरी कसोटी अशी आहे: त्यात प्रत्यक्षात हरी आहे का, की ती हरीविना आहे? हा अभंग स्पष्टपणे सांगतो की हरीचं अस्तित्व हाच खरा निकष आहे — साधनेचं बाह्य स्वरूप नव्हे. मौन, ध्यान आणि तपश्चर्यासुद्धा लटिकं म्हणजे खोटं ठरू शकतं, जर त्याच्या केंद्रस्थानी हरी नसेल तर.
Where this applies
- When you keep up a spiritual routine like meditation or silence but your mind isn't actually on God
- When you endure hardship or self-denial and wonder whether it means anything at all
- When you feel like you're going through the motions of life without any real inner purpose
- When you want a simple way to check whether your practice is genuine or just an empty habit