संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 706 of 4582

Abhanga 706

This abhang names the vārakarī-vow register:

When I will be a beggar — a Pandharī-vārakarī — and you have to recognize this register
When Viṭhōbā's nāma is my niyama-and-dharma — and you accept this image
When cling to santas' feet — that simple-minded sēvā — and you receive this final vow

The verse

होईन भिकारी । पंढरीचा वारकरी ॥१॥ हा चि माझा नेम धर्म । अवघें विठोबाचें नाम ॥ध्रु.॥ हे चि माझी उपासना । लागन संतांच्या चरणा ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे देवा । करीन ते भोळी सेवा ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: I will become a bhikārī — a Pandharī vārakarī. This-only is my nēma-dharma — all is Viṭhōbā's nāma. This-only is my upāsanālāgana to santām-caraṇa. Tuka says: deva — I will do that bhōḷī sēvā.

मराठी: भिकारी होईन — पंढरीचा वारकरी. हा च माझा नेम-धर्म — सर्व विठोबाचं नाम. हीच माझी उपासना — संतांच्या चरणीं लागन. Tuka म्हणे: देवा — करीन ती भोळी सेवा.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
होईन भिकारी "I-will-become — bhikārī"
पंढरीचा वारकरी "Pandharī-vārakarī"
हा चि माझा नेम धर्म "this-only — my nēma-dharma"
अवघें विठोबाचें नाम "all — Viṭhōbā-nāma"
हे चि माझी उपासना "this-only — my upāsanā"
लागन संतांच्या चरणा "lāgana (clinging) — santām-caraṇa"
करीन ते भोळी सेवा "will-do — that — bhōḷī sēvā"

What it means

A I-will-be-Pandharī-vārakarī-Viṭhōbā-nāma-as-niyama-cling-to-santas-feet-bhōḷī-sēvā abhang. Vārakarī-vow register. Three claims (in just six lines):

  1. भिकारी होईन — पंढरीचा-वारकरी. Beggar-vārakarī-vow-claim. I will become a bhikārī (a beggar) — a vārakarī of *Pandharī. Beggar-not-rich; vārakarī-of-Pandharī. (The vārakarī tradition: walking to Pandharī twice-yearly on āṣāḍhī and kārtikī ekādaśī, often as beggars-with-no-resources, singing-and-walking.)

  2. नेम-धर्म — विठोबाचं नाम — उपासना — संत-चरणीं-लागन. Niyama-and-upāsanā-claim. This only is my nēma (niyama, regular-rule) and dharma: all is Viṭhōbā's nāma. This only is my upāsanā (worship-mode): lāgana (clinging) to the santām-caraṇa (santas' feet). Niyama-Viṭhōbā-nāma-upāsanā-cling-santas-feet.

  3. Tuka: देवा — भोळी सेवा करीन. Bhōḷī-sēvā-vow-claim. Tuka says: deva — I will do that bhōḷī sēvā (simple-minded / innocent / unsophisticated sēvā). Not-clever-sēvā but bhōḷī-sēvā. (The bhōḷā / bhōḷī in Vārkarī vocabulary is the simple-minded, naïve, innocent — un-clever; this is the proper-mode of sēvā*.)

[T]

For someone today

This abhang names the vārakarī-vow register:

  1. I will become a beggar — a Pandharī-vārakarī. Beggar-vārakarī-vow.

  2. Niyama-dharma: all is Viṭhōbā's nāma. Upāsanā: cling to santas' feet. Niyama-and-upāsanā.

  3. I will do bhōḷī sēvā. Bhōḷī-sēvā-vow.

For today: the bhakta vows: bhikārī, Pandharī-vārakarī; niyama-and-dharma is Viṭhōbā-nāma; upāsanā is clinging to santas' feet; the sēvā is bhōḷī (simple-minded), not clever or sophisticated.

This abhang is Tukaram's vārakarī-vow registerone of the most-direct programmatic-statements of Vārkarī life. Compare 0667 eka-māgaṇē-no-distance (Tukyā-bandhu); same minimum-position but here in declarative-vow rather than petition-form. The bhōḷī-sēvā (simple-minded sēvā) is the Vārkarī-mode: not-clever, not-philosophical, just-bhajan-and-walking.

मराठी: ही ओवी vārakarī-vow register नाव सांगते:

  1. भिकारी होईन — Pandharī-वारकरी. Beggar-vārakarī-vow.

  2. नेम-धर्म: विठोबा-नाम. उपासना: संत-चरणी-लागन. Niyama-and-upāsanā.

  3. भोळी सेवा करीन. Bhōḷī-sēvā-vow.

आज: Bhakta vows: bhikārī, Pandharī-vārakarī; Niyama-and-dharma — Viṭhōbā-nāma; Upāsanā — santām-caraṇa-cling; Sēvā — bhōḷī (simple-minded), clever-नाही.

Tukaram च-vārakarī-vow-registerVārkarī life च्या most-direct programmatic-statements पैकी एक. 0667 eka-māgaṇē-no-distance (Tukyā-bandhu) compare; तीच minimum-position पण इथे declarative-vow rather than petition-form-त. Bhōḷī-sēvā Vārkarī-mode — not-clever, not-philosophical, just-bhajan-and-walking.

Where this applies

Related verses