68 B post in English Two Abhangas..सद्‌गुरू रायें कृपा मज केली & माझिये मनींचा जाणोनिया भाव
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अभंग १ ला :-

सद्‌गुरू रायें कृपा मज केली । परि नाही घडली सेवा कांही ॥ १ १॥

सांपडविलें वाटे जातां गंगास्नाना । मस्तकी तो जाणा ठेविला कर ॥ २।\

भोजना मागती तूप पावशेर । पडला विसर स्वप्नामाजीं ॥ ३॥

काय कळें उपजला अंतराय । म्हणोनियां काय त्वरा जाली ॥ ४॥

राघव चैतन्य केशव चैतन्य । सांगितली खूण माळिकेची ॥ ५ ॥

बाबाजी आपुलें सांगितलें नाम । मंत्र दिला रामकृष्णहरि ॥ ६ ॥

माघ शुद्ध दशमी पाहूनि गुरुवार । केला अंगिकार तुका म्हणें ॥ ७॥

Verbatim Meaning :-

First Abhanga :- ( About the event of Initiation)

The Divine Teacher has graced me, but I could not perform any service for Him || 1||

He met me while I was going to take bath in the holy river Ganga, and put His palm on my head || 2|||

He then asked me for quarter pound of Ghee, but I forgot to provide the same in the dream || 3||

I was having a feeling of urgency for His grace, that may be the reason for this urgent event ||4||

He also told me that the succession sequence is “ Raghavchaitanya,Keshavachaitanysa || 5||

He told me His name as BabajI and initiated me with the mantra “ Ramakrishnahari || 6||

Tuka says that on “ The tenth day of the month Magha in the First fortnight , on Thursday “ ; The Divine teacher has accepted me as His Disciple || 7||

Second Abhanga :- ( About the Mantra told during Initiation )

अभंग २ रा :-

माझिये मनींचा जाणोनिया भाव । तो करी उपाय गुरूराजा ॥ १॥

आवडीचा मंत्र सांगितला सोपा । जेणें नव्हे गुंफा कांही कोठें ॥ २॥

जाती पुढे एक उतरले पार । हाभवसागर साधुसंत ॥ ३॥

जाणत्या नेणत्या ज्या जैंसी आवडी । उतार सांगडी तापे पेटी ॥ ४॥

तुका म्हणे मज दावियेला तारू । कॄपेचा सागरु पांडुरंग ॥ ५॥

Verbatim Meaning :-

My Divine teacher understood the feelings in my mind and has taken the appropriate action|| 1||

He told me the Mantra of my liking so that there is no confusion any time || 2||

All those seeking Liberation have been following this path, and some have attained it || 3||

To cross this Ocean of World, each needs a suitable carrier ( Such as a boat etc) || 4||

Tuka says Lord Panduranga through His grace has given him this Mantra . Like a Ship it will take him across to other side.|| 5||

Background Information :-

In spirituality , it is very important to have initiation from a divine teacher. Generally this happens when a Guru initiates his disciple with some mantra. This is termed as “ Anugraha “.

There are different ways this can happen. In some cases the disciples go to a specific Guru whom they believe and ask for initiation. Some do not do this since they believe that guru will come to give anugraha when He feel it to be the right time. Anugraha can take place in the dream state. The famous saint Meerabai has written about this in one of her Poetry “ Mhane charkar rakhojI”. Similar description is found to be written in the famous bokk “ The Autobiography of a Yogi” by Paramahansa Yoganand. Samarth Ramadasa had anugraha from Lord SrI Rama at the age of 8 years * in a temple. Tukaram Maharaj describes that he got the anugraha during dream .

But everybody has gone through this state when he has followed any path for Spiritual awakening and Self Realization.

Recently the “Guru PorNimaa “ was celebrated all over India. This day falls on the Full-moonday of the Indian Month AshaDha. It is customary to perform worship of the Divine- Teacher on this day. The Divine-teacher means the one who takes the Disciple across the ocean of the world and gives liberation. Sage Vyasa is also worshiped since he has been instrumental for the availability of Sri. Bhagavadgeeta to us. Bhagavadgeeta teaches the ways of living in this world as well as attaining the Liberation.

Liberation is possible only when our “ I “ is fully dissolved. This is done by the Divine Teacher. And therefore on this day we worship our Divine Teacher to express our Gratitude towards Him.

Saint Tukarama Maharaj has written how his Divine Teacher initiated him through a dream. The second one describes about the same event.

Detailed explaination of the meanings of both the Abhangas.:-

Abhanga 1 :-

In this Abhanga Tukarama Maharaj has described how he was initiated by his Divine teacher in the dream state. He says that this event occurred in the Indian Month of Magha, in the First fortnight on the 10^th day. It was Thursday . He says that His teacher appeared in the dream and told his name as “BabajI. In this dream Tukaram says that he was going to take dip in the holy river Ganga and at that time this meeting took place . And his Divine teacher initiate him by telling him to recite the mantra “ RamakrishnaHari” Teacher also described that this knowledge has been handed over from his ( Babaji's Teachers Raghava chaitanya, who got it his teacher from KeshavChaitanya .

In the same Abhanga Tukaram Maharaj further says with pleasure that I wanted to meet my Panduranga .This was my desire. My Teacher understood this desire and obliged me by accepting me as his disciple.

Having thus said ; Tukaram Maharaj further says with regret that he could not fulfill a simple demand of quarter pound of Ghee in this dream.

As per my interpretation , the Ghee represents Pure Virtuous state of mind where the Goodness fully occupies then heart. The interruption of dream means that his Spiritual Teacher wanted Tukarama to follow this way of living during the waking state of the body.

We are aware that the time is relative in nature. In a few minutes of sleep ,one can spend time of years in his dream. The waking state unit of time is relatively slow as far as we all are concerned. Tukaram Maharaj transcended these limits as far as his living in this world is concerned since he was a liberated soul at this stage. Such saints come to this world only to preach the ignorant and it is natural that they set an example for ignorant people like us .who have yet to get the experience of liberation.

Therefor all his life Tukaram Maharaj lived lif of Goodness .He loved His PanduraMga and as said in the Bhagvadgeeta ; the Lord Himself took care of his all needs. Lord did not allow the written work of his Abhangas when these were immersed in the river Indrayani. When Moghuls came to arrest Shivaji Maharaj , who was attending one of the discourses of Tukarama Maharaj, they saw everybody as Shivaji , and thus confused Moghals left empty handed..

Tukarama Maharaj himself has said in another Abhanga that he has come to this world only to teach the people.

Abhanga 2:-

As described in the earlier Abhanga above, the Divine teacher had understood the feelings in the mind of Tukaraam Mahaaraj. He initiated Tukaram Maharaj by telling the same Mantra which he was reciting earlier. Because of this no confusion arose in his mind.

How Truly said! The real teacher never teaches such that his disciple will be confused. In fact the teacher removes all the doubts in the mind of his pupil. The divine Teacher is like a wishing tree. All those desires , which will take the Disciple further towards the goal of liberation , are fulfilled by such a teacher. The emphasis is to take the disciple across the ocean of this world so as to reach the goal of liberation.

It is clear here that the Divine teacher addressed in the Abhanga and Lord Panduranga are one and the same. Tukaram Maharaj addresses the Divine teacher as Panduranga. Meerabai addressed him as Lord Shrikrishana, Samartha Ramadas called him Lord ShrIRama. Just by reciting the Holy name of Lord, one can cross this worldly ocean is again emphasized at the end of this abhanga in it's las stanza.

Teaching of the Abhanga :-

This Abhanga teaches us that one should not doubt what our saints have told us. Their words are the experiences verbilised , and since they are liberated ones; one can say that their speech is the speech of God. We can ata least put our efforts when we are awake. The efforts are nothing but the holy name of our beloved deity.(Sri Rama, Krishna, Govinda any name is his name only); and alwayes remember that He is the does and we are just his instruments. If we live this way , a day and time will come when our Spiritual Teacher will bless us. We should wait for that moment patiently.

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