Abhanga 2763
A useful honest declaration-of-position. I don't know ear-whispering; I have no private-knowledge. Sants, hear my respectful report. I haven't seen with eyes — yet I will show Deva to all. By the joy of contemplation, I don't know sorrows. The verse is anti-secret-knowledge — the bhakta refuses to claim ekānta-jñāna he doesn't have. But he claims chintana-sukha — the joy-of-contemplation — which is enough. And he claims to show Deva to all even without having seen-himself. This is a striking democratic-claim: the showing happens through the practice, not through the bhakta's special-vision.
The verse
नेणें काुंफ्कों कान । नाहीं एकांतींचें ज्ञान ॥१॥
तुम्ही आइका हो संत । माझा सादर वृत्तांत ॥ध्रु.॥
नाहीं देखिला तो डोळां । देव दाखवूं सकळां ॥२॥
चिंतनाच्या सुखें । तुका म्हणे नेणें दुःखें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Nēṇē kāumphukōm kāna — I don't know kāumphukōm (ear-whispering, secret-instruction); nāhī ekāntīñce jñāna — there is no ekānta-jñāna (private/solitary knowledge) (for me). Tumhī aikā hō santa — you, sants, listen; mājhā sādara vrttānta — my respectful (sādara) vrttānta (report, account). Nāhī dekhilā tō ḍōḷām — I have not seen him with eyes; Deva dākhavūm sakaḷām — (yet) I will show Deva to all. Chintanāñcyā sukhē — by the sukha (joy) of chintana (contemplation); Tukā says: nēṇē duḥkhē — I don't know sorrows.
What it means
A short honest-report verse. Nēṇē kāumphukōm kāna — nāhī ekāntīñce jñāna — I don't know ear-whispering; I have no private-knowledge. The bhakta disclaims kāumphukōm-kāna (the ear-whispered-secret-instruction that some teachers boast about) and ekānta-jñāna (private-solitary-knowledge). He is not a secret-knower.
The dhrūpada delivers the respectful-report frame: tumhī aikā hō santa — mājhā sādara vrttānta — listen, sants — my respectful report. The audience is sants; the mode is sādara (with-respect); the content is vrttānta (report-of-state).
The second verse has the striking-paradox: nāhī dekhilā tō ḍōḷām — Deva dākhavūm sakaḷām — I have not seen him with eyes — (yet) I will show Deva to all. The bhakta hasn't seen-with-eyes; yet he will show Deva to all. The implication: Deva-showing doesn't require the bhakta's having-seen-first. The Name and the kīrtana do the showing, even without the bhakta's prior eye-darśana.
The close: chintanāñcyā sukhē — nēṇē duḥkhē — by the joy-of-contemplation, I don't know sorrows. The chintana-sukha (joy of contemplation) is the displacer-of-sorrows. The bhakta hasn't seen, but he has chintana-sukha — and that is enough to not-know-sorrows.
For someone today
A useful honest declaration-of-position. I don't know ear-whispering; I have no private-knowledge. Sants, hear my respectful report. I haven't seen with eyes — yet I will show Deva to all. By the joy of contemplation, I don't know sorrows. The verse is anti-secret-knowledge — the bhakta refuses to claim ekānta-jñāna he doesn't have. But he claims chintana-sukha — the joy-of-contemplation — which is enough. And he claims to show Deva to all even without having seen-himself. This is a striking democratic-claim: the showing happens through the practice, not through the bhakta's special-vision.
Where this applies
- Honest I'm-not-a-secret-knower-but-have-chintana-sukha declaration
- Recognizing the bhakta-can-show-Deva without having-seen-himself
- Chintana-sukha (joy-of-contemplation) as the sorrow-displacer
- Refusing to claim kāumphukōm-kāna (secret ear-whispering) that one doesn't have