Abhanga 3054
Brahma-jñāna jarī kaḷe uṭhāuṭhī — if brahma-jñāna would come uṭhā-uṭhī (in-an-instant); tari kām himpuṭī veda-śāstre — why are the Vedas-and-śāstras himpuṭī (exhausted).
The verse
ब्रम्हज्ञान जरी कळें उठाउठी । तरि कां हिंपुटी वेदशास्त्रें ॥१॥
शास्त्रांचे भांडण जप तीर्थाटणें । उर्वीचें भ्रमण या च साटीं ॥ध्रु.॥
याचसाटीं जप याचसाटीं तप । व्यासें ही अमुप ग्रंथ केले ॥२॥
या च साटीं संतपाय हे सेवावे । तरि च तरावें तुका म्हणे ॥३॥
Literal translation
Brahma-jñāna jarī kaḷe uṭhāuṭhī — if brahma-jñāna would come uṭhā-uṭhī (in-an-instant); tari kām himpuṭī veda-śāstre — why are the Vedas-and-śāstras himpuṭī (exhausted). Śāstrāñce bhāṇḍaṇa japa tīrthāṭaṇe — śāstra-disputes, japa, tīrthāṭana; urvīñce bhramaṇa yā cha sāṭīm — the urvī-bhramaṇa — for-this (very-reason). Yāchasāṭīm japa yāchasāṭīm tapa — for-this japa, for-this tapa; Vyāse hī amupa grantha kele — Vyāsa even-made uncountable grantha. Yā cha sāṭīm santa-pāya he sevāve — for-this, sant-pāya must-be-served; tari cha tarāve Tukā mhaṇe — only-then is one to-be-carried-across, Tukā says.
What it means
A canonical 3-verse jñāna-hard-go-to-sants argument by Tukārām.
The argument: 1. If-brahma-jñāna-were-instant, why-are-the-Vedas-śāstras-exhausted? 2. Śāstra-disputes, japa, tīrthāṭana, world-wandering, Vyāsa's-uncountable-books — all-exist-because-jñāna-is-hard 3. Therefore — serve-sant-pāya; only-then crossed
★ The argument is practical-and-empirical: the very-existence-of-vast-Vedic-literature is-evidence that-jñāna-is-not-easy. Tukārām doesn't-reject-jñāna-paths but-recognizes-their-difficulty and-points-to-sant-pāya-sevā as-the-accessible-path.
Compare-Tukārām's 2934 (Vedānta-carries-water at-Hari-bhakta's-house), 3050 (sants'-māgī-māti), 2657 (yoga-asādhya-for-everyone).
For someone today
Tukārām's jñāna-hard-go-to-sants argument. If brahma-jñāna would come in-an-instant — why are the Vedas-and-śāstras exhausted? The disputes of śāstras, japa, tīrthāṭana, the wandering of the earth — for-this (very-reason). For-this — japa; for-this — tapa; Vyāsa even-made uncountable books. For-this — sant-pāya must-be-served; only-then is one carried-across. The verse permits the practical-recognition that-jñāna-is-difficult and-the-redirection to-sant-pāya-sevā.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's canonical jñāna-hard-go-to-sants argument
- Empirical-evidence: vast-Vedic-literature proves jñāna-is-not-easy
- Sant-pāya-sevā as-the-accessible-path
- Companion to 2934, 3050, 2657