Abhanga 2925
Vitthal has no form to grasp yet is present everywhere like a mother and sister, and only sincere feeling, not cleverness, turns his heart toward you.
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 — norūpa(form), nonāma(name); nāhī ṭhāva dharāyā — noṭhāva(place) to hold. Jethe jāve tethe āhe — wherever (one) goes, there (he) is; Viṭhṭhala māyabahīṇa — Viṭṭhal,māyabahīṇa(mother-and-sister). Nāhī ākāra vikāra — noākāra(shape) (or)vikāra(modification); chara-achara bharalese — filled inchar-achara(moving-and-still). Navhe nirguṇa saguṇa — (he is) neithernirguṇanorsaguṇa; jāṇe kōṇa tayāsī — who knows him? Tukā says: bhāvā-viṇa — withoutbhāva; tyāñce mana vōḷenā — hismana(mind) does notvōḷenā(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
Vitthal has no fixed form, no single name, no particular place you can pin him down to — and yet wherever you go, he is already there, as close and loving as a mother or a sister. He has no shape and never changes, yet he fills everything, moving and still alike. He isn't simply the formless absolute, nor simply a god with attributes — no one can fully know him in either way. Tukaram says that without genuine feeling in your heart, his heart will never turn toward you; sincere love, not cleverness, is what reaches him.
मराठी: विठ्ठलाला कोणतेही ठराविक रूप नाही, एकच असे नाव नाही, कोणत्या एका जागी त्याला बांधून ठेवता येत नाही — आणि तरीही तुम्ही कुठेही गेलात तरी तो आधीच तिथे असतो, आईसारखा आणि बहिणीसारखा जवळचा आणि प्रेमळ. त्याला आकार नाही आणि तो कधी बदलत नाही, तरीही तो चराचरात, हलणाऱ्या आणि स्थिर अशा सगळ्यात भरून राहिलेला आहे. तो केवळ निर्गुण नाही, केवळ सगुणही नाही — त्याला कोणीच पूर्णपणे ओळखू शकत नाही. तुकाराम म्हणतात, मनापासून खरा भाव असल्याशिवाय त्याचे मन तुमच्याकडे वळत नाही; केवळ हुशारी नाही, तर मनापासूनचे प्रेमच त्याच्यापर्यंत पोहोचते.
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)