Abhanga 2985
Bhukti mukti tujhe jaḷō brahma-jñāna — let your bhukti, mukti, brahma-jñāna burn; de mājhyā āṇōnī bhāvā vegī — give-(me)-by-bringing my brother quickly.
The verse
भुिH मुक्ति तुझें जळों ब्रम्हज्ञान । दे माझ्या आणोनी भावा वेगीं ॥१॥
रद्धिी सिद्धी मोक्ष ठेवीं गुंडाळून । दे माझ्या आणून भावा वेगीं ॥ध्रु.॥
नको आपुलिया नेऊं वैकुंठासी । दे माझ्या भावासी आणुन वेगीं ॥२॥
नको होऊं कांहीं होसील प्रसन्न । दे माझ्या आणून भावा वेगीं ॥३॥
तुकयाबंधु म्हणे पाहा हो नाहींतरी । हत्या होईंल शिरीं पांडुरंगा ॥४॥
Literal translation
Bhukti mukti tujhe jaḷō brahma-jñāna — let your bhukti, mukti, brahma-jñāna burn; de mājhyā āṇōnī bhāvā vegī — give-(me)-by-bringing my brother quickly. Rddhi siddhī mōkṣa ṭhevīm guṇḍāḷūna — pack-up (with cloth) the rddhi, siddhi, mokṣa; de mājhyā āṇūna bhāvā vegī — bring my brother quickly. Nakō āpuliyā neūm Vaikuṇṭhāsī — don't take (him) to your Vaikuṇṭha; de mājhyā bhāvāsī āṇuna vegī — bring my brother quickly. Nakō hōūm kāmhī hōsīla prasanna — don't become prasanna (pleased-and-giving-blessing) in anything; de mājhyā āṇūna bhāvā vegī — bring my brother quickly. Tukyā-bandhu mhaṇe pāhā hō nāhī-tarī — Tukārām's-brother says: look — if not; hatyā hōīla śirī Pāṇḍurangā — hatyā (murder, blood-guilt) will be on (your) head, Pāṇḍurangā.
What it means
A striking 4-verse refusal-of-all-bhakti-rewards verse signed by Tukyā-bandhu. Part of the lament-cluster (2977-2987). This is the most-extreme-demand of the cluster.
The four-fold-refusal: Each verse refuses one-of-the-standard bhakti/yoga-rewards: 1. Burn bhukti, mukti, brahma-jñāna — refuse the three classical-spiritual-attainments 2. Pack-up rddhi-siddhi-mokṣa — pack-them-up (in a cloth-bundle, guṇḍāḷūna), set-them-aside 3. Don't take (him) to Vaikuṇṭha — refuse the Vaikuṇṭha-promotion 4. Don't become prasanna — refuse the standard Lord-becomes-pleased response
Each verse-ends with the same refrain: bring my brother quickly. The bhakta-brother wants-only-one-thing: Tukārām back.
Close (the ultimatum): Tukyā-bandhu mhaṇe pāhā hō nāhī-tarī — hatyā hōīla śirī Pāṇḍurangā — Tukārām's-brother says: look — if not — hatyā (blood-guilt) will be on (your) head. The threat: if-you-don't-return-the-brother, you-(the Lord)-will-have-blood-on-your-head. The blood-guilt-threat to-the-Lord-himself is among the most-radical claims in the corpus.
For someone today
A striking 4-verse refusal-of-all-rewards verse by Kānhōbā. Burn your bhukti, mukti, brahma-jñāna — bring my brother quickly! Pack-up the rddhi-siddhi-mokṣa — bring my brother quickly! Don't take (him) to your Vaikuṇṭha — bring my brother quickly! Don't become pleased (with offerings) — bring my brother quickly! Tukārām's-brother says: look — if not — blood-guilt will be on (your) head, Pāṇḍurangā. The verse permits the most-extreme-demand: I want neither bhukti, mukti, brahma-jñāna, rddhi-siddhi-mokṣa, nor Vaikuṇṭha-promotion, nor your-pleased-offerings; I want my brother back. The pure-relational-bhakti claim: brother is greater than all rewards.
Where this applies
- Part of Kānhōbā-lament-cluster (2977-2987)
- NON-Tukārām composition — signed by Tukyā-bandhu
- Striking refuse-all-bhakti-rewards; just-bring-back-brother extreme-demand
- Hatyā-on-your-head — blood-guilt-threat to-the-Lord
- The most-relational bhakti-claim — brother over all rewards