Abhanga 3946
Tukaram declares that no test, however severe, will make him let go of devotion because there is no other refuge for him.
The verse
माझें मन पाहे कसून । परि चित्त न ढळे तुजपासून ॥१॥
कापुनि देइन शिर । पाहा कृपण कीं उदार ॥ध्रु.॥
मजवरि घालीं घण । परि मी न सोडीं चरण ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे अंतीं । तुजवांचूनि नाहीं गति ॥३॥
Literal translation
Mājhe mana pāhe kasūna — test my mind by rubbing on touchstone; parī chitta na ḍhaḷe tujapāsūna — but chitta does not fall from you. Kāpunī dein śira — I'll cut (my) head; pāhā krpaṇa kīm udāra — see if (I am) miserly or generous. Majavari ghālīm ghaṇa — throw hammer-blow on me; parī mī na sōḍīm charaṇa — but I won't leave (your) feet. Tukā mhaṇe antīm — Tukā says: at end; tujavāmchūnī nāhī gati — without you, no gati.
What it means
A striking 3-verse bhakti-test-me resolve by Tukārām.
The 3 challenges: (1) Test-my-mana-on-touchstone; (2) Cut-my-head-see-if-generous; (3) Throw-hammer-blow. The response: chitta-doesn't-fall; I-won't-leave-feet; at-end-no-other-gati.
For someone today
Tukārām's resolve to be tested. Test my mind by rubbing it on the touchstone — but my heart does not fall away from you. I will cut off my own head — see whether I am miserly or generous. Throw a hammer-blow on me — but I will not leave your feet. At the end — there is no path without you. The verse permits this extreme bhakti resolve: test him with anything, and still he will not let go of the feet he holds.
मराठी: तुकारामांचा हा कसोटीला तयार असण्याचा निर्धार. माझे मन कसाला लावून तपासा — पण माझे चित्त तुझ्यापासून ढळत नाही. मी स्वतःचे मस्तक कापून देईन — पाहा, मी कृपण आहे की उदार. माझ्यावर घण घाला — तरी मी तुझे चरण सोडणार नाही. शेवटी तुझ्याशिवाय दुसरी गती नाही. या ओवीत भक्तीचा हा टोकाचा निर्धार मांडला आहे — कितीही कसोटी घेतली तरी तो चरण सोडणार नाही.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's striking-test-me bhakti-resolve
- Cut-head, throw-hammer extreme-loyalty-image