Abhanga 2917
Tukaram declares there is no true difference between himself and God, only a playful appearance of two-ness created by naming.
The verse
तुज मज नाहीं भेद । केला सहज विनोद ॥१॥
तूं माझा आकार । मी तों तूं च निर्धार ॥ध्रु.॥
मी तुजमाजी देवा । घेसी माझ्या अंगें सेवा ॥२॥
मी तुजमाजी अचळ । मजमाजी तुझें बळ ॥३॥
तूं बोलसी माझ्या मुखें । मी तों तुजमाजी सुखें ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे देवा । विपरीत ठायीं नांवा ॥५॥
Literal translation
Tuja maja nāhī bheda — between you and me, there is nobheda(difference); kelā sahaja vinōda — (it is) avinōda(sport, play) done naturally. Tūm mājhā ākāra — you are myākāra(form, shape); mī tōm tūm chi nirdhāra — I (am) —tūm chi(you, certainly) —nirdhāra(it is decided, certain). Mī tujamāji Devā — I (am) in you, Deva; ghesī mājhyā ange sevā — you takesevāthrough my body. Mī tujamāji achaḷa — I (am) in you —achaḷa(immovable, fixed); majamāji tujhe baḷa — in me is yourbaḷa(strength). Tūm bōlasī mājhyā mukhe — you speak with my mouth; mī tōm tujamāji sukhe — I (am) — in you, with sukha. Tukā says: Devā — (O) Deva; viparīta ṭhāyī nāve — theviparīta(contrary, opposite) (exists only) in theṭhāva(place) ofnāva(the name, naming).
What it means
THE canonical 5-verse Tukārām non-dual identification text. The verse-structure: six reciprocal-identifications between I and you.
Verse 1: Tuja maja nāhī bheda — kelā sahaja vinōda — between you and me, no difference — done naturally as a sport. The opening foundational-claim: no bheda between bhakta and Lord; the apparent-distinction is a sahaja-vinōda (natural-sport).
Dhrūpada: Tūm mājhā ākāra — mī tōm tūm chi nirdhāra — you are my form — I am certainly nothing-but-you. The double-identification: (1) you are my form; (2) I am you.
Verse 2: Mī tujamāji Devā — ghesī mājhyā ange sevā — I (am) in you, Deva — you take sevā through my body. The reciprocal: I-in-you; you-take-sevā-through-my-body (i.e., when I perform sevā, you-yourself are performing-it-through-me).
Verse 3: Mī tujamāji achaḷa — majamāji tujhe baḷa — I (am) in you, immovable — in me is your strength. The double-direction: I-in-you (immovable); your-strength-in-me.
Verse 4: Tūm bōlasī mājhyā mukhe — mī tōm tujamāji sukhe — you speak with my mouth — I (am) in you with sukha. The mutual-indwelling: you-speak-through-me; I-rest-in-you-with-sukha.
Close: Tukā mhaṇe Devā — viparīta ṭhāyī nāve — the contrary (exists only) in the place of naming. The crucial-final-claim: the apparent-duality between us is ONLY in the naming; if we don't-name, there is no-contrary.
This is one of THE most-radical non-dual texts in the Tukārām corpus, while still preserving the bhakti-relationship. Unlike pure-advaita which dissolves-the-relationship, Tukārām holds-the-relationship as vinōda (sport) while-claiming-non-duality. The bhakti-non-dualism of Vārkarī tradition.
For someone today
Tukaram declares that there is no real difference between himself and God — the appearance of two-ness is just a playful game. You are my very form, he says, and I am nothing but you; I live inside you, and it's really you who receives service through my body. I am fixed and unmoving within you, while your strength lives within me. You speak through my mouth, and I rest in you with joy. In the end, Tukaram says, the sense of us being separate exists only in the naming — once you stop naming two things, there was never any difference to begin with.
मराठी: तुकाराम सांगतात की माझ्यात आणि देवात खरे कोणतेही अंतर नाही — दोघे वेगळे असल्याचा भास हा फक्त एक खेळकर लीला आहे. तू माझे रूप आहेस, ते म्हणतात, आणि मी तुझ्याशिवाय दुसरे काही नाही; मी तुझ्यात राहतो, आणि खरे तर माझ्या शरीरातून सेवा घेणारा तूच आहेस. मी तुझ्यात स्थिर आणि अचल आहे, आणि तुझी शक्ती माझ्यात वास करते. तू माझ्या मुखातून बोलतोस, आणि मी तुझ्यात सुखाने विसावतो. शेवटी तुकाराम म्हणतात, आपण वेगळे असल्याची जाणीव फक्त नावातच असते — नाव देणे थांबवले की मुळात कधी भेदच नव्हता.
Where this applies
- When you feel far from the sacred and need to remember the closeness may already exist
- When you do good work and wonder whose strength truly carried you through it
- When you are caught up in labels and categories that make two things feel separate that are not
- When you want a gentler, more playful way to think about the self and something greater than yourself