Abhanga 3386
There are doors where intellect is uninvited. The house of bhakti does not need brahma-jñāna's calling card. Effort by itself is not the price of entry.
The verse
ब्रम्हज्ञान दारीं येतें काकुलती । अव्हेरिलें संतीं विष्णुदासीं ॥१॥
रिघों पाहे माजी बळें त्याचें घर । दवडिती दूर म्हणोनियां ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे येथें न चाले सायास । पडिले उदास त्याच्या गळां ॥३॥
Literal translation
Brahma-jñāna dārīm yete kākulatī — avhērile samtīm Viṣṇu-dāsīm — brahma-jñāna comes to the door pleading — the Viṣṇu-dāsa samts overlook (refuse) it. Righōm pāhe mājī baḷe tyāche ghara — davaḍitī dūra mhaṇoniyām — it tries to force into his house — they drive it far. Tukā mhaṇe yethē na chāle sāyāsa — paḍile udāsa tyāchyā gaḷām — Tukā says: here effort doesn't work — it has fallen udāsa at his throat.
What it means
A 3-verse polemical inversion: brahma-jñāna comes pleading; the Viṣṇu-dāsa-samts ignore it. The image: jñāna forcing its way into the house and being driven far. Final line: here effort does not work. The bhakti-claim: jñāna's sāyāsa (laborious-effort) is alien to a house where bhakti already rules. Compare 2934 (Vedānta-carries-water).
For someone today
There are doors where intellect is uninvited. The house of bhakti does not need brahma-jñāna's calling card. Effort by itself is not the price of entry.
Where this applies
- When you try to reason or study your way into a feeling of closeness with God instead of simply loving
- When cleverness or intellectual mastery fails to open a door that only humility and surrender can open
- When you notice that trying hard intellectually is not the same as trying hard with your heart
- When someone impresses others with knowledge but still feels shut out of real devotion