Abhanga 856

When a long yearned-for meeting finally happens, happiness gathers all at once, words can fail you, and what's left is a quiet, settled contentment.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A all-sukhas-gathered-here-today-saints'-lotus-feet-seen-was-recalling-all-time-now-satisfaction-released-vācā-halted-citta-becomes-settled-content abhang. Saint-darśana-fulfillment register. Three claims:

1. सर्व-सुखें-आज-एथें — संत-चरणांबुजें-देखिलीं. All-sukhas-gathered-and-saint-feet-seen-claim. Allsukhas have, today,vōḷalī (gathered, poured-into) here-itself;the santas' caraṇa-ambuja (lotus-feet) were dēkhilī. All-sukhas-gathered-here-and-saints'-feet-seen. (Celebrated opening: this is among the most-quoted-lines of Vārkarī-tradition — sarva sukhē ājī ēthē ci vōḷalī — all sukhas have gathered here today; the cause is the santa-caraṇa-ambuja-darśana.)

2. सर्व-काळ-आठवीत — फिटली-धणी-येणें-काळें. Was-recalling-now-satisfaction-released-claim. All thekāḷa, I was āṭhavīt (recalling) in mana; thedhaṇī (great-satisfaction, the dhaṇī of long-yearning) has phiṭalī (been-released, become-satiated) yēṇē kāḷē (by this present-time).Long-recalled; now-satisfaction-released.

3. Tuka: वाचा-कुंटित — चित्त-समाधान. Vācā-halted-citta-settled-claim. Tuka says: thevācāremainskuṇṭita (halted, struck-dumb — beyond-words);ahead, the citta has become samādhāna (settled-content, restful-fulfillment).Vācā-halted; citta-settled-content. (Closing: words-fail (vācā-kuṇṭita) but citta-is-now-samādhāna.)

[T]

For someone today

This abhang names the pattern of fulfillment through seeing the saints:

1. All joys have gathered here today; the lotus feet of the saints were seen. All joys gathered.

2. I had been remembering this all along; now that long yearning is finally released. Long yearning released.

3. Speech has come to a halt; the heart has settled into contentment. Speech halts, the heart settles.

For today: all joys have gathered here today, now that the lotus feet of the saints have been seen; I had been holding this in mind and remembering it all along, and now that long yearning has finally been satisfied; words fail me, and my heart has settled into a quiet contentment.

This abhang is one of the most celebrated statements of fulfillment after seeing the saints — its opening line is among the most sung in the Varkari tradition. Compare 0840 and 0843, where the same celebration of meeting the saints appears, one describing a fortunate journey whose toil finally bears fruit, the other describing how such a meeting gathers in Padmanabha himself — the same joy of meeting the saints, but here it is worked out through the idea of all joys gathering here and speech halting while the heart settles. "Speech has come to a halt; the heart has settled into contentment" is the precise closing stillness that follows this meeting.

मराठी: ही ओवी संतदर्शनातून पूर्णता मिळण्याचा नमुना सांगते:

1. सर्व सुखे आज इथेच वोळली आहेत; संतांची कमलचरणे दिसली. सर्व सुखे एकवटली.

2. मी हे सतत मनात आठवत होतो; आतां ती दीर्घकाळाची आस पूर्ण झाली. दीर्घकाळाची आस पूर्ण.

3. वाणी थांबून गेली; चित्त समाधानात स्थिरावले. वाणी थांबते, चित्त स्थिरावते.

आजसाठी: सर्व सुखे आज इथेच एकवटली आहेत, संतांची कमलचरणे पाहिली गेली आहेत म्हणून; मी हे सतत मनात धरून, आठवत होतो, आणि आतां ती दीर्घकाळाची आस पूर्ण झाली आहे; शब्द थांबून जातात, आणि माझे चित्त शांत समाधानात स्थिरावले आहे.

संतदर्शनानंतरच्या पूर्णतेबद्दलच्या सर्वात गाजलेल्या विधानांपैकी ही ओवी आहे — तिची सुरुवातीची ओळ वारकरी परंपरेतील सर्वाधिक गायल्या जाणाऱ्या ओळींपैकी एक आहे. ओवी क्र. ०८४० आणि ०८४३ शी तुलना करता येईल — तिथेही हाच संतभेटीचा आनंद आहे, एक तर भाग्यवान प्रवासाच्या श्रमाला फळ येण्याच्या रूपात, दुसरा अशी भेट स्वतः पद्मनाभालाच एकवटते असे सांगण्याच्या रूपात — तोच संतभेटीचा आनंद, पण इथे तो सर्व सुखे इथे एकवटणे आणि वाणी थांबून चित्त स्थिरावणे यांतून मांडला आहे. "वाणी थांबून गेली; चित्त समाधानात स्थिरावले" हीच या भेटीनंतरची नेमकी स्तब्ध शांतता आहे.

Where this applies

• When you finally meet someone whose presence you've been longing for and words fail you
• When a long-held yearning is suddenly and quietly fulfilled
• When being near people you deeply respect makes ordinary happiness feel complete
• When you're at a loss for words but feel calm and settled inside

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