Abhanga 690

This abhang names the humility-and-vouching register:

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A mastaka-at-all-feet-vakta-śrōtā-test-thoroughly-I-am-only-hāmāla-māla-passed-test abhang. Humility-and-vouching register. Three claims:

1. सकळांच्या-पायीं-विनवणी — मस्तक-चरणीं — श्रोते-वक्ते-जन — पारखून-गांठी-बांधा. Open-request-and-test-thoroughly-claim. To all-your-feet, my vinavaṇī (request); I place my mastaka (head) at the caraṇa (feet); O śrōtā-vaktā (listeners and speakers), all the jana (people); test (pārakhā) thoroughly and bāndhā gāṇṭhī (tie-the-knot — i.e., take it as your possession, accept the goods). Test-and-then-take-as-yours*. (The image is from a market: don't take goods on faith; test them, then if they're genuine, tie-them-into-your-cloth-knot to keep.)

2. भांडार फोडलं — धण्याचा माल — मी हामाल-भारवाही. Bhāṇḍāra-master's-māla-I-am-only-hāmāla-claim. I have foḍilē (broken-open) the bhāṇḍāra (storeroom); (but) this is the dhaṇī's māla (the master's goods); I am only the hāmāla (porter), the bhāra-vāhī (load-carrier). I-only-broke-the-storeroom-and-carried-the-load; the māla itself is His. (The bhakta as porter: he opened the storeroom and is carrying out the goods, but the goods are the master's. The vāṇī is His.)

3. Tuka: चाली चहूं-देशी — खरा माल कसीं उतरला. Trade-spread-genuine-māla-passed-test-claim. Tuka says: the cālī (trade, dealing) has gone cahūm-dēśī (four-countries); the kharā māla (genuine goods) — utaralā kasīm (has-passed-the-test) — = the goods have stood-the-test (literally come-down on the kasa — touchstone of the goldsmith — passing the goldsmith's-test). The genuine-goods have-passed-the-touchstone-test; my-vāṇī-is-genuine-by-test. (The kasa image: gold is rubbed on a touchstone to verify its purity; utaralā kasīm = passed-the-touchstone-test, i.e., proved genuine.)

[T]

For someone today

This abhang names the humility-and-vouching register:

1. Request at all your feet; mastaka at caraṇa; test thoroughly and tie the knot. Open-request-test.

2. I broke-open the bhāṇḍāra; the māla is the master's; I am only the hāmāla. Hāmāla-image.

3. The trade has gone four-countries; the genuine māla has passed the touchstone test. Touchstone-vouching.

For today: the bhakta places his head at all-your-feet and asks: test the goods thoroughly, then take them; the vāṇī is the master's māla, the bhakta is only the hāmāla; the kharā māla — has passed the touchstone-test*, has gone country-to-country, and is genuine.

This abhang is Tukaram's humility-and-vouching register — one of the most-mercantile bhakti-images. Compare 0688 māpa-and-dhaṇī and 0689 wind-carries-māpa; same shopkeeper-and-měasure metaphor-cluster but here organized as a open-test-genuine-pass-the-touchstone sequence. The kasīm utaralā (passed the touchstone-test) is sharp: I'm not just vouching; the goods have actually-passed-the-test.

मराठी: ही ओवी humility-and-vouching register नाव सांगते:

1. सकळांच्या पायीं विनवणी; मस्तक-चरणी; पारखून गांठी-बांधा. Open-request-test.

2. भांडार फोडलं; माल धण्याचा; मी फक्त हामाल. Hāmāla-image.

3. चाली चहूं-देशी; खरा माल कसीं उतरला. Touchstone-vouching.

आज: Bhakta head सर्व-तुमच्या-पायीं ठेवून request करतो: चांगलं test करा आणि घ्या; Vāṇī धण्याचा māla, bhakta फक्त hāmāla; Kharā māla touchstone-test passed, country-to-country गेला, आणि genuine आहे.

Tukaram च-humility-and-vouching-register — Most-mercantile bhakti-images पैकी एक. 0688 māpa-and-dhaṇī आणि 0689 wind-carries-māpa compare; तीच shopkeeper-and-měasure metaphor-cluster पण इथे open-test-genuine-pass-touchstone sequence-त-organized. Kasīm utaralā (touchstone-test passed) sharp — फक्त-vouching नाही; goods actually-touchstone-test-passed-झालेले आहेत.

Where this applies

• Pārakhā — *bāndhā gāṇṭhī.* Test-then-take.
• Hāmāla — māla is master's.** Porter-image.
• Kasīm utaralā.** Touchstone-pass.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2374
• Abhanga 2377 — English: Gentle, sweet bāla-rūpa — that form from Kāḷī-time.
• Abhanga 2387
• Abhanga 2402