Abhanga 3022
True self-knowledge shows up as bowing to all beings without caste bias, spending your strength on others, a mind free of duality, level speech, and steady devotion.
The verse
नमस्कारी भूतें विसरोनि याती । तेणें आत्मस्थिती जाणीतली ॥१॥
परउपकारीं वेचियेल्या शक्ती । तेणें आत्मस्थिती जाणीतली ॥ध्रु.॥
द्वयें द्वैतभाव नाहीं जया चत्तिीं । तेणें आत्मस्थिती जाणीतली ॥२॥
जयाचिये वाचे नये निंदास्तुती । तेणें आत्मस्थिती जाणीतली ॥३॥
उचित अनुचित जाणे धर्मनीती । दृढ भाव भक्ति मानव तो ॥४॥
तुकयाबंधु म्हणे वरकड ते येर । संसाराचे खर भारवाही ॥५॥
Literal translation
Namaskārī bhūte visarōnī yātī — (one who) bows to bhūtas, forgetting yāti; teṇe ātma-sthitī jāṇitalī — he has known the ātma-sthiti. Para-upakārīm vechiyelyā śaktī — (one who) has spent śaktis in paropakāra; teṇe ātma-sthitī jāṇitalī — he has known the ātma-sthiti. Dvayē dvaita-bhāva nāhī jayā chittīm — (one in whose) chitta there is no dvaita-bhāva; teṇe ātma-sthitī jāṇitalī. Jayāñciye vāche naye nindāstutī — (one in whose) vāchā there is no nindā-stutī; teṇe ātma-sthitī jāṇitalī. Uchita anuchita jāṇe dharma-nītī — (one who) knows uchita-anuchita — dharma-nītī; drḍha bhāva-bhakti mānava tō — (with) drḍha bhāva-bhakti — that one is mānava. Tukayā-bandhu mhaṇe varakaḍa te yera — Tukārām's-brother says: the others — yera; samsārāñce khara bhāravāhī — donkeys bearing the bhāra of samsāra.
What it means
A canonical 5-verse ātma-sthiti-test by Tukyā-bandhu. NON-Tukārām.
The refrain teṇe ātma-sthitī jāṇitalī (he has known the ātma-sthiti) is repeated-four-times, with-the-fifth-test as-summary. The five-tests-of-knowing-ātma-sthiti: 1. Bowing-to-creatures-forgetting-caste — humility-across-jāti 2. Spending-śaktis-in-paropakāra — service-of-others 3. No-dvaita-bhāva-in-chitta — non-dual-mind 4. No-nindā-stutī-in-speech — equanimous-speech 5. Drḍha-bhāva-bhakti + uchita-anuchita-knowledge — that one is mānava
The closing-sharp claim: others-are-just-donkeys-bearing-samsāra-burden.
Compare-Tukārām's yoga-bhakti-2657 (bhakti=bowing-to-jīva-jantu-bhūta) and 2810 saints-list. The brother's test-list-is striking-and-parallel.
For someone today
Kānhobā lays out a practical five-fold test for whether someone has truly known their own inner self. Anyone who bows to every creature, forgetting caste distinctions, has known it. Anyone who has poured their strength into helping others has known it. Anyone whose mind holds no sense of duality, no separation between self and other, has known it. Anyone whose speech never slips into either flattery or slander has known it. And anyone who knows what is right and wrong, who holds firm devotion, is truly human. Everyone else, Tukārām's brother says bluntly, is just a donkey carrying the burden of worldly life. It shows that true self-knowledge shows up as bowing to all beings without caste bias, spending your strength on others, a mind free of duality, level speech, and steady devotion.
मराठी: कान्होबा येथे स्वतःच्या खऱ्या स्वरूपाची ओळख झाली आहे की नाही, हे तपासण्यासाठी पाच व्यावहारिक कसोट्या मांडतो. जातिभेद विसरून प्रत्येक जीवाला नमस्कार करणाऱ्याने आत्मस्थिती जाणली आहे. आपली शक्ती दुसऱ्यांच्या भल्यासाठी खर्च करणाऱ्याने आत्मस्थिती जाणली आहे. ज्याच्या मनात द्वैतभाव, स्वतः आणि दुसऱ्यातला भेद उरलेला नाही, त्याने आत्मस्थिती जाणली आहे. ज्याच्या बोलण्यात कधीच स्तुती किंवा निंदा शिरत नाही, त्यानेही आत्मस्थिती जाणली आहे. आणि जो योग्य-अयोग्य ओळखतो, ज्याची भक्ती दृढ आहे, तोच खरा माणूस आहे. बाकीचे सगळे, तुकारामांचा भाऊ स्पष्टपणे सांगतो, संसाराचे ओझे वाहणारे गाढव आहेत. जातिभेदाशिवाय सर्व जीवांना नमन, दुसऱ्यांसाठी शक्ती खर्च करणे, द्वैतरहित मन, समतोल वाणी आणि स्थिर भक्ती यातूनच खरी आत्मज्ञप्ती दिसते, हेच हा अभंग सांगतो.
Where this applies
- NON-Tukārām composition — signed by Tukyā-bandhu
- Canonical 5-fold ātma-sthiti-test
- Companion to Tukārām's yoga-bhakti-2657 and 2810 saints-list
- Others-are-donkeys sharp-closing-claim