Abhanga 842

When a rare, hard-won opportunity for good arrives, seize it fully and hold on tight, because chances like it don't come every day.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A each-profit-fill-up-with-Viṭṭhal-as-merchandise-fortune-reached-body-offered-as-kuravaṇḍī-where-ahead-such-happen-feet-not-let-slip-for-a-moment abhang. Viṭṭhal-as-merchandise-and-feet-not-let-slip register. Three claims:

1. आपुलाला-लाहो — Viṭṭhal-केणें-भरूं — भाग्य-ठायीं — काया-कुरवंडी. Each-profit-Viṭṭhal-as-merchandise-and-body-offered-claim. Let-us-each profit (āpulālā lāhō— each-his-own-gain); let-us fill-up (our stock-of-merchandise / ourkēṇa) with thisViṭṭhal (= the Viṭṭhal itself is the kēṇa — the merchandise we're stocking);we have reached bhāgya at yā ṭhāya (at this place — Pandharī / the saint-presence);now I make a kuravaṇḍī (the waving-around-and-offering — like the gesture of waving the body around the head and casting-it-aside as offering) of the kāyā (body).Each-profit-fill-with-Viṭṭhal; body-offered-as-kuravaṇḍī. (The merchant-poet uses his-trade-vocabulary: each-fill-his-stock withViṭṭhalaskēṇa, then offer the body askuravaṇḍī.)

2. पुढती-कुठे-असं-घडे — बहुतां-दिसें-फावलं. Where-ahead-such-happen-rare-availability-claim. Where, ahead (in future), will-such-as-thisghaḍē (happen)?—to bahutām disē (many days = after many-days) has it become-phāvalē (available, found).Where-ahead-will-such-happen — only-after-many-days-it-came-to-be-available. (Thephāvalēnote: this opportunity (Pandharī, satsang) doesn't come every-day —bahutām disē (after many days) it became-found.)

3. Tuka: जोडी-जाली — चरण-घडी-न-विसंभें. Feet-not-let-slip-for-a-moment-claim. Tuka says: thejōḍī (joining, the meeting, the gathering) has-been-made;the caraṇa — even for ghaḍī (a-moment) — I will not visambhē (let-slip, forget).Feet-grasped-and-not-let-slip-for-a-moment. (Closing firm-grip: now that thejōḍī is made, the feet won't be-let-go-of even for-a-moment.)

[T]

For someone today

Tukaram, ever the shopkeeper, talks about devotion in trading terms: this is the moment to profit, so fill your stock with what really matters instead of ordinary merchandise. Getting to this place at all was pure good fortune, and now he offers his whole body in gratitude, holding nothing back. Chances like this don't come every day, it took him a long time to arrive here, so once the connection is made, he refuses to loosen his grip, not even for a moment.

मराठी: तुकाराम, नेहमीप्रमाणे व्यापारी भाषेत सांगतात, ही नफा कमावण्याची वेळ आहे, म्हणून नेहमीच्या मालाऐवजी खरोखर महत्त्वाच्या गोष्टीनं आपला साठा भरून घ्यावा. इथवर पोहोचणं हेच मोठं भाग्य होतं, आणि आता ते कृतज्ञतेनं आपलं संपूर्ण शरीर अर्पण करतात, काहीही राखून न ठेवता. अशी संधी रोज मिळत नाही, इथवर पोहोचायला त्यांना खूप काळ लागला, त्यामुळे एकदा हे नातं जुळल्यावर ते क्षणभरही हात सैल सोडत नाहीत.

Where this applies

• When you finally get access to something rare and valuable and decide to make the most of it fully
• When you feel deep gratitude for having reached a place or moment you worked toward for a long time
• When a rare opportunity appears and you know it might not come again soon
• When you decide to hold on tightly to a good influence or relationship instead of letting it slip away out of distraction

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