Abhanga 4513
Kāya āmhām chāḷavisī vāyāmviṇa — mhaṇasī durūna dekhilāsi — why cheat us in vain — saying 'I saw (you) from afar'?.
The verse
काय आम्हां चाळविसी वायांविण । म्हणसी दुरून देखिलासि ॥१॥
लावूनियां डोळे नव्हतों दुश्चित । तुज परचत्ति माव होती ॥२॥
होती दृष्टि आंत उघडी आमची । बाहेरी ते वांयां चि कुंची झाकुं ॥३॥
जालासि थोरला थोरल्या तोंडाचा । गिळियेला वाचा धूर आगी ॥४॥
आगी खातो ऐसा आमचा सांगाती । आनंदें नाचती भोंवताली ॥५॥
भोंवतीं आपणा मेळविलीं देवें । तुका म्हणे ठावें नाहीं ज्ञान ॥६॥
Literal translation
Kāya āmhām chāḷavisī vāyāmviṇa — mhaṇasī durūna dekhilāsi — why cheat us in vain — saying 'I saw (you) from afar'?. Lāvūniyā ḍōḷe navhatōm duścita — tuja paracatti māva hōtī — we had our eyes applied, weren't distracted — your māva was from the other side. Hōtī drṣṭi āmta ughaḍī āmacī — bāherī te vāmyām chi kunchī jhākum — our inner drṣṭi was open; outside the kunchī-covering was in-vain. Jālāsi thōralā thōralyā tōṇḍācā — giḷiyelā vāchā dhura āgī — you became big-with-a-big-mouth one; (you) swallowed the smoke-fire with (your) vāchā. Āgī khātō aisā āmacā sāngātī — ānande nāchatī bhonvatāli — such a fire-eating companion of ours — we dance in ānanda around (him). Bhonvatīm āpaṇā meḷavilīm Deve — Tukā mhaṇe ṭhāve nāhī jñāna — all-around, Deva gathered us himself; Tukā says: we don't know jñāna.
What it means
A 6-verse intimate gopāḷas-reply to Krṣṇa (cf 4512). They reject his attempt to deflect credit: we saw it; our inner-vision was open; our outer-cover was only-superficial; you swallowed-the-fire — we know it. Then the famous-shift: we don't know jñāna — we just have such-a-friend-we-dance-around-him in ānanda. Tukārām projects his own no-jñāna, only-companionship bhakti-stance into the gopāḷas' voice.
For someone today
Tukārām claims: we-don't-know-philosophy; we-just-have such-a-friend; we-dance-around-him in joy. That-is-enough.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's no-jñāna, only-such-a-companion canonical
- Gopāḷa-līlā after-vōṇavā cluster
- Companion to 2859 (mad-naked-dance-no-paṇḍita-approval)