Abhanga 2773
The verse extends 2772's test-by-substance pattern. The pebbles shine until the diamond shines; the lamps shine until the sun rises; the sant-stories are told until one actually meets Tukya. The general-principle: talked-or-told substance is provisional until encountered-substance appears. The sant-stories are themselves a gārā (pebble) compared to the hīrā (diamond) of direct-encounter. The bhakti-tradition values story-telling AND direct-encounter — but the encounter is the substance.
The verse
तोंवरि तोंवरि शोभतील गारा । जंव नाहीं हिरा प्रकाशला ॥१॥
तोंवरि तोंवरि शोभतील दीपिका । नुगवता एका भास्करासी ॥२॥
तोंवरि तोंवरि सांगती संताचिया गोष्टी । जंव नाहीं भेटी तुक्यासवें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Tōmvarī tōmvarī śōbhatīla gārā — until-until the gārā (pebbles) will śōbhatīla (shine); jamva nāhī hīrā prakāśalā — until the hīrā (diamond) has not prakāśalā (shone). Tōmvarī tōmvarī śōbhatīla dīpikā — until-until the dīpikā (lamps) will shine; nuguvatā ekā bhāskarāsī — until the one Bhāskara (sun) has not arisen. Tōmvarī tōmvarī sāngatī santāñciyā gōṣṭī — until-until they will tell the santāñciyā gōṣṭī (sants' stories); jamva nāhī bheṭī tukyāsavē — until they have not met Tukya.
What it means
This 3-verse abhang continues 2772's tōmvarī-tōmvarī sequence and, like 2772, is NOT Tukārām's own composition — the closing line jamva nāhī bheṭī tukyāsavē (until they have not met Tukya) is in third-person about Tukārām himself. This is a continuation of the disciple-praise sequence, likely by Niḷōbā or another 17th-century-Vārkarī.
The 3-fold tōmvarī-tōmvarī extension:
- Pebbles-shine-until-diamond-shines — the lesser-jewels are passable-as-jewels only until the genuine-diamond appears
- Lamps-shine-until-the-one-sun-(Bhāskara)-rises — the artificial-lights are useful only until the natural-light appears
- Climax: they tell the sants' stories until they have not met Tukya — sant-stories are told-and-passed-around only until one actually encounters Tukārām
The two-pair (2772 + 2773) together form an 8-fold tōmvarī-tōmvarī sequence: - jackal-vs-lion (2772.1) - ocean-vs-Agastya (2772.2) - vairāgya-talk-vs-beautiful-woman (2772.3) - warrior-talk-vs-Paramāī's-son (2772.4) - religious-ornaments-vs-Tukārām's-darśana (2772.5) - pebbles-vs-diamond (2773.1) - lamps-vs-sun (2773.2) - sant-stories-vs-meeting-Tukya (2773.3)
The structural-purpose is clear: Tukārām-encounter is the substance-revealing-event in this disciple-tradition. The placement of meeting-Tukya in both the final-position of 2772 (as darśana) and 2773 (as bhēṭī) — and the parallel-pairing with diamond, sun, lion, Agastya, real-warrior — elevates Tukārām to substance-yardstick status.
Historical-significance: this paired-cluster (2772+2773) is one of the clearest pieces of evidence in the Tukārām-tradition for the Tukārām-as-yardstick-of-substance veneration among contemporaries and immediate-disciples.
For someone today
The verse extends 2772's test-by-substance pattern. The pebbles shine until the diamond shines; the lamps shine until the sun rises; the sant-stories are told until one actually meets Tukya. The general-principle: talked-or-told substance is provisional until encountered-substance appears. The sant-stories are themselves a gārā (pebble) compared to the hīrā (diamond) of direct-encounter. The bhakti-tradition values story-telling AND direct-encounter — but the encounter is the substance.
Where this applies
- Continuation of 2772's tōmvarī-tōmvarī praise-pattern
- The talked-vs-encountered substance general-test
- Rare-historical evidence of contemporary-Tukārām veneration
- Niḷōbā-style disciple-praise tradition