Abhanga 836
English: Maiṇḍa — Paṇḍharī.
The verse
मैंद आला पंढरीस । हातीं घेउनि प्रेमपाश ॥१॥ पुढें नाडियलें जग । नेतो लागों नेदी माग ॥ध्रु.॥ उभारोनि बाहे । दृष्टादृष्टी वेधीताहे ॥२॥ वैकंठीहुनि पेणें । केलें पंढरीकारणें ॥३॥ पुंडलिकें यारा । देउनि आणिलें चोरा ॥४॥ तुका म्हणे चला । तुम्ही आम्ही धरूं त्याला ॥५॥
Literal translation
English: Maiṇḍa — Paṇḍharī. In-hand — prēma-pāśa. Ahead — nāḍiyalē — jaga. Takes — doesn't-let — māga. Raising — bāhē. Dṛṣṭā-dṛṣṭi — vēdhitāhē. From-Vaikuṇṭha — pēṇē — Paṇḍharī-kāraṇa. Puṇḍalika — yārā — bringing — cōra. Tuka says: come — you-and-I — dharūm — him.
मराठी: एक मैंद (चोर) पंढरीला आला — हातीं प्रेम-पाश घेउनि. पुढें जगाला नाडवलं — नेतो (पण) माग लागू देत नाहीं. बाहे (हात) उभारून — दृष्ट-दृष्टी-नं वेधीतो (खेचतो). वैकुंठाहून पेणें (मुक्काम) — पंढरी-कारणानं केलं. पुंडलिकानं यारा (युक्ती) देऊन — चोराला आणलं. Tuka म्हणे: चला — तुम्ही-आम्ही त्याला धरूं.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| मैंद आला पंढरीस | "maiṇḍa (thief) — has-come — Paṇḍharī" |
| हातीं घेउनि प्रेमपाश | "in-hand — taking — prēma-pāśa" |
| पुढें नाडियलें जग | "ahead — nāḍiyalē (deceived) — jaga" |
| नेतो लागों नेदी माग | "takes — doesn't-let — māga (trail)" |
| उभारोनि बाहे | "raising — bāhē (arms)" |
| दृष्टादृष्टी वेधीताहे | "dṛṣṭā-dṛṣṭi — vēdhitāhē" |
| वैकंठीहुनि पेणें | "from-Vaikuṇṭha — pēṇē (camp)" |
| केलें पंढरीकारणें | "made — Paṇḍharī-kāraṇa" |
| पुंडलिकें यारा | "Puṇḍalika — yārā (trick)" |
| देउनि आणिलें चोरा | "giving — brought — cōra" |
| चला तुम्ही आम्ही धरूं त्याला | "come — you-and-I — dharūm — him" |
What it means
A thief-came-to-Paṇḍharī-with-prema-rope-deceived-world-takes-without-trail-arms-raised-gaze-pierces-Vaikuṇṭha-camp-for-Paṇḍharī-Puṇḍalika's-trick-brought-the-thief-Tuka-says-let's-catch-him abhang. Viṭhṭhal-as-thief-of-hearts register. Six claims:
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मैंद-Paṇḍharīसा-आला — हातीं-प्रेम-पाश. Thief-with-prema-rope-claim. A maiṇḍa (thief, swindler, the playful-trickster) has come to Paṇḍharī; taking the *prēma-pāśa (rope-of-love, the lover's-lasso) in his hand. Viṭhṭhal-the-thief-with-his-prema-rope-arrives-at-Paṇḍharī. (The opening reverses the usual pious-image: Viṭhṭhal is playfully called a maiṇḍa — a thief — because he steals hearts, with the prēma-pāśa* (rope-of-love) as his weapon.)
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पुढें-नाडियलें-जग — माग-लागू-देत-नाहीं. Deceived-world-no-trail-back-claim. He has nāḍiyalē (deceived, fooled, swindled) the world ahead; he takes (them) (away, into-bhakti), and doesn't let-(them)-leave-a māga (trail / footprints) (back). Deceives-and-leaves-no-back-trail*. (Once-stolen-by-Viṭhṭhal, no-going-back; he leaves-no-trail-by-which-the-stolen-bhakta-could-return-to-samsāra.)
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बाहे-उभारून — दृष्ट-दृष्टी-वेधितो. Arms-raised-gaze-pierces-claim. Raising the bāhē (the arms — Viṭhṭhal's iconic arms-akimbo, hands-on-hips stance, sometimes with arms-out); by *dṛṣṭā-dṛṣṭi (gaze-meeting-gaze, eye-to-eye-contact), he is vēdhitāhē (piercing, pulling-by-piercing-the-gaze, sucking-into-himself by the eye-contact). Iconic-pose-and-the-gaze-pierces-and-pulls. (Iconographic-image: the Pandharī-stance with arms; the dṛṣṭā-dṛṣṭi — gaze-on-gaze — pierces-and-pulls-the-bhakta into Viṭhṭhal.)
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वैकुंठ-हुनि-पेणें — Paṇḍharī-कारणानं. Vaikuṇṭha-camp-for-Paṇḍharī-claim. (He) made pēṇē (camp / lodging — like a traveler who sets-up-camp) — from-*Vaikuṇṭha — for Paṇḍharī's-sake. Camped-from-Vaikuṇṭha-for-Paṇḍharī's-sake. (Vārkarī-canonical claim: Viṭṭhal moved his abode from Vaikuṇṭha to Paṇḍharī — set-up-camp here — for Paṇḍharī's sake; this is what makes Paṇḍharī the Bhū-Vaikuṇṭha* (Earth-Vaikuṇṭha).)
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Puṇḍalika-यारा-दिला — चोरा-आणलं. Puṇḍalika-brought-the-thief-claim. Puṇḍalika gave the yārā (the friendly-trick / scheme / device — the yāra is a friend's-clever-arrangement); and brought the *cōra (the thief — = Viṭhṭhal) (here). Puṇḍalika's-trick-brought-the-thief. (Vārkarī-lineage-claim: it was Puṇḍalika's clever-arrangement — his yārā — that brought-Viṭṭhal-here — to Paṇḍharī. The cōra is Viṭhṭhal-the-heart-thief; Puṇḍalika* arranged-it.)
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Tuka: चला — तुम्ही-आम्ही-धरूं-त्याला. Let's-catch-him-claim. Tuka says: come — you-and-I will dharūm (catch, seize) him. Communal-let's-catch-the-thief. (Brilliant-reversal-of-the-thief-image: instead of running-from-the-thief-or-warning-against-him, Tuka calls everyone to catch him — i.e., catch-the-thief-of-hearts and not-let-him-go*. The communal-bhakti-call.)
[T]
For someone today
This abhang names the Viṭhṭhal-as-thief-of-hearts register:
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A thief has come to Paṇḍharī with the prema-rope. Thief-arrives.
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He deceives the world and takes them without a trail. No-back-trail.
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Arms raised; gaze pierces. Gaze-pulls.
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Camped from Vaikuṇṭha for Paṇḍharī's sake. Earth-Vaikuṇṭha.
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Puṇḍalika's trick brought the thief. Lineage.
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Come, you-and-I will catch him. Communal-catch.
For today: a maiṇḍa has come to Paṇḍharī, with the prēma-pāśa; he has nāḍiyalē the world, and leaves-no-back-trail; with bāhē raised, dṛṣṭā-dṛṣṭi pierces; (he) camped from Vaikuṇṭha for Paṇḍharī's sake; Puṇḍalika's yārā brought the cōra; Tuka says: come — you-and-I will catch him.
This abhang is Tukaram's Maiṇḍa-ālā-Paṇḍharīsa register — one of the most-celebrated and most-playful bhakti-abhangs of the Gatha; widely-sung in kīrtana. Compare 0695 flood-of-ānanda-and-call-to-comrades (Tuka's mudra); same communal-call-to-comrades but here organized around the playful thief-of-hearts image. The calā tumhī āmhī dharūm tyālā (come, you-and-I will catch him) is among the most-quoted-lines in all-of-Vārkarī tradition*.
मराठी: ही ओवी Viṭhṭhal-as-thief-of-hearts register नाव सांगते:
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मैंद-प्रेम-पाश. Thief-arrives.
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माग-लागू-देत-नाहीं. No-back-trail.
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बाहे-दृष्ट-दृष्टी-वेधी. Gaze-pulls.
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वैकुंठ-पेणें-Paṇḍharī. Earth-Vaikuṇṭha.
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Puṇḍalika-यारा-चोरा. Lineage.
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चला-धरूं-त्याला. Communal-catch.
आज: Maiṇḍa Paṇḍharī-ला आला, prēma-pāśa-नं; Jaga-ला nāḍiyalē, māga मागें-ठेवीत-नाहीं; Bāhē-राइसून, dṛṣṭā-dṛṣṭi पिर्चीतो; Vaikuṇṭha-हून pēṇē — Paṇḍharī-कारणानं; Puṇḍalika-च्या yārā-नं cōra आणला; Tuka म्हणे: चला — तुम्ही-आम्ही त्याला धरूं*.
Tukaram च-Maiṇḍa-ālā-Paṇḍharīsa-register — Most-celebrated and most-playful bhakti-abhangs of the Gatha; widely-sung in kīrtana. 0695 flood-of-ānanda-and-call-to-comrades (Tuka mudra) compare; तीच communal-call-to-comrades पण इथे playful thief-of-hearts image-नं. Calā tumhī āmhī dharūm tyālā Vārkarī-tradition-त-च्या most-quoted-lines पैकी एक.
Where this applies
- Thief-with-rope.* Playful.
- No back-trail.* Stolen-for-good.
- Gaze-pierces.* Iconography.
- Earth-Vaikuṇṭha.* Paṇḍharī.
- Puṇḍalika lineage.* Origin.
- Let's-catch-him.* Communal.