Abhanga 781

Tukaram calls his truest friends the ones who dance, weep, and fall to the ground in love without any shame or concern for what others think.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A dancing-clapping-throwing-body-on-ground-by-prema-bhōḷē-bhāvika-Hari-jana-throat-tight-eyes-flow-water abhang. Vārkarī-bhāva-companions register. Three claims:

1. नाचे-टाळी-पिटी — प्रेमें-अंग-धरणीं-लोटी — माझे-सखे-सज्जन — भोळे-भाविक-Hari-जन. Dancing-prema-anga-on-ground-bhōḷē-bhāvika-Hari-jana-claim. (He) dances, claps thetāḷī(small cymbals, the canonical Vārkarī-instrument); byprema, throws-the-body-on-the-ground (anga dharaṇī lōṭī); mysakhē(friends-companions) — those aresajjana; thebhōḷē-bhāvika(simple-faithful)Hari-jana. Dancing-and-throwing-body-on-ground-with-prema-are-my-bhōḷē-bhāvika-Hari-jana-companions.

2. न-धरिती-लाज — जनासवें-काज-नाहीं. No-lāja-no-concern-with-people-claim. They don't holdlāja(shame, social-restraint); nokāja(business, concern) withjana(people). No-shame-no-business-with-people.

3. Tuka: कंठ-दाटे — नेत्रीं-जळ-लोटे. Throat-tight-eyes-water-flow-claim. Tuka says: thekaṇṭha(throat) thickens (dāṭē); from the eyes, water flows (jaḷa lōṭē). Throat-thickens-tears-flow. (The classical bhāva-signs.)

[T]

For someone today

This abhang names the Vārkarī-companions pattern:

1. Dancing, clapping the cymbals, throwing the body to the ground in love; my friends are the simple, faithful people of Hari. My companions.

2. No shame, no concern for what people think. No shame.

3. The throat thickens, the eyes overflow with tears. The signs of devotion.

For today: Tuka names his real friends as those who dance and clap the cymbals, throwing their bodies to the ground in love; they are good people, simple and faithful devotees of Hari; they hold no shame and have no concern for what others think; and in that company, the throat thickens and the eyes overflow with tears.

This abhang is one of Tukaram's most affectionate statements about his companions — the dancing devotees, simple and faithful, who fall to the ground in love, and whom he calls his friends. Compare 0735, where the same Vārkarī celebration appears in the image of the procession moving without fear because God walks ahead of it — but here the focus is on these companions themselves. Throwing the body to the ground is the classic gesture of loving devotion in Vārkarī kīrtan — the devotee falls flat, overcome by love.

मराठी: ही ओवी वारकरी-सोबत्यांचा नमुना सांगते:

1. नाचणे, टाळ्या वाजवणे, प्रेमाने अंग धरणीवर टाकणे; माझे सखे म्हणजे भोळे-भाविक हरिजन. माझे सोबती.

2. लाज नाही, लोक काय म्हणतील याची पर्वा नाही. लाज न बाळगणे.

3. कंठ दाटतो, डोळ्यांतून अश्रू वाहतात. भावाची लक्षणे.

आजसाठी: तुका आपले खरे सखे असे सांगतात जे नाचतात, टाळ्या वाजवतात, प्रेमाने अंग धरणीवर टाकतात; ते सज्जन आहेत, भोळे-भाविक हरिजन आहेत; त्यांना लाज नाही, लोकांची पर्वा नाही; आणि अशा सहवासात कंठ दाटतो, डोळ्यांतून अश्रू वाहू लागतात.

ही ओवी तुकारामांच्या सोबत्यांबद्दलच्या सर्वात आपुलकीच्या विधानांपैकी एक आहे — नाचणारे, भोळे-भाविक भक्त, जे प्रेमाने धरणीवर कोसळतात, आणि ज्यांना तुकाराम आपले सखे म्हणतात. ओवी क्र. ०७३५ शी तुलना करता येईल — तिथेही तोच वारकरी उत्सव आहे, वारीची मिरवणूक निर्भय पुढे जाते कारण देव पुढे चालतो — पण इथे लक्ष या सोबत्यांवरच केंद्रित आहे. अंग धरणीवर टाकणे हे वारकरी कीर्तनातील प्रेमभावाचे ठराविक हावभाव आहे — भक्त प्रेमाने भारावून सपशेल कोसळतो.

Where this applies

• Dancing-clapping-throwing. Vārkarī-bhāva.
• Bhōḷē-bhāvika Hari-jana. Companions.
• Throat-tight, eyes-flow. Bhāva-signs.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2464 — For today: Pāṇḍuranga is sukha-rūpa ; no wandering, no shaving, no sādhana-pressure ; Chan
• Abhanga 2490 — The divine is most reachable through the living presence of a true saint, not through a di
• Abhanga 2494 — Living in devotion turns an ordinary day into a festival and removes the fear of birth and
• Abhanga 4481 — Tukaram promises that sincerely calling on the Lord's name, knowingly or unknowingly, with