1. The root cause of birth, gunas/attributes, is nothing but misery. When you take a body, duality comes. With an equal balance of virtues and sins you get a human body. You don’t appreciate the human body and make the worst of life, running here and there for happiness. By three attributes you work with life and by these attributes you uselessly lose your life without understanding. Tama guna, ignorance, is nothing but the shit of the ego, hell. Rajas is thinking again and again of worldly affairs. Stick to the Sattva guna and day and night think that this is not true and understand what is Reality. Whole day and night understand this is nothing and don’t go the wrong way. Never think the world is true. One who is going the wrong way, only a realized person takes him to the right path. Only a realized person gives real understanding and takes you to the right path. Go to His feet and accept what He says! He gives others understanding and they can swim this ocean which is not true. Tukaram says by going to Him, you understand and make your family understand.
2. He is the real person in all three worlds, who can make people understand. This rare person sees no duality, only Oneness and He gives this understanding to others making them great. By following His guidance you become HE. Anger vanishes from you because you know Myself is everywhere. Dirt of the mind is cleaned and you’re like the Ganges (knowledge) which runs and runs cleaning everybody, taking away misunderstanding. Your mind is like the Ganga cleaning out the dirt-duality; like the residence of the Lord/Bhagavan. Due to his devotion (nothing is true), HE is always with Him. He sees everywhere SELF, and is complete. The realized one sees Himself everywhere, as clearly as you see your own thumb. Those who have no understanding cannot understand Him. One who has Self-understanding remains in Himself, no need to tell anybody. So, He remains in Himself. Other people don’t understand Him. [Only Saints of that status know who He is.] Open your eyes with knowledge; see everybody as Oneness. Don’t say wrong things, or gossip about Him. Take the knowledge of Self from Him that only He offers. Don’t do anything! Just go to the Saint so you can understand. When real understanding comes your luck will open. In the vicinity of a Saint your luck will open and you can understand, WHO AM I ? In the Puranas (old mythological books) it is described. Tukaram gives this proclamation that nothing is true; only Yourself is true.
3. Since many births you’ve taken this world as true, which is the real sin. The Saint is the real One. Never leave His feet. Understand what He gives and never forget. Make yourself strong; determine that He is the only person who can give the real truth. Be yourself HE! (Sha-ran-gad/Krishna) He says, “I’m not the body, I am HE.” Ignorant persons don’t understand this. This will be understood only in the vicinity of a Saint. Burn wrong desires and make the desire for the Self only. When the seed is burned it won’t grow again. Make your mind clean by understanding THAT. Then you will know you’re not the body. Tukaram says only then will you know that where you “stay” is HE.
4. Understand the Reality and don’t go astray, not for a moment. If you try to know through thoughts you’ll only wander the world. If you go astray by following your thoughts, you’ll forget your own interest -Yourself. Say, “Oh mind, you’re a thinking mind. Understand, I AM HE.” Understand, “I am not a small creature (jiva), I am HE (Shiva).” Don’t be a shape. Don’t touch anything. By realizing this, you will experience bliss (Atmasukha)- Self-happiness. This way, you become HE. Merge with all the elements and then all the people are Myself. Forget the ego! You are everywhere. You are in shit and you are in heaven also; all HIS creation. When you say me and mine then you protect. Say everybody is mine, then ego goes off. Have mercy for all; ” I am everywhere.” “He is Myself,” in whatever state he may be. This is the only sadhana. When such thinking comes in the mind, then illusion/Maya doesn’t remain. The net of illusion doesn’t remain when you have love for Krishna/Chakrapani. With knowledge, see everybody and say my wish is his wish and his wish is my wish. Have deep love for the Saint and don’t forget His greatness. He has taken the name of God and talks about God always. He is Lord in manifest form. Remember Him and you become Shiva. Don’t leave the books of knowledge; hear Saints and sing that only. Don’t sing anything else! Think always of HIM; contemplate ‘I am HE’, not the body. That way you will get Self- understanding.(Sakshatkara) Go to the Reality. HE is shapeless. Understand that in every shape is HE. Then you’re always happy. (You see the shape, then troubles remain.) Once you understand nothing is true, no worries for you. Inside, your mind is calm and quiet. You are in tune with Brahman; you are blessed! When One is completely satisfied, how does He stay? I’ll tell you the secret. With full mind, hear me. He remains as a foolish person. Outside, He lives like a mad man, but inside He is always in tune with Self. Like the bee, only interested in honey from the flower, He is always thinking of the Self. Inside and outside, only Self. Nobody can understand Him or what He does or his thinking. Only Yogis, those who understand correctly, know the essence in Him. Only those who have the practice of Reality know the true identity of a Saint. Tuka says for others it is illusion. Saints, by their presence give peace to others.
5. To some He’s a fool but to those who have love for Reality, they value what He has given and are always quiet. Just as salt dissolved in water never comes out, same way ego disappears. He melts it. This melting can be in anybody’s heart. One should be a melted person. Once in water, salt cannot return to solid form. Likewise, the one who understands Reality, He is melted. Thought has become thoughtless. The Saint stays in Brahman. He never goes again in the illusion. He never bothers with worldly things. Tuka says, “What I tell is the Truth.”
6. These abhangas have come from heaven, especially for you. By chanting these 12 abhangas (verses) all sins brought forward from past births, will be burned. Narayana will protect you, now and in the future. When you need HIM most, HE protects you. Your mind has been changed; wrong thoughts go and HE remains. Then you understand real devotion — always thinking of Him and not of yourself. By real devotion you will get every proof of realization. Your ancestors will be uplifted also. He acquires this world and the other world. Tukaram says, “This is the only truth and I vouch for it.”
7. His mind is so charitable, for the genuine good of others He gives with great clarity to everybody and they get this understanding. This is the real prasad. In this way worldly miseries go away for you and others also. This can happen to you. On the oath of my Master I tell you. These are my cymbals He has sent from (heaven) Self. You are That. You should chant my name with love. I have achieved Reality (gone to Vaikuntha, Lord Krishna’s place) by the grace of my Master. With a strong wish, I bow down to you and tell you, you can also achieve what I have achieved. Saint says with conviction, God is with Him. He’s responsible. You will experience that which I’ve said is the Truth. With every action, remember This. This is the last wish of Tukaram.
8. He has bowed down to us, so we should realize. If you do this you’ll see Vithoba and how He is protecting you every now and then. In everybody, see HIS face. In that way you can bow down to HIM. By meeting HIM, your worries cease. For you, I have given this real understanding. For the good wish of the whole world, I give understanding to all. Whoever reads this and acts accordingly is a real devotee and will have the experience. If you sing these twelve abhangas you will be Realized in the body free from all bondage, never to return to the world again. No doubts remain. The cycle of birth/death vanishes. You are complete; you’ve attained Reality. In 4 bodies there resides one Self covered by 34 (3 attributes + 4 bodies) ‘coverings’. In reciting these 12 abhangas (verses) you get to know what Tukaram says.
9. Don’t leave these 12 abhangas!! The essence is in them. Then after understanding, any actions you do, you won’t be responsible for the fruits of those actions. You are beyond actions. Everything now is for Totality. You won’t take birth again; this is my oath. But you must whole- heartedly read these abhangas again and again with mind, intellect and heart to understand the real meaning. Make them more precious than your life. By reading them again and again, if you consider HIM better than your life, you will have darshan of Vithoba in manifest form. This is bound to happen! What is described in the Vedas and scriptures, was put in these 12 abhangas, translated for you in Marathi. (12 = the 1 unmanifest + 2 , Ishwara/ Maya or Parush/Prakriti.) The essence of what has been said in dictionary, Do’s and Don’ts of the Brahma Sutra, other texts and their sub-texts, is said in my (Tukaram) abhangas.
10. My verses contain the secret about devotion as well as wisdom in praise of the Lord. Seventy five are “aimed” at understanding dispassion/renunciation. 75 means 7 and 5. 7= the 5 elements+mind+intellect and 5 is sense objects. Conquering these, brings renunciation. And same number is sung for the Lord. Sixty are aimed at describing the form of God. With understanding, then 5 sense objects and ignorance (equaling 6) becomes nothing but zero=6 0, repeatedly described in verses. My ritual is to pray to the Lord, and I should be without attributes (Sattva, Raja, Tama should be zero=30) You are the only real aim to reach. Twelve look to self-realization. Now I realize that You are only one and my past assumption that I existed as an individual (1+ 2) has dissolved in You. These abhangas have been conceived on earth and are as valuable as the 5 elements which make up this earth. (34 and 5)The only Truth says Tukaram is Self, residing in the house/body which has 3 attributes and 4 subtle bodies. This Self is veiled by 5 coverings. Once you understand, this is the only Truth. (In this verse Vitthala is speaking to Tukaram.)
11. Sagun (manifest) and nirgun (unmanifest) are One. Whatever you see and perceive is ME, Vitthala. This understanding came to Tukaram.
12. Those who recite these abhangas everyday with understanding will become That. Those who recite with love and devotion will stay on the spiritual path. No troubles will remain for them. If they read these abhangas with love they will be uplifted and always happy. Whenever there is danger or problems be strong enough to recite these abhangas with a firm mind and difficulties will be overcome. Vitthala says to Tukaram, “I will not only make them free of problems but I will take them to my own place.”….to the original understanding that I am HE.