Abhanga 2: Halawuni khunt/adhi karawa balakat (Firstly, confirm the foundations of your beliefs)

                         Abhanga

Halawuni  khunt/adhi karawa  balakat//1//

Mag  tayachya adhare/awaghe karane te  bare//2//

Sukh dukhha  sahe /harsha  marshi  bhanga  na  ye//3//

Tuka  mhane jiwe/adhi  maroni rahawe//4//

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Firstly, confirm  the foundations of your beliefs  ,see to it that they are not shaky,

And strengthen them, repeatedly, be  absolutely sure(1)

Firmly rooted, the faith   will become your  support ,

Then  your worship, your meditation  practice will be  proper, in right direction. (2)

Bear the happiness, bear  the pain, equanimously

If joy comes your way ,or pain and unhappiness visits you,

 you will not break down, will not break away from your  worship, your meditation (3)

Tuka  says  ,o resident of this body,

Be dead first, and then inhabit the body (4)

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Translation in any other language, or  replacing the original words, dilutes the beauty of the  original creation. But the message  being universal, carries the same fervor

Shri maharaj  uses most apt words .the word he has used in the original text in Marathi  for foundation is “khunt”.

 khunt  means ,the wood you hammer in to the ground for, tying  a cow, in to a manger., you drive it hard in to the ground and then confirm its firmness by shaking  it, if it moves , if  it  is wobbly, you drive hard in to ground aain, till it is firm enough to hold the straining, errant  cow.  This the the literal meaning   of the poem words, from first line.

It’s a simily . The cow  symbol here is our mind.it is  as unruly,as a cow. It will always try to break away from its ropes.but as a wandering cow in the jungle, has the fear,of being eaten by a tiger,so it is true, for a human mind, unrestrained it will come to unimaginable harm.so it  needs to be anchored to a belief,a firm ,strong unshakeble faith.which will hold ground no matter how hard,it is shaken.and these type of beliefs only come from messages of saints.

True seers, sages,from any religion, will have the same universal messages, same unshakeble principles for practicing spirituality.this is the anchor pillar, you must choose, and test it against any situation in your life. It must hold firm, then your practice will bear the proper fruit.this is the meaning of the first two lines.

Now shri maharaj  in third line,  is  describing the conditions ,which will ,impart  a  quality to the mind.it  must attain such a quality ,for the task of undertaking the spiritual journey.

Happy situation,and sad situation, these  two, are the; only realities of every day life.every one faces them.goes through them ,moment to  moment.

One becomes joyous in happy situation,and identifies oneself as a happy being.wants the happy situation to last .

Yearns for it.but everyone is aware that this does not happen, eighter,the situation or circumstance change,or the mind gets bored,tired of the same sensation, even if it is a pleasant sensation.

Nobody desires a sad situation,but it  does come. Then every one has to bear the pain, walk through ,work through the situation,waiting for it to change, mind says i, am unhappy, i am suffering, this is the most common situation, identifying with pain and suffering

Shri maharaj has this prescription. Create a distance in both the situations.bear it with equanimity.just observe,the pain or pleasure ,coming, staying and intensifying.,or  dwindling,and see what happens.

 the situation has not changed, but the observer has become less affected.he has a new quality .he  has developed patience .

Every one has lost someone dear, in the family, that person is never going to return, but given  time ,the memory becomes less and less painfull, the intensity wanes.

So it is same with happy memories, the intesity declines with every passing moment.if this the universal rule, then creating a distance would be the most obvious solution.

This practice of creating a distance, now gives you a further quality.your mind is  not torn,does not get pulled in opposing directions.

You are sad , you observe yourself ,be aware of it ,just remain with pain, but not identifying with it. This is the quality shri maharaj wants you to achieve.

Staying aware during sorrow or pain is easy, every one tries it, because no one likes  sorrow, but it is very difficult to be aware during a pleasant situation. We are overwhelmed by the plesant stimuli. But the mind has very limited capasity even for happy stimuli, it just gets numb. Nobody will agrre with this, but it is true.

When i first landed in maritius, i was overwhelmed, by its magnifiscent,natural beauty, as days are passing, i am noticing it less and less ,not having the same ecstatic  sensations.

 why do i need other stimuli,for happiness?, mauritius has remained the same?. Why i am choosing ,food, wine, or cigarrettes,for my happiness?.

Because i have not created the distance,not learned to be aware,has identified myself with  body, i am torn asunder .

Practicing  the discipline, maharaj gives,  mind will stop getting torn, stop getting pulled in opposites,it will be strong

Proving that  it has  now become stable, has stopped craving, stopped yearning, stopped rebelling against the necessary restrictions for  growth.

It will stay firm in faith, will not abandon the practice.

And now the last line, a climax.

Maharaj   is  giving a clue to achieve these  qualifications , a guidance, though a very succint one, but a master stroke all the same.

He is calling upon the  inhabitant  of the body.

 ask yourself this question, who inhabits  my body ?, and ,only one answer will come from every human being” i “inhabit  this body. If i ask you who are you, you will probably give me your name, saying so and so is identified with this body.

Now please  explain to  me, can this “ i”be found when the body is asleep?. Can it be traced, if the  body is unconcious??.

.under an anaesthetic drug,who sleeps, who is unconcious??.

 the answer is  ego. Individual ego, which says i am this body.shri maharaj is giving you this practice,

Be dead, and live,in the body.

That’s the final verdict by shri maharaj, he just stops,

 saying “be dead and live.”

My dear reader it is for you to find out, by practice, whether dieing and living, can be achieved. What will happen??.

All i will say is ,my belief in shri tukaram  maharaja,s words,is unshakeble.

With these words  i  bow to all of you.

(note-a translation and my own interpretation of the abhanga,or poem,from tukaram gatha, in marathi.

Halwuni khunt  / adhi karawa balakat .