Abhanga 198
There is more than one real path to freedom from suffering, and once you've experienced the simpler, freely given one, preferring it over the costlier route is honest, not disrespectful.
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
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:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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:
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काही establishment-route घेतात. पुढें गेले ते निधाई जाले. ते पुढे गेले, prize मिळवला. त्यांना dismiss करू नका; वाणितील त्याची सीमा. Route real आहे.
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पुंडलीक-पाटील householder-route घेतला. कुळवाडी केली, भवदुःखा वेगळा झाला. Household-collective-route पण bhava-duḥkha-freedom produce करतो. दोन routes, दोन्ही real.
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पंढरीला cost-advantage. भुक्ति-मुक्ति फुका च साठीं. वैकुंठ high cost ने (long-discipline, ascetic-renunciation) देतं — पंढरी फुकट देतं. फुकट calculus बदलतं.
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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.