Abhanga 2949
Maja mājhā upadeśa — (this) upadeśa is for me — for myself; āṇikām nye yāñcā rīsa — let others not get rīsa (irritation) (about) this.
The verse
मज माझा उपदेश । आणिकां नये याचा रीस ॥१॥
तुम्ही अवघे पांडुरंग । मी च दुष्ट सकळ चांग ॥ध्रु.॥
तुमचा मी शरणागत । कांहीं करा माझें हित ॥२॥
तुका पाय धरी । मी हें माझें दुर करीं ॥३॥
जाणे त्याचें वर्म नेणे त्याचें कर्म । केल्याविण धर्म नेणवती ॥२॥
मैथुनाचें सुख सांगितल्या शून्य । अनुभवाविण कळूं नये ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे जळो शाब्दिक हें ज्ञान । विठोबाची खूण विरळा जाणे ॥३॥
Literal translation
Maja mājhā upadeśa — (this) upadeśa is for me — for myself; āṇikām nye yāñcā rīsa — let others not get rīsa (irritation) (about) this. Tumhī avaghe Pāṇḍuranga — you all are Pāṇḍuranga; mī cha duṣṭa sakaḷa chānga — I alone am evil; all (others) are good. Tumchā mī śaraṇāgata — I am your śaraṇāgata; kāmhī karā mājhe hita — do some hita (welfare-work) for me. Tukā pāya dharī — Tukā holds the feet; mī he mājhe dura karī — make my own (= me-mine) into your-own (= your-mark). Jāṇe tyāñce varma neṇe tyāñce karma — (one) knows its varma (essence) but doesn't know its karma (doing-method); kelyāviṇa dharma neṇavatī — without doing the dharma (practice), it cannot be known. Maithunāñce sukha sāngitalyā śūnya — the maithuna (sexual-union)'s sukha, when told, becomes śūnya (empty); anubhavāviṇa kaḷūm nye — without anubhava (experience), (it) cannot be known. Tukā says: jaḷō śābdika he jñāna — let this śābdika (verbal) jñāna burn; Viṭhōbāñcī khūṇa viraḷā jāṇe — (only) viraḷā (rare ones) know Viṭhōbā's khūṇa (sign, true-mark).
What it means
A striking extended verse on anubhava-vs-shabdika-jñāna with a maithuna-analogy. The verse-structure is unusual: it has 3 numbered-verses followed by 2 additional-verses, like an extended-meditation.
Verses 1-3 (humility setup): Maja mājhā upadeśa — āṇikām nye yāñcā rīsa — this teaching is for-me, not for others to be irritated. Tumhī avaghe Pāṇḍuranga — mī cha duṣṭa sakaḷa chānga — all of you are Pāṇḍuranga; I alone am evil; all (others) are good. Tumchā mī śaraṇāgata — kāmhī karā mājhe hita — I am your śaraṇāgata; do some welfare for me. The opening-setup of humility and self-deprecation.
Verse 4 (the varma-vs-karma claim): Jāṇe tyāñce varma neṇe tyāñce karma — kelyāviṇa dharma neṇavatī — (one) knows its essence but doesn't know its doing-method — without doing the practice, it cannot be known. The diagnostic: theoretical-knowledge ≠ practical-realization. Without doing-the-practice, the dharma cannot be truly-known.
Verse 5 (the striking maithuna-analogy): Maithunāñce sukha sāngitalyā śūnya — anubhavāviṇa kaḷūm nye — maithuna-sukha (sexual-union's-joy), when told, becomes śūnya (empty) — without anubhava, it cannot be known. The unique-direct-image: describing-sexual-union-to-someone-who-hasn't-experienced-it produces only-empty-words; the actual-knowing requires-the-actual-experience. So-too with bhakti.
Close: Tukā mhaṇe jaḷō śābdika he jñāna — Viṭhōbāñcī khūṇa viraḷā jāṇe — let this verbal-knowledge burn — only the rare-ones know Viṭhōbā's khūṇa (true-mark). The radical-claim: burn the verbal-knowledge (paṇḍita-knowledge, śāstra-knowledge); only the rare-ones (viraḷā) know Viṭhōbā's khūṇa. (Pairs with 2866 kasī-pārakhī realization-test, 2833 anubhava-needed.)
The maithuna-analogy is one of the most-direct-and-honest analogies in the corpus — Tukārām uses the most-bodily-known-but-unspeakable experience to-illustrate-bhakti's-anubhava-requirement.
For someone today
A striking anubhava-vs-shabdika-jñāna prayer with maithuna-analogy. This upadeśa (is) for me, for myself — let others not get irritated. You all are Pāṇḍuranga — I alone am evil; all (others) are good. I am your śaraṇāgata — do some hita for me. (One) knows the essence but doesn't know the doing-method — without doing the dharma, it cannot be known. The maithuna-sukha, when told, becomes empty — without anubhava, it cannot be known. Let this verbal-knowledge burn — only rare ones know Viṭhōbā's khūṇa. The verse provides the most-direct claim that bhakti-anubhava cannot-be-conveyed-by-words. The maithuna-analogy is rhetorically-bold: as no-one can-tell-you sexual-pleasure (you-must-experience-it), so no-one can-tell-you bhakti-bliss. The discipline: go-from-words-to-experience; verbal-jñāna burns; only the rare-ones know the khūṇa.
Where this applies
- The striking maithuna-analogy-for-anubhava-vs-shabdika-jñāna claim
- Recognizing Viṭhōbā-khūṇa viraḷā-known — true-bhakti is rare
- Knows-varma-but-not-karma; without-doing-dharma-cant-know practice-claim
- Pairs with 2866 (kasī-pārakhī realization-test), 2833 (anubhava-needed), 2832 (anti-self-styled-Deva)