Abhanga 2880
Uttama tyā yāti — uttama (excellent) is that yāti (caste, birth, kind); Devā śaraṇa ananya-gati — (which goes) to Deva-refuge with ananya-gati (no-other-recourse, single-minded).
The verse
उत्तम त्या याति । देवा शरण अनन्यगति ॥१॥
नाहीं दुजा ठाव । कांहीं उत्तम मध्यम भाव ॥ध्रु.॥
उमटती ठसे । ब्रम्हप्राप्ति अंगीं दिसे ॥२॥
भाविक विश्वासी ।तुका म्हणे नमन त्यांसी ॥३॥
॥१०॥
Literal translation
Uttama tyā yāti — uttama (excellent) is that yāti (caste, birth, kind); Devā śaraṇa ananya-gati — (which goes) to Deva-refuge with ananya-gati (no-other-recourse, single-minded). Nāhī dujā ṭhāva — there is no other place; kāmhī uttama madhyama bhāva — some (with) uttama (high), madhyama (middling) bhāva (feeling, consideration). Umaṭatī ṭhase — the ṭhase (marks, signs) emerge; brahma-prāpti angī dise — Brahma-prāpti (attainment-of-Brahman) shows in the body. Bhāvika viśvāsī — (those who are) bhāvika (devotional) (and) viśvāsī (full-of-faith); Tukā says: namana tyāmsī — (I make) namana (salutation) to them.
What it means
A short 3-verse text + the closing colophon ॥१०॥ marking the close of a 10-abhang cluster (2871-2880). The cluster (which begins right after the 13-abhang Chinchwaḍa-cluster at 2870) appears to gather Tukārām's who-is-a-true-bhakta texts — touching on caste-marginality (2872), brāhmaṇa-humility (2875), strict-commitment (2876), Viṣṇu-dāsa-capital (2877), bhakti-trade-wealth (2878), no-disqualification-from-Name (2879), and the closing uttama-yāti-is-ananya-gati (2880).
Uttama tyā yāti — Devā śaraṇa ananya-gati — excellent is that yāti — (which) comes to Deva-refuge with single-mindedness. The radical-caste-redefinition: uttama-yāti is defined by ananya-gati to Deva, not by birth. The bhakta's-yāti is measured-by-bhakti-not-by-birth.
Nāhī dujā ṭhāva — kāmhī uttama madhyama bhāva — there's no other place — some (with) high or middling consideration. The ananya (no-other) is total: no second-place. Some bhaktas have uttama-bhāva, some madhyama-bhāva — but all are uttama-yāti if-they-have-ananya-gati.
Umaṭatī ṭhase — brahma-prāpti angī dise — the marks emerge — Brahma-prāpti shows in the body. The diagnostic-claim: genuine Brahma-prāpti shows-in-the-body (in visible marks). (Compare 2866 kasī-pārakhī realization-test.)
Bhāvika viśvāsī — Tukā mhaṇe namana tyāmsī — to the devotional and faithful — I make namana (salutation). Tukārām's-namana goes-to-bhāvika-viśvāsī, regardless of-their-outer-yāti.
The closing ॥१०॥ marks the end of the 10-abhang cluster.
For someone today
A canonical uttama-yāti redefined text + 10-abhang cluster-close. Excellent is that yāti — (which) comes to Deva with ananya-gati. There is no other place — some (with) uttama or madhyama bhāva. The marks emerge — Brahma-prāpti shows in the body. To the devotional and faithful — I make namana. Three operative-claims: (1) uttama-yāti is defined by ananya-gati-to-Deva, not birth; (2) Brahma-prāpti shows-visibly in the body (testable); (3) Tukārām's namana goes-to-bhāvika-viśvāsī. The verse caps the 10-abhang exploration of who-is-a-true-bhakta with a clear-radical-caste-redefinition.
Where this applies
- The canonical uttama-yāti-is-ananya-gati claim
- Closing-marker of 10-abhang cluster (2871-2880)
- Brahma-prāpti shows in the body — the test of genuine attainment
- Tukārām's namana goes-to-bhāvika-viśvāsī (regardless of birth-yāti)