Abhanga 198
This abhang names a precise destination-choice claim that is structurally important:
The verse
तेथील मोकासी चार भुजा त्यासी । बाइला सोळा हजार रे ॥१॥ पुढें गेले ते निधाई जाले । वाणितील त्याची सीमा रे ॥ध्रु.॥ पुंडलीक पाटील केली कुळवाडी । तो जाला भवदुःखा वेगळा रे ॥२॥ भुक्तिमुक्ति फुका च साठीं । कोणी तयाकडे न पाहे रे ॥३॥ न वजों म्हणती आम्ही वैकुंठा । जिहीं देखिली पंढरी रे ॥४॥ तुका म्हणे होय तुमचेनी पुण्यें । भेटी तया पायांसी रे ॥५॥
Literal translation
English: There, the ruler has four arms; sixteen-thousand wives. Those who went ahead became nidhāī (got the treasure); the limit of his praise. Pundalik-Pāṭīl made the colony — he became separate from the bhava-duḥkha. Bhukti-mukti for free at sixteen (?); no one looks toward (Vaikuntha). They say — we won't go to Vaikuntha — those who have seen Pandhari. Tuka says: by your puṇya — let there be meeting of those feet.
मराठी: तेथील मोकासीला चार भुजा; बायला सोळा हजार. पुढें गेले ते निधाई जाले; वाणितील त्याची सीमा. पुंडलीक-पाटील — कुळवाडी केली — भवदुःखा वेगळा झाला. भुक्ति-मुक्ति फुका च साठीं — कोणीही तिकडे (वैकुंठाकडे) पाहत नाही. न वजों म्हणती आम्ही वैकुंठा — जिहीं देखिली पंढरी. तुकाराम म्हणतात — तुमच्या पुण्याने — त्या पायांची भेटी होवो.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| तेथील मोकासी चार भुजा त्यासी | "there, the mokāsī (ruler / one with rights) has four arms" |
| बाइला सोळा हजार | "sixteen-thousand wives" |
| पुढें गेले ते निधाई जाले | "those who went ahead became nidhāī (got the nidhi / treasure)" |
| वाणितील त्याची सीमा | "(they) extol his limit/standard" |
| पुंडलीक पाटील केली कुळवाडी | "Pundalik-Pāṭīl made the kuḷavāḍī (colony / settlement)" |
| तो जाला भवदुःखा वेगळा | "he became separate from the bhava-duḥkha (sorrow-of-becoming)" |
| भुक्तिमुक्ति फुका च साठीं | "bhukti-mukti for free, for sāṭhī (sixteen / the asking)" |
| कोणी तयाकडे न पाहे | "no one looks toward (Vaikuntha)" |
| न वजों म्हणती आम्ही वैकुंठा | "we say — we won't go to Vaikuntha" |
| जिहीं देखिली पंढरी | "those who have seen Pandhari" |
| होय तुमचेनी पुण्यें भेटी तया पायांसी | "by your puṇya — let there be meeting of those feet" |
What it means
A Pandhari-vs-Vaikuntha abhang. Continuation of 164's let-us-be-born-again-for-the-kālā-feast but with the Pandhari-as-destination claim. Five movements:
-
तेथील मोकासी चार भुजा त्यासी — बाइला सोळा हजार — there the ruler has four arms; sixteen-thousand wives. The standard Vaikuntha-Vishnu iconography — four-armed (chaturbhuja) form, surrounded by sixteen-thousand-and-one queens. The establishment-Vishnu register.
-
पुढें गेले ते निधाई जाले — वाणितील त्याची सीमा — those who went ahead got the treasure; the limit of his praise. Those who went ahead (= attained Vaikuntha through standard puranic-route) praise his limit / standard. They have the prize.
-
पुंडलीक पाटील केली कुळवाडी — तो जाला भवदुःखा वेगळा — Pundalik-Pāṭīl made the colony — became separate from the bhava-duḥkha. The counter-figure — Pundalik, the local-householder-bhakta who made the kuḷavāḍī (the warkari-colony / Pandhari settlement) — also became free of bhava-duḥkha. The householder-route works.
-
भुक्तिमुक्ति फुका च साठीं — कोणी तयाकडे न पाहे — bhukti-mukti for free at sixteen / for the asking; no one looks toward (Vaikuntha). Pandhari offers bhukti-mukti (enjoyment-and-liberation, the two standard puranic prizes) for free. The available-at-Pandhari version is better than Vaikuntha on the cost-axis (fukā — for-free). Result: kōṇī tayākaḍē na pāhē — no one looks toward Vaikuntha. The asymmetric-comparison: when Pandhari is on offer, Vaikuntha loses its market.
-
न वजों म्हणती आम्ही वैकुंठा — जिहीं देखिली पंढरी — we say — we won't go to Vaikuntha — those who have seen Pandhari. The closing claim. Pandhari-seers refuse Vaikuntha. The seeing of Pandhari produces un-willingness for Vaikuntha. (Compare 191: we won't go even if chased.)
[T] [Major warkari claim — Pundalik as the founding-figure of the Pandhari tradition]
For someone today
This abhang names a precise destination-choice claim that is structurally important:
-
Some take the establishment-route. Pudhē gele te nidhāī jāle. They went ahead, got the prize. Don't dismiss them; vāṇitīl tyāchī sīmā — they extol his standard. The route is real.
-
Pundalik-Pāṭīl took the householder-route. Made the colony, became free of bhava-duḥkha. The household-collective-route also produces bhava-duḥkha-freedom. Two routes, both real.
-
Pandhari has a cost-advantage. Bhukti-mukti fukā ca sāṭhīm. What Vaikuntha offers at high cost (long-discipline, ascetic-renunciation), Pandhari offers for free. The free changes the calculus.
-
Once Pandhari is seen, Vaikuntha is refused. Jihīm dekhilī Pandharī — na vajōm Vaikunṭhā. The seeing produces exclusivity. This is not anti-Vaikuntha; it is post-Pandhari preference. Once you have seen the alternative, the original-prize loses appeal.
For today: notice that there are multiple-routes to bhava-duḥkha-freedom. The establishment-route works; the householder-collective-route also works. The cost-advantage of the latter is real. And the post-seeing exclusivity is structural — once you have seen the fukā-route, the paid-route loses its hold.
This is not a claim that everyone should reject Vaikuntha. It is a claim that those who have seen Pandhari honestly cannot un-see it; their na vajōm Vaikunṭhā is honest report, not posturing.
मराठी: ही ओवी एक precise destination-choice claim नाव सांगते — structurally important:
-
काही establishment-route घेतात. पुढें गेले ते निधाई जाले. ते पुढे गेले, prize मिळवला. त्यांना dismiss करू नका; वाणितील त्याची सीमा. Route real आहे.
-
पुंडलीक-पाटील householder-route घेतला. कुळवाडी केली, भवदुःखा वेगळा झाला. Household-collective-route पण bhava-duḥkha-freedom produce करतो. दोन routes, दोन्ही real.
-
पंढरीला cost-advantage. भुक्ति-मुक्ति फुका च साठीं. वैकुंठ high cost ने (long-discipline, ascetic-renunciation) देतं — पंढरी फुकट देतं. फुकट calculus बदलतं.
-
पंढरी पाहिली — वैकुंठ refuse होतं. जिहीं देखिली पंढरी — न वजों वैकुंठा. पाहणं exclusivity produce करतं. Anti-Vaikuntha नाही; post-Pandhari preference. Alternative पाहिल्यानंतर — original-prize आकर्षण हरवतो.
आज: notice करा multiple-routes bhava-duḥkha-freedom कडे. Establishment-route काम करतो; householder-collective-route पण काम करतो. नंतरच्या-cost-advantage real. Post-seeing exclusivity structural — फुका-route पाहिला — paid-route hold गमावतो.
ही सर्वांनी वैकुंठ reject करावं असा दावा नाही. पंढरी पाहिलेले honestly un-see करू शकत नाहीत; त्यांचं न वजों वैकुंठा honest report, posturing नाही.
Where this applies
- Multiple routes to bhava-duḥkha-freedom. Don't pit them.
- Pandhari's fukā changes the calculus. Acknowledge the cost-difference.
- Post-seeing exclusivity is honest. Not posturing.