Abhanga 2956
THE canonical detached-in-vyavahāra prayer. Knowing, make my mind as-not-knowing — giving (me) the mark of prema. Then I'll be acting in vyavahāra — like a lotus-leaf in water. Hearing, not-hearing blame-and-praise in (my) ear — like the unmanī yogirāja. Seeing, not-seeing this prapañcha with (my) eyes — as one (sees) the creation of a dream, once awoke. Without this becoming (so), every doing feels (only) like strain.
The verse
जाणोनि नेणतें करीं माझें मन । तुझी प्रेमखूण देऊनियां ॥१॥
मग मी व्यवहारीं असेन वर्तत । जेवीं जळाआंत पद्मपत्र ॥ध्रु.॥
ऐकोनि नाइकें निंदास्तुति कानीं । जैसा कां उन्मनी योगिराज ॥२॥
देखोनि न देखें प्रपंच हा दृष्टी । स्वप्नीचिया सृष्टी चेविल्या जेवीं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे ऐसें जालियावांचून । करणें तें तें सीण वाटतसे ॥४॥
Literal translation
Jāṇōnī neṇate karī mājhe mana — knowing, make my mind as-not-knowing; tujhī prema-khūṇa deūnīyām — giving (me) the prema-khūṇa (mark of prema). Maga mī vyavahārī asena vartata — then I will be in vyavahāra (worldly-affairs) acting; jevīm jaḷā-āmta padma-patra — like a padma-patra (lotus-leaf) in water. Aikōnī nāike nindā-stuti kānī — hearing, not hearing nindā-stuti (blame-and-praise) in (my) ear; jaisā kām unmanī yogirāja — like the unmanī (no-mind, supra-mental) yogirāja. Dekhōnī na dekhe prapañcha hā drṣṭī — seeing, not seeing this prapañcha (world) with (my) eyes; svapnīñciyā srṣṭī chevilyā jevīm — as the srṣṭī (creation) of svapna (dream), once-chevilyā (awoke). Tukā says: aise jāliyā-vāñchūna — without this becoming (so); karaṇe te te sīṇa vāṭatase — every doing feels (only) like sīṇa (strain).
What it means
THE canonical 5-verse detached-in-vyavahāra prayer. The three-fold-image-set is among the most-famous in the corpus.
Verse 1 (petition): Jāṇōnī neṇate karī mājhe mana — tujhī prema-khūṇa deūnīyām — knowing, make my mind as-not-knowing — give the prema-mark. The opening-petition: give-me the prema-khūṇa-mark; make-my-mind-as-not-knowing (despite-knowing). This is the transcendence-of-deliberate-jñāna.
Dhrūpada (Image 1 — padma-patra): Maga mī vyavahārī asena vartata — jevīm jaḷā-āmta padma-patra — then I'll be in vyavahāra — like a lotus-leaf in water. The classic Bhagavad-Gītā image (padma-patram-iva-ambhasi): the lotus-leaf is in-the-water yet-water-doesn't-stick-to-it. So the bhakta in-vyavahāra.
Verse 2 (Image 2 — unmanī-yogirāja): Aikōnī nāike nindā-stuti kānī — jaisā kām unmanī yogirāja — hearing, not-hearing blame-praise — like the unmanī yogi-rāja. The unmanī — the no-mind, supra-mental yogic-state where the yogi hears-without-hearing (the auditory-sensation occurs but the mind doesn't engage). So the bhakta with nindā-stuti.
Verse 3 (Image 3 — awoke-from-dream): Dekhōnī na dekhe prapañcha hā drṣṭī — svapnīñciyā srṣṭī chevilyā jevīm — seeing, not-seeing prapañcha — as one (sees) the dream-creation, once awoke. The image: just-awoke from a dream, you-can-still-remember-the-dream-creation but-it-doesn't-affect-you. So-too the bhakta with prapañcha.
Close: Tukā mhaṇe aise jāliyā-vāñchūna — karaṇe te te sīṇa vāṭatase — without this becoming, every doing feels like sīṇa. The discipline-warrant: without these three states (lotus-leaf, unmanī, post-dream), every action is strain. So the petition is essential.
This is one of the most-philosophically-precise detached-in-vyavahāra texts in the bhakti-corpus. Pairs with 2917 non-dual identification, 2937 deha-atīta, 2942 true-samnyāsa = samkalpa-destruction.
For someone today
THE canonical detached-in-vyavahāra prayer. Knowing, make my mind as-not-knowing — giving (me) the mark of prema. Then I'll be acting in vyavahāra — like a lotus-leaf in water. Hearing, not-hearing blame-and-praise in (my) ear — like the unmanī yogirāja. Seeing, not-seeing this prapañcha with (my) eyes — as one (sees) the creation of a dream, once awoke. Without this becoming (so), every doing feels (only) like strain.
Three operative-images for detached-action: (1) lotus-leaf in water — engaged but untouched; (2) unmanī yogirāja — hearing but not-engaged; (3) post-dream awareness — seeing but not-believing. The petition: give-me-the-prema-khūṇa that-enables-this. Without it, every-action is strain.
Where this applies
- THE canonical knowing-as-not-knowing; padma-patra-in-water; unmanī-yogi; awoke-from-dream detached-in-vyavahāra prayer
- Recognizing prema-khūṇa-needed for-detached-vyavahāra
- Without-this-all-doing-is-sīṇa — the discipline-warrant
- Pairs with 2917 (non-dual identification), 2937 (deha-atīta), 2942 (true-samnyāsa), 2867 (ṭhevilē-Anantē equanimity)