Abhanga 806
Once you actually go to Pandharpur, you find that what abstract praise of distant heaven never delivers is right there, plainly visible in ordinary devotion, at Vitthal's feet.
The verse
जंव नाहीं देखिली पंढरी । तोंवरी वर्णिसी थोर वैकुंठींची ॥१॥ मोक्षसिद्धी तेथें हिंडे दारोदारीं । होऊनि कामारी दीनरूप ॥ध्रु.॥ वृंदावन सडे चौक रंग माळा । अभिन्नव सोहोळा घरोघरीं ॥२॥ नामघोष कथापुराणकीर्तनीं । ओविया कांडणीं पांडुरंग ॥३॥ सर्व सुख तेथें असे सर्वकाळ । ब्रम्ह तें केवळ नांदतसे ॥४॥ तुका म्हणे जें न साधे सायासें । तें हें प्रत्यक्ष दिसे विटेवरि ॥५॥
Literal translation
Until — not — Pandharī — till-then — praise — Vaikuṇṭha-greatness. Mōkṣa-siddhī — wanders — door-to-door — kāmārī — dīna-rūpa. Vṛndāvana-saḍē-cauka-ranga-māḷā — abhinava sōhōḷā — every-house. Nāma-ghōṣa-kathā-purāṇa-kīrtana — ōvi-kāṇḍaṇī — Pāṇḍuranga. Sarva-sukha — there — sarva-kāḷa — Brahma — alone — nāndatasē. Tuka says: what — not — sāyāsa — that — pratyakṣa — viṭē-vari.
मराठी: जंव नाहीं देखिली पंढरी — तोंवरी वर्णिसि थोर Vaikuṇṭhīmcī. Mōkṣa-siddhi तेथें हिंडे दारो-दारीं — होऊनि कामारी, दीन-रूप. Vṛndāvana-सडे, चौक, रंग-माळा — अभिनव सोहोळा घरो-घरीं. नाम-घोष, कथा-पुराण-कीर्तन — ओविया, कांडणीं Pāṇḍuranga. सर्व-सुख तेथें असे सर्व-काळ — Brahma तें केवळ नांदतसें. Tuka म्हणे: जें न साधे सायासें — तें हें प्रत्यक्ष दिसे विटेवरि.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| जंव नाहीं देखिली पंढरी | "until — not — Pandharī" |
| तोंवरी वर्णिसी थोर वैकुंठींची | "till-then — praise — Vaikuṇṭha-greatness" |
| मोक्षसिद्धी तेथें हिंडे दारोदारीं | "mōkṣa-siddhī — wanders — door-to-door" |
| होऊनि कामारी दीनरूप | "becoming — kāmārī — dīna-rūpa" |
| वृंदावन सडे चौक रंग माळा | "vṛndāvana-saḍē-cauka-ranga-māḷā" |
| अभिन्नव सोहोळा घरोघरीं | "abhinava sōhōḷā — every-house" |
| नामघोष कथापुराणकीर्तनीं | "nāma-ghōṣa-kathā-purāṇa-kīrtana" |
| ओविया कांडणीं पांडुरंग | "ōvi-kāṇḍaṇī — Pāṇḍuranga" |
| सर्व सुख तेथें असे सर्वकाळ | "sarva-sukha — there — sarva-kāḷa" |
| ब्रम्ह तें केवळ नांदतसे | "Brahma — alone — nāndatasē" |
| जें न साधे सायासें | "what — not — sāyāsa" |
| तें हें प्रत्यक्ष दिसे विटेवरि | "that — pratyakṣa — viṭē-vari" |
What it means
A don't-praise-Vaikuṇṭha-haven't-seen-Pandharī-mōkṣa-siddhi-as-kāmārī-vṛndāvana-rangōli-Brahma-dwells-here-what-not-attained-by-effort-here-on-brick abhang. Pandharī-supremacy-over-Vaikuṇṭha register. Five claims:
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Pandharī-न-देखिली — तोंवरी-Vaikuṇṭha-वर्णिसि. Don't-praise-Vaikuṇṭha-until-Pandharī-seen-claim. Until you have not seen Pandharī; till-then you praiseVaikuṇṭha's greatness. Pandharī-supremacy-over-Vaikuṇṭha.
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Mōkṣa-siddhi-तेथें-हिंडे-दारो-दारीं — कामारी-दीन-रूप. Mōkṣa-siddhi-wanders-as-kāmārī-claim. Mōkṣa-siddhī (the four-mukti — sālōkya, sāmīpya, sārūpya, sāyujya) wanders dārō-dārī there (in Pandharī);having-become a kāmārī (handmaid), in dīna-rūpa. In-Pandharī-mōkṣa-siddhī-is-a-handmaid. (One of the strongest claims: in Pandharī, even mukti is reduced-to-handmaid-status, dwelling in dīna-form, wandering door-to-door for-attention.)
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Vṛndāvana-saḍē-cauka-ranga-māḷā — अभिनव-सोहोळा-घरो-घरीं. Vṛndāvana-rangōli-every-house-claim. Vṛndāvana-sprinkling, cauka, ranga-māḷā (rangōli);abhinava sōhōḷā(fresh-celebration) in every-house.
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Nāma-ghōṣa-kathā-purāṇa-kīrtana — ओविया-कांडणीं-Pāṇḍuranga — सर्व-सुख-सर्व-काळ — Brahma-केवळ-नांदतसें. Nāma-kathā-ovi-Pāṇḍuranga-Brahma-dwells-claim. Nāma-ghōṣa, kathā-purāṇa-kīrtana; ōvi (women's-grindstone-songs), whilekāṇḍaṇī(grinding) — Pāṇḍuranga (sung in); all sukha theresarva-kāḷa; Brahma alonenāndatasē(dwells). Pandharī-saturated-with-bhakti-and-Brahma-dwells.
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Tuka: न-साधे-सायासें — पत्यक्ष-विटेवरि. What-not-attained-by-effort-here-on-brick-claim. Tuka says: what is not attained bysāyāsa(effort) (anywhere-else); that is seen pratyakṣa (manifestly) here—on the viṭē (the famous Pandharī-brick on which Viṭṭhal stands).What-effort-fails-to-attain-pratyakṣa-here-on-the-brick.
[T]
For someone today
Tukaram says that as long as you haven't actually been to Pandharpur, you keep praising the far-off, abstract greatness of heaven. But once you go there, you find that liberation itself has become common and humble, wandering house to house like a servant, because the whole town is soaked in devotion. Every home has its own fresh little celebration, rangoli in the courtyard, the singing of Pandurang's name in stories, kirtans, and even in the songs women sing while grinding grain. Tukaram says that what years of striving and effort fail to reach elsewhere is right there, plainly visible, on the brick where Vitthal stands. The lesson is that grace you've been chasing abstractly might already be sitting in plain sight in an ordinary, everyday place, if you actually go and look.
मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की जोपर्यंत तुम्ही प्रत्यक्ष पंढरी पाहिली नाही, तोपर्यंत तुम्ही वैकुंठाच्या दूरच्या, अमूर्त थोरवीचे वर्णन करत राहता. पण एकदा तिथे गेल्यावर कळते की मोक्ष हा तिथे इतका सहज-साधा झाला आहे की तो सेवकासारखा घरोघरी फिरतो, कारण सगळे गाव भक्तीने ओथंबलेले आहे. प्रत्येक घरात आपला वेगळा साजरा सोहळा असतो, अंगणात रांगोळी असते, आणि पांडुरंगाचे नाव कथा, कीर्तन आणि जात्यावरच्या ओव्यांतूनही गायले जाते. तुकाराम म्हणतात की वर्षानुवर्षे प्रयत्न करूनही जे साधत नाही, ते इथे विटेवर उभ्या असलेल्या विठ्ठलाच्या रूपात प्रत्यक्ष दिसते. याचा अर्थ असा की तुम्ही ज्या कृपेचा अमूर्त शोध घेत आहात, ती कदाचित एखाद्या साध्या, रोजच्या ठिकाणी उघड्या डोळ्यांसमोरच असेल, फक्त तिथे जाऊन पाहायला हवे.
Where this applies
- Don't praiseVaikuṇṭha. Until-Pandharī.
- Mukti — handmaid. In-Pandharī.
- Brahma dwells. Pratyakṣa-here.
- On theviṭē. Brick.