Abhanga 396
Go toward what draws your heart without hesitation or excuse, and in true absorption the differences that usually divide people fall away.
The verse
चेंडू चौगुणा खेळती वाळवंटीं । चला चला म्हणती पाहूं दृष्टी वो ॥१॥ मिस पाणियाचें करितील घरीं । बारा सोळा मिळोनि परस्परीं वो ॥ध्रु.॥ कोणा नाठवे कोण कुळ याती । जालीं ताटस्त सकळ नेत्रपातीं वो ॥२॥ करी श्रवण कृष्णवेणुगीत । स्वामी तुकयाचा पुरवील मनोरथ वो ॥३॥
Literal translation
Cendū-cau-guṇā — they play on the vāḷavaṇṭa — cala cala — they say — let's see by dṛṣṭi. Miṣa of water — at home — twelve-and-sixteen meeting. No one remembers — whose kuḷa-yāti — all became tāṭasta in netra-pātīm. Ear hears — Krishna-vēṇu-gīta — Tukya's svāmī will fulfill manōratha.
मराठी: चेंडू चौगुणा खेळती वाळवंटीं — चला चला म्हणती पाहूं दृष्टी. मिस पाणियाचें करितील घरीं — बारा सोळा मिळोनि परस्परीं. कोणा नाठवे कोण कुळ याती — जालीं ताटस्त सकळ नेत्रपातीं. तुकाराम म्हणतां — करी श्रवण कृष्णवेणुगीत — स्वामी तुकयाचा पुरवील मनोरथ.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| चेंडू चौगुणा खेळती वाळवंटीं | "cendū-cau-guṇā — play on the vāḷavaṇṭa" |
| चला चला म्हणती पाहूं दृष्टी | "cala cala — they say — let's see by dṛṣṭi" |
| मिस पाणियाचें करितील घरीं | "miṣa of water — at home" |
| बारा सोळा मिळोनि परस्परीं | "twelve-and-sixteen meeting one another" |
| कोणा नाठवे कोण कुळ याती | "no one remembers — whose kuḷa-yāti" |
| जालीं ताटस्त सकळ नेत्रपातीं | "all became tāṭasta — in netra-pātīm" |
| करी श्रवण कृष्णवेणुगीत | "ear hears — Krishna-vēṇu-gīta" |
| स्वामी तुकयाचा पुरवील मनोरथ | "Tukya's svāmī — will fulfill manōratha" |
What it means
A gōpīs-at-the-riverbank-Krishna-vēṇu-līlā abhang. Closes the gōpī-līlā cluster (377-396). Four claims:
-
चेंडू चौगुणा खेळती वाळवंटीं — चला चला म्हणती पाहूं दृष्टी — cendū-cau-guṇā — they play on the vāḷavaṇṭa — cala cala — let's see by dṛṣṭi. The opening-image: Krishna and the cowherd-boys playcendū-cau-guṇā(a fourfold ball-game) on thevāḷavaṇṭa(riverbank-sand); the gōpīs saycala cala— let's see (Him) bydṛṣṭi.
-
मिस पाणियाचें करितील घरीं — बारा सोळा मिळोनि परस्परीं — miṣa of water — at home — twelve-and-sixteen meeting. The pretext-image: they makemiṣa(pretext) of water-fetching at home; twelve-and-sixteen (=bārā-soḷā— many gōpīs) meet one another. The water-fetching is the cover-story for the meeting.
-
कोणा नाठवे कोण कुळ याती — जालीं ताटस्त सकळ नेत्रपातीं — no one remembers whose kuḷa-yāti — all became tāṭasta in netra-pātīm. The forgetting-and-fixing image: no one remembers who is from whichkuḷa-yāti(clan-caste); all becametāṭasta(transfixed, frozen-still) innetra-pātīm(the eyelids). In the absorbed-darśana, the eyelids freeze; clan-caste is forgotten. (Compare 366 any yāti for Vaiṣṇava; same anti-yāti-essential register.)
-
करी श्रवण कृष्णवेणुगीत — स्वामी तुकयाचा पुरवील मनोरथ — ear hears Krishna-vēṇu-gīta — Tukya's svāmī will fulfill manōratha. The closing-music-image: the ear hearsKrishna-vēṇu-gīta(Krishna's flute-song); Tukya-svāmī will fulfill the manōratha (heart's-wish).The flute-music draws and the manōratha is fulfilled.
[T]
For someone today
When you glimpse something sacred right out in the open, don't hesitate — go toward it. It's fine to use an everyday errand as your reason for showing up; the real point is the gathering and the seeing, not the excuse. In a moment of true absorption, the labels that usually divide people — family background, status, caste — simply fall away; everyone is just watching, transfixed, together. And when you let that call reach you and truly listen, whatever your heart has been longing for gets fulfilled.
मराठी: जेव्हा तुम्हाला काहीतरी पवित्र अगदी उघड्यावर दिसतं, तेव्हा संकोच न करता त्याकडे जा. तिथे पोहोचण्यासाठी एखादं रोजचं काम निमित्त म्हणून वापरणं ठीक आहे; खरा मुद्दा एकत्र येणं आणि पाहणं हा असतो, निमित्त नाही. खऱ्या तल्लीनतेच्या क्षणी माणसांना विभागणारे कुळ, दर्जा, जात असे भेद आपोआप गळून पडतात; सगळे फक्त एकत्र, स्तब्ध होऊन पाहत राहतात. आणि जेव्हा तुम्ही ती हाक मनापासून ऐकता, तेव्हा मनातली इच्छा पूर्ण होते.
Where this applies
- Krishna plays in plain-sight; cala cala. Don't dawdle.
- Water-fetching as miṣa. Worldly-cover.
- Kuḷa-yātiforgotten intāṭasta-darśana. Anti-clan-essential.
- Flute-song fulfills manōratha. Music-mechanism.