संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 3370 of 4582

Abhanga 3370

The visible form of the Lord is not a reduction — it is the seed in which the unspeakable Absolute is held. The Vedas circle it from outside; the bhakta has it close.

Tukārām's we-are-dāsas-of-Paṇḍharī-Viṭṭhal; rūpa-is-tattva-bīja; no-fear-of-Kali-kāla canonical

The verse

आम्ही ज्याचे दास । त्याचा पंढरिये वास ॥१॥ तो हा देवांचा ही देव । काय कळिकाळाचा भेव ॥ध्रु.॥ वेद जया गाती । श्रुति म्हणती नेति नेति ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे निज । रूपडें हें तत्वबीज ॥३॥

Literal translation

Āmhī jyāche dāsa — tyāchā Paṇḍhariye vāsa — whose dāsas we are — his dwelling is in Paṇḍharī. To hā devāmchā hī deva — kāya kaḷikāḷāchā bheva — he is even Deva-of-Devas — what fear of Kali-kāla? Veda jayā gātī — śruti mhaṇatī neti neti — of whom Vedas sing — Śrutis say neti-neti. Tukā mhaṇe nija — rūpaḍē hē tattva-bīja — Tukā says: own — this rūpa is the tattva-bīja (seed-of-truth).

What it means

A 3-verse Paṇḍharī-supremacy claim. The Viṭṭhal-on-the-brick is identified with the Deva-of-Devas whom even Vedas chant and Śrutis can only approach by neti neti (not-this, not-this). Yet — and this is the bhakti-claim — the visible rūpa itself is the tattva-bīja. Saguṇa contains nirguṇa.

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