Abhanga 2926
God is the hidden puppeteer moving the strings of your life, and death is simply him letting the string go, so know him and make him your own friend.
The verse
आहे सकळां वेगळा । खेळे कळा चोरोनि ॥१॥
खांबसुत्राचिये परी । देव दोरी हालवितो ॥ध्रु.॥
आपण राहोनि निराळा । कैसी कळा नाचवी ॥२॥
जेव्हां असुडितो दोरी । भूमीवरी पडे तेव्हां ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे तो जाणावा । सखा करावा आपुला ॥४॥
Literal translation
Āhe sakaḷām vegaḷā — (he) isvegaḷā(separate) from all; kheḷe kaḷā chōrōnī — plays thekaḷā(art) (while) hiding. Khāmba-sutrāñciye parī — like akhāmba-sūtra(the pillar-string, the puppet-thread); Deva dōrī hālavitō — Deva moves thedōrī(rope, string). Āpaṇa rāhōnī nirāḷā — himself stayingnirāḷa(separate); kaisī kaḷā nāchavī — how (he) makes thekaḷā(art, performance) dance? Jevhām asuḍitō dōrī — when (he)asuḍitō(cuts, releases, gives-up) thedōrī; bhūmī-varī paḍe tevhām — then (the puppet) falls on the ground. Tukā says: tō jāṇāvā — know him; sakhā karāvā āpulā — make (him your)sakhā(friend), as your-own.
What it means
A 4-verse canonical khāmba-sūtra (puppet-thread) image-verse. Extends 2820 (Nārāyaṇa-puppeteer) and 2913 (body-as-puppet) with a new-detail: the falling-when-the-rope-is-let-go.
Verse 1: Āhe sakaḷām vegaḷā — kheḷe kaḷā chōrōnī — (he is) separate from all — plays the art while hiding. The opening: the Lord is separate-from-all-creatures; he plays-the-show-hiddenly.
Dhrūpada: Khāmba-sutrāñciye parī — Deva dōrī hālavitō — like the puppet-thread, Deva moves the rope. The canonical puppet-image: Deva-as-puppeteer, moving-the-strings.
Verse 2: Āpaṇa rāhōnī nirāḷā — kaisī kaḷā nāchavī — himself staying separate — how (he) makes the art dance. The wonder: the puppeteer-himself stays-apart from the puppet; yet he makes the puppet-perform.
Verse 3 (the new image): Jevhām asuḍitō dōrī — bhūmī-varī paḍe tevhām — when (he) lets-loose the rope — then (the puppet) falls on the ground. The crucial-extension: when the Lord-releases-the-string, the puppet-falls. This is the death-image — the puppet falling-when-the-string-is-let-go is the moment-of-death. The body falls because-the-Lord-lets-go-of-the-string.
Close: Tukā mhaṇe tō jāṇāvā — sakhā karāvā āpulā — know him — make him your sakhā. The recommendation: recognize-the-puppeteer; make-him-your-friend (so that-he-treats-you-well in the show, and-perhaps-gently-when-letting-go).
For someone today
This is the classic puppet-thread image, extended with a new detail. (He is) separate from all — he plays his art while hiding. Like a puppet-thread, Deva moves the rope. Staying apart himself, how does he make the art dance? When he lets the rope go, the puppet falls to the ground. Know him — make him your sakhā. The verse gives the complete puppet image: (1) Deva is the puppeteer, separate and hidden; (2) all our actions are him moving the string; (3) at death, he simply lets the string go; (4) recognize him as your sakhā. The image runs theologically deep: we live and die at his pleasure; the only real practice is to know him and make him our own friend. (Pairs with 2820, Nārāyaṇa as the puppeteer, and 2913, the body as a puppet.)
मराठी: हा सुप्रसिद्ध बाहुले-दोरीचा (कळसूत्री बाहुल्याचा) रूपक आहे, ज्यात एक नवीन तपशील जोडला आहे. देव सर्वांपासून वेगळा राहून, लपून आपली कळा खेळतो. कळसूत्री बाहुल्याच्या दोरीप्रमाणे देव दोरी हलवतो. स्वतः वेगळा राहून तो कळेला कसे नाचवतो? जेव्हा तो दोरी सोडून देतो, तेव्हा बाहुले जमिनीवर पडते. त्याला ओळखा — त्याला आपला सखा करा. या अभंगातून संपूर्ण बाहुले-रूपक स्पष्ट होते: (१) देव हा लपलेला, वेगळा राहणारा सूत्रधार आहे; (२) आपली सर्व कृती म्हणजे त्याने दोरी हलवणे आहे; (३) मृत्यूसमयी तो केवळ दोरी सोडून देतो; (४) त्याला आपला सखा म्हणून ओळखावे. हा रूपक तत्त्वज्ञानदृष्ट्या खोल आहे: आपण त्याच्या इच्छेनुसारच जगतो आणि मरतो; एकच साधना म्हणजे त्याला ओळखून त्याला आपला मित्र बनवणे. (हा अभंग २८२० — नारायण सूत्रधार — आणि २९१३ — शरीर हे बाहुले — यांच्याशी संबंधित आहे.)
Where this applies
- The canonical khāmba-sūtra (puppet-thread) — Deva moves-rope, puppet-falls-when-loosened extended image
- Recognizing Deva is the puppeteer; when he lets-loose the rope, the puppet falls
- Know-him, make-him-your-sakhā — bhakta's-recommendation
- Pairs with 2820 (Nārāyaṇa-puppeteer, monkeys-floated-stones), 2913 (body-as-puppet design-argument)
- Death-image: the rope let-loose = the moment of death