Abhanga 1243
Viṭṭhala stands tired on the riverbank for your sake, and it is sincere feeling alone, not greatness or effort, that catches hold of him.
The verse
दोन्ही हात ठेवुनि कटीं । उभा भीवरेच्या तटीं । कष्टलासी साटीं । विठ्ठला ॥१॥ भागलासी मायबापा । बहु श्रम केल्या खेपा । आम्हालागीं सोपा । दैत्या काळ कृतांत ॥ध्रु.॥ होतासी क्षीरसागरीं । मही दाटली असुरीं । म्हणोनियां घरीं । गौळियांचे अवतार ॥२॥ केला पुंडलिकें गोवा । तुज पंढरीसि देवा । तुका म्हणे भावा । साटीं हातीं सांपडसी ॥३॥
Literal translation
Both hands placed on the waist, standing on Bhīvarē's bank — you have undergone hardship for our sake, Viṭṭhalā. You got tired, mayabāpa — many trips, much śrama — for us — daityas, kāḷa, kṛtānta were easy (to handle). You were in the kṣīrasāgara — the earth was crowded with asuras — therefore the avatāra in the gauḷīs' house. Puṇḍalika captured you at Paṇḍharī, Deva. Tuka says: for bhāva (= bhāva-only) you fall into any hand.
मराठी: दोन्ही हात कटीं ठेवून — भीवरेच्या तटीं उभा — आम्हांसाठीं तू कष्टलास, विठ्ठला. भागलास, मायबापा — खूप श्रमाच्या खेपा — आमच्या-साठीं सोपा — दैत्य, काळ, कृतांत. तू क्षीरसागरीं होतास — मही असुरांनीं दाटली — म्हणून गवळ्यांच्या घरीं अवतार. पुंडलिकानें तुला पंढरीला गोवा (पकडून) ठेवलें, देवा — Tukā म्हणे — भावा-साठीं तू हातीं सांपडतोस.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| दोन्ही हात ठेवुनि कटीं | "having placed both hands on the kaṭi (waist)" |
| उभा भीवरेच्या तटीं | "standing on the bank (taṭīm) of Bhīvarē (= Bhīmā river)" |
| कष्टलासी साटीं | "you have undergone hardship — for our sake (sāṭīm)" |
| भागलासी मायबापा | "you got tired, mayabāpa" |
| बहु श्रम केल्या खेपा | "many trips (khēpā), much śrama" |
| आम्हालागीं सोपा | "for us — easy (sōpā)" |
| दैत्या काळ कृतांत | "(handling) daitya, kāḷa (death-time), kṛtānta (death-spirit)" |
| होतासी क्षीरसागरीं | "you were in the kṣīrasāgara (milk-ocean)" |
| मही दाटली असुरीं | "the earth (mahī) was crowded with asuras" |
| म्हणोनियां घरीं | "therefore in the house" |
| गौळियांचे अवतार | "of the gauḷī (cowherds) — the avatāra" |
| केला पुंडलिकें गोवा | "Puṇḍalika did the gōvā (capture/holding-fast)" |
| तुज पंढरीसि देवा | "of you at Paṇḍharī, Deva" |
| भावा साटीं हातीं सांपडसी | "for bhāva — you fall into the hand" |
What it means
Bhupāḷyā 5 of 8 — the centerpiece. Tukaram's most iconic description of Viṭṭhala's image.
The opening couplet dōnnhī hāta kaṭīm — ubhā Bhīvarē-cyā taṭīm has become probably the most-recited line about Viṭṭhala in all Marathi bhakti. The image is the vigraha (icon) at Paṇḍharpur: - Both hands on the hips — the kaṭi-hasta posture, the standing-with-hands-on-waist that distinguishes Viṭṭhala from all other Viṣṇu-icons - Standing on the bank of Bhīvarē (the Bhīmā river, also called Candrabhāgā at Paṇḍharpur)
The implicit reading-of-the-stance: kaṣṭalāsī sāṭīm — Viṭṭhalā — for our sake you've undergone hardship — and now you stand at the bank, having walked the road. The hands-on-waist is read as the slightly-tired stance of one who has come a long way for us.
The cosmology in 4 lines: you were in kṣīrasāgara (Vaikuṇṭha-substrate) — earth was crowded with asuras — therefore avatāra in the gauḷī's house (Kṛṣṇa as cowherd-child).
The closing aphorism — bhāvā sāṭīm hātīm sāmpaḍasī — for bhāva you fall into the hand — is the warkari teaching in nine syllables: only bhāva catches Hari. Puṇḍalika is the proof: a brick (the vīṭa) at his feet held off the cosmic-immense — by bhāva alone.
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For someone today
Tuka describes Viṭṭhala's most famous image, standing on the bank of the river with both hands resting on his hips, like someone tired from a long journey undertaken entirely for your sake. This same God once lived in the ocean of milk, came down as a cowherd child when the earth grew crowded with evil, and let himself be held in place at Paṇḍharī by Puṇḍalika, a devoted son. The lesson Tuka draws is simple and direct: none of that greatness or effort matters as the way in, only sincere feeling does. God falls into the hand of whoever holds him with real bhāva, nothing more elaborate is required.
मराठी: तुका विठ्ठलाच्या सर्वात प्रसिद्ध रूपाचे वर्णन करतो, नदीच्या काठावर दोन्ही हात कमरेवर ठेवून उभा, जणू तुमच्यासाठीच केलेल्या लांबच्या प्रवासाने दमलेला. हाच देव एकेकाळी क्षीरसागरात राहत होता, पृथ्वी असुरांनी भरून गेली तेव्हा गवळ्याच्या घरी बाळ म्हणून अवतरला, आणि पंढरीत पुंडलिकासारख्या भक्त मुलाने त्याला थांबवून ठेवले. तुका यातून जो धडा काढतो तो साधा आणि थेट आहे, हे सगळे मोठेपण किंवा कष्ट महत्त्वाचे नाहीत, फक्त खरी भावना महत्त्वाची आहे. जो कोणी खऱ्या भावाने त्याला धरतो, त्याच्याच हातात देव सापडतो, यापेक्षा अधिक काही लागत नाही.
Where this applies
- When you see someone who has clearly gone out of their way, tired but still standing there for you
- When you think you need grand gestures or elaborate rituals to reach someone, when simple sincerity would do
- When a child or devoted friend manages to hold onto someone important through nothing but genuine affection
- When you doubt whether your plain, unpolished feeling is enough to matter