Abhanga 3785
Sōmvaḷā hōūm tōm vōmvaḷe jaḍale — trying to become pure, impurity got stuck; sāmḍī-māmḍī bōlatōmḍīm bījīm — reject-arrange and talk-mouths at the seed.
The verse
सोंवळा होऊं तों वोंवळें जडलें । सांडीमांडी बोलतोंडीं बीजीं ॥१॥
एकसरीं केलीं कळिवरें साटी । आतां नका तुटी पायांसवें ॥ध्रु.॥
संकल्पीं विकल्प पापाचा सुकाळ । रज्जुसर्प मूळ मरणाचें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे हें तूं ब्रम्हांड चाळिता । मी कां करूं चिंता पांडुरंगा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Sōmvaḷā hōūm tōm vōmvaḷe jaḍale — trying to become pure, impurity got stuck; sāmḍī-māmḍī bōlatōmḍīm bījīm — reject-arrange and talk-mouths at the seed. Ekasarīm kelīm kaḷivare sāṭī — in one stroke I made the body-bundle a stake; ātām nakā tuṭī pāyāmsavem — now don't bring a break with the feet. Samkalpīm vikalpa pāpāchā sukāḷa — in samkalpa is vikalpa, an overflow of pāpa; rajju-sarpa mūḷa maraṇāchen — rope-as-snake is the root of death. Tukā mhaṇe hem tūm brahmāṇḍa chāḷitā — Tukā says: you are the mover of brahmāṇḍa; mī kām karūm chimtā Pāṇḍurangā — why should I worry, Pāṇḍuranga?
What it means
A 3-verse text on anxiety-and-illusion. Trying-purity, impurity-stuck — even-the-rejecting-and-arranging is-at-the-seed-mouth-talk; in-one-stroke I-staked-the-body-on-you, don't-break-the-bond; in-samkalpa-is-vikalpa, an-overflow-of-pāpa — the-rope-seen-as-snake is-the-root-of-death; you-move-brahmāṇḍa — why-should-I-worry? The rajju-sarpa image is the Vedānta classical bhrama-example, here yoked to maraṇa.
For someone today
Tukārām: the-very-effort-to-be-pure entangles-you-in-impurity; the-root-of-death is-mistaking-the-rope-for-a-snake; if-Deva-moves-the-whole-cosmos, your-chintā-is-redundant.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's rajju-sarpa-root-of-death; brahmāṇḍa-chāḷitā canonical
- Companion to laṭika-laṭika-māyā (2865) and ṭhevilē-Anantē-equanimity (2867)