Abhanga 2818
Genuine sweetness lives in affectionate closeness, but friction with others easily turns into judgment that breaks your peace, and the deepest root of any fall is a lack of real devotion.
The verse
अंतरींचें गोड । राहें आवडीचें कोड ॥१॥
संघष्टणें येती अंगा । गुणदोष मनभंगा ॥ध्रु.॥
उचिताच्या कळा । नाहीं कळती सकळा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे अभावना । भावीं मूळ तें पतना ॥३॥
Literal translation
Antarīñce gōḍa — the innergōḍa(sweetness); rāhe āvaḍīñce kōḍa — remains ināvaḍī's kōḍa(love's tickle, affectionate-jest). Sanghaṣṭaṇe yetī angā — thesanghaṣṭana(friction-association) comes to the body; guṇa-dōṣa mana-bhangā — theguṇa-dōṣa(qualities-faults) are themana-bhanga(mind-breaking). Uchitāñcyā kaḷā — thekaḷā(art, skill) of theuchita(appropriate, fitting); nāhī kaḷatī sakaḷā — is not known to all. Tukā says: abhāvanā — (lack-of-bhāva); bhāvī mūḷa te patanā — in (the)bhāva(consideration) — that is themūḷa(root) ofpatana(falling).
What it means
A short diagnostic verse. Antarīñce gōḍa — rāhe āvaḍīñce kōḍa — the inner sweetness remains in love's tickle (kōḍa = playful-tickle, affectionate-jest). The image: love's affectionate-jesting (kōḍa) is where the inner-sweetness dwells. Not in formal-discourse, but in playful-affectionate-engagement.
The dhrūpada: sanghaṣṭaṇe yetī angā — guṇa-dōṣa mana-bhangā — the sanghaṣṭana (friction, association-with-others) comes to the body — (and produces) guṇa-dōṣa mind-breaking. Sanghaṣṭana (friction-association-with-others) is what brings guṇa-dōṣa (quality-and-fault-judgment) into operation; and that produces mana-bhanga (the breaking-of-mental-peace).
The second verse: uchitāñcyā kaḷā — nāhī kaḷatī sakaḷā — the art of the appropriate is not known to all. The skillful-discernment of what-is-uchita (fitting) — most-people don't have it.
The close: abhāvanā bhāvī mūḷa te patanā — abhāvanā (lack-of-bhāva) in (one's) bhāva is the root of patana (falling). The diagnostic: the root-of-falling is abhāvanā — the absence of bhāva. Without bhāva, one falls.
For someone today
A useful diagnostic-verse. Inner-sweetness remains in love's tickle. Friction-association comes to the body — produces qualities-faults mind-breaking. The art of the appropriate is not known to all. Abhāvanā (lack-of-bhāva) in one's bhāva is the root of falling. The four-fold message: (1) sweetness is in playful-affectionate-engagement, not formal-discourse; (2) friction with others produces guṇa-dōṣa mind-breaking; (3) uchita-discernment is rare; (4) the absence of bhāva is the root-cause of all falling. The closing-diagnosis is the operative one: check yourself for abhāvanā.
Where this applies
- Recognizing inner-sweetness in love's tickle (not formal-discourse)
- The sanghaṣṭana-with-others produces guṇa-dōṣa mind-breaking diagnostic
- Uchita-kaḷā (skill-of-the-appropriate) as a rare-discrimination
- Abhāvanā as the root of patana — the foundational-diagnostic