Abhanga 2895
A useful claim about the tradition-keeper's role. For (our) own work, we have cast aside shame. We keep you (Lord) awake — for our own welfare. You are body-less — we know pāpa-puṇya. To tell (this) to people — Tukā is left over, again and again. The verse describes the bhakta as tradition-teller: the Lord is transcendent, ordinary people remain bound by right and wrong, and the bhakta-poet Tukārām is the go-between who stays behind to tell them. The closing image of Tukā left over, again and again, is a modest way of naming himself — still here, kept back, for the sake of that telling.
The verse
आपुलिया काजा । आम्हीं सांडियेलें लाजा ॥१॥
तुम्हां असों जागवीत । आपुलें आपुले हित ॥ध्रु.॥
तुम्ही देहशून्य । आम्हां कळे पाप पुण्य ॥२॥
सांगायासी लोकां । उरउरीत उरला तुका ॥३॥
Literal translation
Āpuliyā kājā — for (our) ownkāja(work, purpose); āmhīm sāṇḍiyele lājā — we havesāṇḍiyele(cast aside, abandoned)lāja(shame). Tumhām asō jāgavīt — we keep you (Lord)jāgavīt(awake); āpule āpule hita — (for) our ownhita(welfare). Tumhī deha-śūnya — you aredeha-śūnya(body-less, body-empty); āmhām kaḷe pāpa puṇya — we (yet) knowpāpaandpuṇya. Sāngāyāsī lōkām — to tell (this) tolōka(people); uraurita uralā Tukā — Tukā isuraurita uralā(left-over-and-over, remaining).
What it means
A short tradition-keeper claim verse. Āpuliyā kājā — āmhīm sāṇḍiyele lājā — for our own work, we have cast-aside shame. The opening: the bhakta-has-abandoned-shame for-his-own-purpose (bhakti-pursuit).
Tumhām asō jāgavīt — āpule āpule hita — we keep you awake — for our own welfare. The bhakta-claim: we keep-the-Lord-awake (with our incessant-prayer-and-kīrtana) — for our own welfare. This is striking: the bhakta keeps-the-Lord-awake-with-his-noise.
Tumhī deha-śūnya — āmhām kaḷe pāpa puṇya — you are body-less — we know pāpa-and-puṇya. The contrast: the Lord is deha-śūnya (transcendent, beyond-body); we know pāpa-puṇya (we are body-bound creatures). The bhakta acknowledges the asymmetry.
The close: Sāngāyāsī lōkām — uraurita uralā Tukā — to tell (this) to the people — Tukā is left-over-and-over. The bhakta-as-tradition-teller: Tukārām remains (uralā) — left-over-and-over (uraurita) — to-tell-people-this. The role is: bridge between deha-śūnya-Lord and pāpa-puṇya-people.
For someone today
A useful claim about the tradition-keeper's role. For (our) own work, we have cast aside shame. We keep you (Lord) awake — for our own welfare. You are body-less — we know pāpa-puṇya. To tell (this) to people — Tukā is left over, again and again. The verse describes the bhakta as tradition-teller: the Lord is transcendent, ordinary people remain bound by right and wrong, and the bhakta-poet Tukārām is the go-between who stays behind to tell them. The closing image of Tukā left over, again and again, is a modest way of naming himself — still here, kept back, for the sake of that telling.
मराठी: हे परंपरा सांगणाऱ्याच्या भूमिकेबद्दलचे उपयुक्त विधान आहे. आपल्याच कामासाठी आम्ही लाज सोडली आहे. तुम्हाला (देवाला) जागे ठेवतो — ते आमच्याच हितासाठी. तुम्ही देहरहित आहात — आम्हाला पाप-पुण्य कळते. लोकांना हे सांगण्यासाठी — तुका पुन्हा पुन्हा उरलेला आहे. हा अभंग भक्ताला परंपरा-सांगणाऱ्याच्या भूमिकेत मांडतो : देव देहातीत आहे, सामान्य लोक पाप-पुण्याने बांधलेले राहतात, आणि भक्त-कवी तुकाराम या दोघांमधला दुवा आहे जो मागे राहून हे सांगत राहतो. शेवटची प्रतिमा — तुका पुन्हा पुन्हा उरलेला — ही स्वतःला नम्रपणे नावाजण्याची पद्धत आहे : हे सांगण्यासाठी मी अजूनही इथेच, मागे राहिलेला आहे.
Where this applies
- When you feel embarrassed that your prayers are partly for your own comfort and peace, not pure selflessness
- When you keep returning to the same practice or prayer day after day without feeling guilty about needing it
- When you're the one in a family or group who keeps reminding others about faith, even when you feel worn out doing it
- When you notice the gap between an ideal you look up to and your own very human, flawed daily life