Abhanga 3096
Tukārām asks why he was made so prominent and answers that it was the Lord's wish working through him, with the true master behind it staying unknown to everyone.
The verse
वाढविलें कां गा । तुम्ही एवढें पांडुरंगा ॥१॥
काय होती मज चाड । एवढी करावया बडबड ॥ध्रु.॥
ब्रम्हसंतर्पण । लोकीं करावें कीर्तन ॥२॥
निमित्याचा धणी । तुका म्हणे नेणे कोणी ॥३॥
Literal translation
Vāḍhavile kām gā — why have (you) increased (me); tumhī evaḍhe Pāṇḍurangā — so much, Pāṇḍuranga. Kāya hōtī maja chāḍa — what chāḍa was on me; evaḍhī karāvayā baḍabaḍa — to do so much babbling. Brahma-samtarpaṇa — (you wished:) Brahman-satisfaction; lōkīm karāve kīrtana — (I) should do kīrtana in the world. Nimityāñcā dhaṇī — the master of nimitya; Tukā mhaṇe neṇe kōṇī — Tukā says: no one knows.
What it means
A short 3-verse self-effacement by Tukārām.
The argument: Why-have-you-increased-me, Pāṇḍuranga? What-need-of-mine was-there to-do-so-much-babbling? (You-wished:) Brahman-satisfaction; should-do-kīrtana-in-the-world. The-master-of-nimittas — no-one-knows.
The claim: Tukārām's-own-fame and-his-many-abhangs are-the-Lord's-doing, not-his-own. He-is-only-a-nimitta (intermediate-cause, instrument); the-real-dhaṇī (master) is the-Lord, unknown-to-the-public.
Compare-Tukārām's 2940 (sāḷunkī Lord-speaks-through-me), 3069 (Deva-stored-in-belly speaks-uncontrollably).
For someone today
Tukārām's self-effacement. Why have you made me so great, Pāṇḍuranga? What need was there for me to do so much talking? You wished for Brahman's satisfaction, so I should sing kīrtana in the world. As for the true master behind these intermediate causes — no one knows him. The verse allows the devotee's claim that his fame and fullness are entirely the Lord's doing, and that the devotee himself is merely the occasion through which it happens.
मराठी: तुकारामांची ही आत्मनिरसनाची रचना आहे. पांडुरंगा, तू मला इतका मोठा का केलेस? इतकी बडबड करण्याची मला काय गरज होती? तुझी इच्छा होती की ब्रह्मसंतर्पण व्हावे, म्हणून मी जगात कीर्तन करावे. या निमित्तांचा खरा धनी कोण आहे, हे कोणालाच माहीत नाही. हा अभंग भक्ताचा हा दावा मान्य करतो की त्याची कीर्ती आणि परिपूर्णता संपूर्णपणे भगवंताचीच कृती आहे, आणि भक्त स्वतः केवळ एक निमित्त आहे.
Where this applies
- When you receive praise for work that reached far more people than you expected and wonder why it grew so big
- When you want to give credit for your success to something larger than your own effort
- When you feel uneasy about your own fame or visibility and want language for staying humble about it
- When you sense you were simply the occasion through which something larger worked, not the source of it