Abhanga 2925
Nāhī rūpa nāhī nāva — no rūpa (form), no nāma (name); nāhī ṭhāva dharāyā — no ṭhāva (place) to hold.
The verse
नाहीं रूप नाहीं नांव । नाहीं ठाव धराया ॥१॥
जेथें जावें तेथें आहे । विठ्ठल मायबहीण ॥ध्रु.॥
नाहीं आकार विकार । चराचर भरलेंसे ॥२॥
नव्हे निर्गुण सगुण । जाणे कोण तयासी ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे भावाविण । त्याचें मन वोळेना ॥४॥
Literal translation
Nāhī rūpa nāhī nāva — no rūpa (form), no nāma (name); nāhī ṭhāva dharāyā — no ṭhāva (place) to hold. Jethe jāve tethe āhe — wherever (one) goes, there (he) is; Viṭhṭhala māyabahīṇa — Viṭṭhal, māyabahīṇa (mother-and-sister). Nāhī ākāra vikāra — no ākāra (shape) (or) vikāra (modification); chara-achara bharalese — filled in char-achara (moving-and-still). Navhe nirguṇa saguṇa — (he is) neither nirguṇa nor saguṇa; jāṇe kōṇa tayāsī — who knows him? Tukā says: bhāvā-viṇa — without bhāva; tyāñce mana vōḷenā — his mana (mind) does not vōḷenā (bend, turn-toward).
What it means
THE canonical 4-verse formless-yet-everywhere-Viṭṭhal verse.
Verse 1: Nāhī rūpa nāhī nāva — nāhī ṭhāva dharāyā — no form, no name — no place to hold. The opening-paradox: Viṭṭhal has no formal-attributes by-which to-be-grasped.
Dhrūpada: Jethe jāve tethe āhe — Viṭhṭhala māyabahīṇa — wherever (one) goes, there (he) is — Viṭṭhal, mother-and-sister. The all-pervading-claim. Māyabahīṇa — literally mother-and-sister — invokes both-maternal-affection AND sister-affection (the most-intimate-relational vocabulary).
Verse 2: Nāhī ākāra vikāra — chara-achara bharalese — no shape, no modification — filled in moving-and-still. The standard advaitic-formulation: unchanging, yet filling-all.
Verse 3: Navhe nirguṇa saguṇa — jāṇe kōṇa tayāsī — neither nirguṇa nor saguṇa — who knows him? The dual-rejection: not just-nirguṇa, not just-saguṇa, but beyond-both. (Vārkarī-position avoiding pure-advaita-nirguṇa or-pure-saguṇa-localization.)
Close: Tukā mhaṇe bhāvā-viṇa — tyāñce mana vōḷenā — without bhāva, his mind does not bend (toward us). The bhakti-key: the only-access to this paradoxical-Viṭṭhal is bhāva. Without bhāva, his mana-doesn't-turn-to-us. (Pairs with 2817 bhāva-chi-kāraṇa-the-sādhana-of-mokṣa.)
For someone today
THE canonical formless-yet-everywhere-Viṭṭhal text. No form, no name — no place to hold. Wherever (one) goes, (he is) there — Viṭṭhal, mother-and-sister. No shape, no modification — filled in moving-and-still. Neither nirguṇa nor saguṇa — who knows him? Without bhāva — his mind does not bend.
Four operative-claims: (1) no formal-attributes; (2) all-pervading-relational; (3) neither-nirguṇa-nor-saguṇa; (4) bhāva is the only-access. The Vārkarī-theological-position: Viṭṭhal is beyond categories, yet bhāva-accessible. (Pairs with 2924 Pandharī-rāṇa-doesn't-come-to-Vedas-or-anumāna, 2926 puppet-thread image.)
Where this applies
- THE canonical formless-yet-everywhere Viṭṭhal text
- Recognizing Viṭṭhal-māyabahiṇa-everywhere claim
- Without-bhāva, mana-doesn't-bend — bhāva as the only-access
- Pairs with 2924 (Pandharī-rāṇa-cosmological) and 2926 (puppet-thread)
- Also pairs with 2817 (bhāva-chi-kāraṇa-of-mokṣa)