Abhanga 212

Real joy shows up in an informal gathering of equals with the divine right at the center, and it only registers when your mind is actually present to see it.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A come-let-us-see-Pāṇḍuranga abhang. Six images:

1. चला बाई — पाहूं वाळवंटीं — मांडियेला काला — come, sister — let's see at the river-sand-bank — the kālā is set up. The opening invitation, addressed to bāī (sister / female-companion). Vāḷavaṇṭa is the kīrtana-festival site.

2. आनंदें कवळ देती एकामुखीं एक — न म्हणती सान थोर — अवघीं सकळिक — in joy, mouth-to-mouth morsels; don't say small-or-big — all is sakaḷika. The eka-mukhīm-eka feeding is the kālā-distinguishing-feature: morsels go from one's hand to another's mouth. No small-or-big — all is the whole-of-it. The equality is sakaḷika — the whole-of-it-mode.

3. हमामा हुंबरी पांवा मोहरी — फेर माजी घालुनियां हरी — the percussion-cluster; Hari has set the round, having gone in the middle. The fērā (round-formation) — Hari is in the middle. The band-formation with the deity at the center. (Compare 196's one chand — here, one ring with Hari in the middle.)

4. लुब्धल्या नारी नर अवघ्या पशुयाती — विसरलीं देहभाव शंका नाहीं चित्तीं — women, men, all animal-classes lured; deha-bhāva forgotten; no doubt in chitta. The trance-spreads-across-species claim (parallel to 211). Lubdhalyā — lured / pulled-into. The species-inclusive trance: humans and all animal-classes are pulled into the same trance.

5. पुष्पाचा वरुषाव — आरतियांची दाटी — तुळसी माळा कंठीं — flower-rain, ārati-crowd, tulasi-mālā at the neck. The physical-marks of the festival — what is happening in visible-air and body-marker.

6. यादवांचा राणा गोपीमनोहर कान्हा — सुख वाटे देखोनियां मना — the Yadava-king, the gopī-mind-charmer Kānha — joy seems good when seen by the mind. The closing claim: the Yadava-king — Krishna in his royal-aspect — is also the gopī-mano-hara (gopī-mind-charmer) — Krishna in his intimate-affect-aspect. Both registers are simultaneously held. And the mind-seeing is what registers the joy.

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For someone today

This abhang names the perfect kālā — and what to look for to recognize it:

1. The invitation to come and see is to the river-sand-bank, not the temple. Vāḷavaṇṭa pāhūm. The kālā happens at the informal river-bank, not at the establishment-temple. If the invitation is to a temple, ask whether the vāḷavaṇṭa-register is also there.

2. Mouth-to-mouth, no small-or-big. Eka-mukhīm eka — na sāna-thora. The real-shared-meal feeds mouth-to-mouth without small-or-big distinction. If the meal-distribution has small-and-big — higher-status gets the better-cuts — the kālā-register hasn't taken hold.

3. Hari in the middle of the round. Fēra mājī ghālunīyām Harī. The deity is in the middle of the band, not outside-and-watched. The ring-formation with the deity in the middle is the kālā-shape.

4. Trance spreads across species. Naarī-nara avaghyā paśu-yāti. When the trance is real, everyone in the field is pulled in — humans and animals alike. If only some are entranced and others aren't even feeling it, the kālā is partial.

5. Both Yadava-king and gopī-mind-charmer simultaneously. Don't split the deity into royal and intimate aspects. The same Krishna is both — Yadava-king ruling cosmically and gopī-mano-hara intimate-loving.

6. Mind-seeing registers the joy. Sukha vāṭē dekhonīyām manā. The mind is the registration-organ. What the mind sees, the body experiences as joy. If your mind is elsewhere, the joy doesn't register even when present.

For today: when at a real-festival, look for the river-bank setting, equal mouth-to-mouth feeding, the deity at the center, trance spreading across every creature present, and the king and the charmer held together; let your mind see what is happening so the joy registers.

मराठी: ही ओवी परिपूर्ण काला काय असतो, आणि तो ओळखण्यासाठी काय पाहावं ते सांगते.

1. या-चला-पाहूया हे आमंत्रण नदीकाठासाठी आहे, मंदिरासाठी नाही. काला मोकळ्या नदीकाठी होतो, प्रस्थापित मंदिरात नाही. जर आमंत्रण मंदिरात असेल, तर तिथेही वाळवंटाची ती मोकळी अवस्था आहे का हे तपासा.

2. एकामुखीं एक — लहान-मोठा असा भेद नाही. खरं सामायिक जेवण तोंडाकडून तोंडाकडे दिलं जातं, लहान-मोठा असा भेद न करता. जर वाटपात लहान-मोठा असा भेद असेल — उच्च दर्जाच्यांना चांगला वाटा — तर काल्याची खरी अवस्था अजून रुजलेली नाही.

3. हरी रिंगणाच्या मध्यभागी असतो. देव समूहाच्या बाहेर उभा राहून पाहत नाही, तो मध्यभागी असतो. मध्यभागी देव असलेली रिंगण-रचना हाच काल्याचा खरा आकार आहे.

4. तंद्री जाती-प्रजातींच्या पलीकडे पसरते. तंद्री खरी असेल, तर तिथे उपस्थित सगळेच — माणसं आणि प्राणी दोन्ही — तिच्यात ओढले जातात. फक्त काहीच तंद्रीत असतील आणि बाकीच्यांना काहीच जाणवत नसेल, तर तो काला अपूर्ण आहे.

5. यादवांचा राजा आणि गोपींचं मन मोहणारा — दोन्ही एकाच वेळी. देवाला राजेशाही आणि जिव्हाळ्याच्या रूपांत वेगळं करू नका. तोच कृष्ण विश्वव्यापी यादव-राजाही आहे आणि गोपींचं मन मोहणाराही आहे.

6. मनाने पाहणंच सुख नोंदवतं. मन हेच नोंदणीचं साधन आहे. मन जे पाहतं, तेच शरीर सुख म्हणून अनुभवतं. मन भलतीकडे असेल, तर सुख समोर असूनही नोंदवलं जात नाही.

आज एवढंच — खऱ्या उत्सवात असाल, तर नदीकाठाची मोकळी जागा, समान वाटप, मध्यभागी असलेला देव, सर्व सजीवांत पसरलेली तंद्री, आणि राजा व मोहक प्रियकर एकत्र असलेला कृष्ण — हे शोधा; आणि जे घडतंय ते मनाने पाहा, म्हणजे सुख नोंदवलं जाईल.

Where this applies

• River-sand-bank not temple. Vāḷavaṇṭa-form.
• Mouth-to-mouth, no small-or-big. Equality-feeding.
• Hari in the middle of the round. Ring-formation.
• Both king and charmer simultaneously. Don't split.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2374 — Rather than scattering devotion among many lesser deities who demand offerings, Tukaram sa
• Abhanga 2377 — This detailed meditation on Vitthal standing on a brick at Pandharpur, out of love for his
• Abhanga 2387 — Accept whatever life brings with reverence, and place the burden on God rather than carryi
• Abhanga 2402 — For today: happily take rebirths — IF among the Paṇḍharī-Vārkarīs ; Hari-dāsas' company is