Abhanga 3830
True devotion merges the devotee with the divine so completely, like salt dissolved in water, that separation becomes impossible.
The verse
तुज पाहातां समोरी । दृष्टि न फिरे माघारी ॥१॥
माझें चित्त तुझ्या पायां । मिठी पडिली पंढरिराया ॥ध्रु.॥
नव्हे सारितां निराळें । लवण मेळवितां जळें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे बळी । जीव दिला पायांतळीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Gazing-at-you — drṣṭi-doesn't-turn-back. Chitta-at-your-feet — miṭhī-fallen-Pandhari-rāyā. Can't-be-separated — salt-in-water. Tukā: balī — gave-jīva-at-feet-bottom.
What it means
A 3-verse samarasa-like text. When I see you facing me, my gaze does not turn back. My mind is at your feet — an embrace has fallen, Paṇḍharirāya. Pulling cannot separate (us) — like salt mixed with water. As a sacrifice, I have given my life at the bottom of your feet. The salt-in-water image is the canonical Tukārām samarasa-image — pair with 2474 (the most-celebrated lavana-samarasa abhang).
For someone today
Tukaram describes a love so complete that once he looks at God face to face, his eyes never want to look away again. His mind has attached itself to God's feet like an embrace that will not let go, and he compares this bond to salt dissolved in water, impossible to pull apart once they've mixed. He ends by saying he has offered his whole life at those feet, holding nothing back. The verse is about a devotion so merged with its object that separation stops being possible.
मराठी: तुकाराम अशा प्रेमाचे वर्णन करतात जे इतके पूर्ण आहे की एकदा देवाकडे नजर गेली की ती परत फिरतच नाही. त्यांचे मन देवाच्या पायाशी असे जखडले आहे जणू एक मिठी सुटतच नाही, आणि हे नाते ते पाण्यात विरघळलेल्या मिठाशी तुलना करतात, जे एकदा मिसळले की पुन्हा वेगळे करता येत नाही. शेवटी ते सांगतात की त्यांनी आपले संपूर्ण आयुष्य त्या पायांशी अर्पण केले आहे, काहीही राखून न ठेवता. हा अभंग अशा भक्तीबद्दल आहे जी आपल्या विषयाशी इतकी एकरूप होते की वेगळेपणा उरतच नाही.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's salt-in-water samarasa (companion to 2474)
- gaze-doesn't-turn-back / chitta-miṭhī fastening-images