Abhanga 3069
Sometimes true words arise unbidden and uncontrollable, not idle chatter but something deeper stirring within, and the occasion for them is not random but meant.
The verse
जिव्हे जाला चळ । नेये अवसान ते पळ ॥१॥
हें चि वोसनावोनी उठी । देव सांटविला पोटीं ॥ध्रु.॥
नाहीं ओढा वारा । पडिला प्रसंग तो बरा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे जाली । मज हे अनावर बोली ॥३॥
Literal translation
Jihve jālā chaḷa — the jihvā has trembled; neye avasāna te paḷa — cannot keep the avasāna for a moment. He chi vōsanāvōnī uṭhī — this very (speech) arose by vōsanāvōnī; Deva sāmṭavilā pōṭīm — Deva is stored in the belly. Nāhī ōḍhā vārā — no current-wind; paḍilā prasanga tō barā — the prasanga that has fallen is good. Tukā mhaṇe jālī — Tukā says: (it) has become; maja he anāvara bōlī — this speech is anāvara (uncontrollable) for me.
What it means
A short 3-verse text-of-divine-speech by Tukārām.
The claim: Jihvā-trembled, can't-keep-fixed-position-for-a-moment. This-speech arose-by-shaking-out from-the-Deva-stored-in-belly. Not by-wind-drift, but-the-prasanga that-fell. Speech became uncontrollable.
This is a claim-of-divine-impulse-speech. The bhakta-can't-hold-the-jihvā-still; Deva-stored-in-belly arises-as-speech-that-the-bhakta-can't-control. The prasanga-tō-barā (the occasion-that-fell-is-good) is an attribution-to-providential-occasion, not-arbitrary-impulse.
Compare-Tukārām's-own 2940 (sāḷunkī Lord-speaks-through-me), 2937 (deha-atīta — Deva-speaks-through-me).
For someone today
Tukārām's claim of divine speech. The jihvā has trembled — cannot keep the avasāna for a moment. This very (speech) arose by shaking-out; Deva is stored in (my) belly. There is no current-wind drift; the prasanga that has fallen is good. This speech has become uncontrollable for me. The verse permits the claim that speech given by Deva is not chosen, but arrives as an occasion that simply falls upon one.
मराठी: तुकारामांचा हा दैवी वाणीच्या अनुभवाचा दावा आहे. जीभ कापू लागली — क्षणभरही ती स्थिर राहू शकत नाही. हे बोलणे झटकून उठले; देव माझ्या पोटात साठवलेला आहे. हा काही वाऱ्याचा झोत नाही; हा जो प्रसंग आला तो चांगलाच आहे. हे बोलणे आता माझ्या आवाक्याबाहेर गेले आहे, असे तुका म्हणतात. या अभंगातून हा दावा प्रकट होतो की देवाकडून येणारे बोलणे स्वतःहून निवडलेले नसते, तर ते एका प्रसंगासारखे आपोआप येऊन पडते.
Where this applies
- When you find yourself saying something true and urgent that you never planned to say
- When you feel a rush of words or insight that seems to come from somewhere deeper than your usual thinking
- When you wonder whether a heartfelt outburst was random or meant to happen
- When you want language for the experience of speech feeling bigger than your own intention