संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 113 of 4582

Abhanga 113

This abhang corrects an instinct to imagine the deity is somewhere else, far. Pandhari's specific cosmic-unusualness is that the deity is already standing here, waiting. The image of the पेठ (market) is also corrective: holiness does not require a quiet remote place; this is a busy living place where the meeting happens. The application: stop searching for the right quiet place. Find the place where the deity is already standing — by tradition Pandhari, but more broadly any place where the meeting is immediate. देव उभाउभी भेटे is the diagnostic.

When you've imagined the deity is somewhere else — and you have to remember the place where he actually stands and waits

When other pilgrimages have left you with deferred fruit and you want a place of immediate meeting

When the standing-and-waiting posture is the gift — and you have to recognize it as cosmically unusual

The verse

पंढरीचा महिमा । देतां आणीक उपमा ॥१॥ ऐसा ठाव नाहीं कोठें । देव उभाउभी भेटे ॥ध्रु.॥ आहेति सकळ । तीर्थे काळें देती फळ ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे पेठ । भूमिवरी हे वैकुंठ ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: Pandhari's greatness — to give it a comparison would diminish it. There is no such place anywhere — the deity meets you, standing. All other tirths give fruit (only) in time. Tuka says: this is the market — Vaikuntha on earth.

मराठी: पंढरीचा महिमा — आणखी उपमा देता येत नाही. असा ठाव कुठेच नाही — देव उभा-उभा भेटतो. सर्व तीर्थे काळाने फळ देतात. तुकाराम म्हणतात — ही पेठ — भूमीवरचं वैकुंठ.

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
पंढरीचा महिमा	"Pandhari's greatness"
देतां आणीक उपमा	"to give a comparison (would diminish it)"
ऐसा ठाव नाहीं कोठें	"there is no such place anywhere"
देव उभाउभी भेटे	"the deity meets, standing" (= in person, present, ready)
आहेति सकळ तीर्थे काळें देती फळ	"all (other) tirths give fruit (only) in time"
पेठ भूमिवरी हे वैकुंठ	"(this) market — Vaikuntha brought down to earth" (पेठ = market / mart — i.e., a busy active place)

What it means

A Pandhari-mahima abhang. The structural claim: Pandhari is cosmically unusual because the deity is standing and meeting — उभाउभी भेटे. The standing-posture is the gift; other tirths require time; here the meeting is immediate. The पेठ (market) image is striking: a busy active place, not a quiet hermitage. Vaikuntha (Vishnu's heaven) is brought down — the bhakta does not need to ascend; the destination is here. [T] [Tradition]

For someone today

This abhang corrects an instinct to imagine the deity is somewhere else, far. Pandhari's specific cosmic-unusualness is that the deity is already standing here, waiting. The image of the पेठ (market) is also corrective: holiness does not require a quiet remote place; this is a busy living place where the meeting happens. The application: stop searching for the right quiet place. Find the place where the deity is already standing — by tradition Pandhari, but more broadly any place where the meeting is immediate. देव उभाउभी भेटे is the diagnostic.

मराठी: ही ओवी एका instinct ला सुधारते — देव कुठेतरी दूर असेल अशी कल्पना. पंढरीची specific cosmic-असामान्यता: देव आधीच इथे उभा आहे, वाट बघत. पेठ image देखील corrective: पवित्रता शांत-दूरच्या जागेची मागणी करत नाही; ही busy जिवंत जागा आहे जिथे भेट होते. lागू: योग्य शांत जागेच्या शोधात फिरणं थांबवा. देव आधीच उभा असलेली जागा शोधा — परंपरेने पंढरी, पण व्यापकपणे कुठलीही जागा जिथे भेट तात्काळ. देव उभाउभी भेटे diagnostic.

Where this applies

Imagining deity somewhere else. Pandhari standing.
Other pilgrimages — deferred fruit. Want immediate meeting.
Standing-and-waiting posture as gift. Cosmically unusual.