Abhanga 696

When devotion is real and complete, it saturates every state of mind, waking and dreaming alike, until there is no divided feeling left.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A no-other-Pāṇḍuranga-mana-dhyāna-jāgṛti-svapna-indriyas-vaḷaṇa-eyes-recognition-on-the-brick abhang. Total-saturation-with-Pāṇḍuranga register. Three claims:

1. दुजा कोणी नाही आतां — चित्ती-पासून नेमलं — Pāṇḍuranga मनीं-ध्यानीं-जाग्रती-स्वप्नीं. Total-saturation-claim. No other for me now; committed (nēmilē) from thiscitta-onward; Pāṇḍuranga inmana (mind), in dhyāna (meditation), in jāgṛti (waking-state), in svapna (dream-state).Pāṇḍuranga-saturates-all-states-of-consciousness. (The four states named:manana(thinking),dhyāna(meditation),jāgṛti(waking),svapna (dreaming) — all-saturated.)

2. इंद्रियांना वळण पडलं — भाव निराळा नाही — दुजा नाही. Indriyas-bent-towards-and-no-other-bhāva-claim. Thevaḷaṇa(bend-pattern, the habit-curve) has-fallen on all theindriyas(sense-organs); thebhāvais notnirāḷā(separate, distinct from this) — noduja(other) bhāva. All-senses-bent-toward-Pāṇḍuranga; no-other-bhāva. (The vaḷaṇa image: just as repeated-use bends a habit-pathway, the indriyas have all-been-bent toward Pāṇḍuranga.)

3. Tuka: नेत्रीं ओळखण — साजिरं ध्यान विटेवरी. Closing-eyes-recognized-on-the-brick-claim. Tuka says: in the eyes —ōḷakhaṇa(recognition) has-been-made; the auspiciousdhyāna— on theviṭa (brick — the famous Pandharī-brick on which Viṭṭhal stands; Puṇḍalika's-brick).Eyes-have-recognized-the-brick-stance; dhyāna is the brick-Pandharī-form. (The closing places the saturation-content: thePāṇḍurangais specificallyViṭṭhal-on-the-brick — the Pandharī-form, hands-at-hip, feet-equal, on the brick that Puṇḍalika threw.)

[T]

For someone today

Tukaram declares that he has committed himself completely, with nothing else on his mind from now on. Vitthal fills his thoughts, his meditation, his waking hours, and even his dreams, so there is no part of his day left untouched. He says his very senses have bent themselves into this habit, the way a path gets worn into a shape from being walked again and again, so there is no longer a separate or divided feeling in him. And when he closes his eyes, what he sees clearly is the familiar, beloved image of Vitthal standing on the brick at Pandharpur. This is a picture of what single-minded devotion looks like when it has soaked all the way through a life, not just an occasional thought but the shape your whole mind has settled into.

मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की त्यांनी स्वतःला पूर्णपणे वाहून घेतलं आहे, आतापासून मनात दुसरं काहीच नाही. पांडुरंग त्यांच्या विचारांत, ध्यानात, जागेपणी आणि अगदी स्वप्नातही भरलेला आहे, त्यामुळे दिवसाचा कोणताही भाग यापासून सुटलेला नाही. ते म्हणतात की त्यांच्या इंद्रियांनाच या सवयीचं वळण पडलं आहे, जसं वारंवार चालल्याने वाट तयार होते, त्यामुळे आता त्यांच्यात वेगळा किंवा दुभंगलेला भाव उरलेला नाही. आणि डोळे मिटले की त्यांना स्पष्ट दिसतं ते म्हणजे पंढरपुरातल्या विटेवर उभा असलेला प्रिय पांडुरंग. एकनिष्ठ भक्ती जेव्हा आयुष्यात पूर्णपणे भिनते तेव्हा ती कशी दिसते, याचं हे चित्र आहे — केवळ अधूनमधूनचा विचार नाही तर संपूर्ण मनाने घेतलेला आकार.

Where this applies

• When something you love has become so constant that it shapes your thoughts even without trying
• When you notice a habit or devotion so deep it shows up in your waking mind and even in your dreams
• When you close your eyes and a specific, beloved image comes to mind on its own
• When you have made a full, undivided commitment to someone or something and no longer feel torn

Related verses

• Abhanga 2377 — This detailed meditation on Vitthal standing on a brick at Pandharpur, out of love for his
• Abhanga 2402 — For today: happily take rebirths — IF among the Paṇḍharī-Vārkarīs ; Hari-dāsas' company is
• Abhanga 2448 — The easiest path to God is repeating divine names with love at home, right where you are,
• Abhanga 2459 — Liberation does not have to be earned through grueling effort or endless searching; it is