Abhanga 3396
Chasing final liberation while giving up the everyday joy of love and devotion misses the point, staying in the relationship matters more than escaping it.
The verse
सांडुनि सुखाचा वांटा । मुक्ति मागे तो करंटा ॥१॥
कां रे न घ्यावा जन्म । प्रेम लुटावें नाम ॥ध्रु.॥
येथें मळितो दहीं भात । वैकुंठीं ते नाहीं मात ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे आतां । मज न लगे सायुज्यता ॥३॥
Literal translation
Abandoning-share-of-sukha — asking-mukti-is-karaṇṭā. Why-not-take-janma — loot-prēma-Name. Here-(one)-churns-dahī-bhāta — Vaikuṇṭha no-such-talk. Tukā: now — I-don't-want-sāyujyatā.
What it means
A striking 3-verse anti-mukti, pro-rebirth-for-prēma abhang. Mukti is for the karaṇṭa (the unfortunate one who has no taste for prēma); take birth and loot prēma + Name; here we have dahī-bhāta (everyday-prasāda) — Vaikuṇṭha doesn't even know this talk; I don't want sāyujya. Classic Vārkarī sāyujya-rejection in favor of repeated-bhakti.
For someone today
Tukaram turns the usual spiritual goal on its head. He says a person who gives up their share of joy here just to chase liberation is actually unfortunate, missing the point. Why not be born again and again, he asks, if it means you get to keep loving and keep saying the divine name? He points out that the simple, everyday pleasure of a shared meal exists here in this world, and heaven has no equivalent to it. He would rather stay in the cycle of love and devotion than dissolve into some final release that has no room for that relationship.
मराठी: तुकाराम नेहमीच्या आध्यात्मिक ध्येयाला उलटे फिरवतात. ते म्हणतात, इथला सुखाचा वाटा सोडून जो मुक्ती मागतो तो खरे तर दुर्दैवी आहे, त्याला मुद्दा समजलेला नाही. पुन्हा पुन्हा जन्म का घेऊ नये, ते विचारतात, जर त्यातून प्रेम करत राहायला आणि नाम घेत राहायला मिळत असेल तर. ते सांगतात, इथे या जगात दहीभाताचा साधा, रोजचा आनंद आहे, आणि वैकुंठात असा काही प्रकार नाही. अंतिम मोक्षात विलीन होण्यापेक्षा, ज्यात या नात्याला जागाच नाही, त्यापेक्षा प्रेम आणि भक्तीच्या फेऱ्यातच राहणे त्यांना जास्त प्रिय आहे.
Where this applies
- THE canonical anti-mukti / pro-rebirth-for-prēma
- I don't want sāyujyatā line
- Here we have dahī-bhāta — Vaikuṇṭha doesn't know this talk
- Classic Vārkarī sāyujya-rejection
- Companion to 2864 (clap-hands kīrtana) and 3034 (Vārkarī-mokṣa-adhikārī)