Abhanga 1317

For today: when the work is commissioned — even by the divine — don't make excuses; the saḷa is held, the measure thrown, the wake-up given; complete what remains.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

THE FOUNDATIONAL WARKARI BIOGRAPHICAL ABHANG — the Nāmdēv-Pāṇḍuranga-dream-commission narrative.

This is one of the most cited Tukaram-biography abhangs and is foundational to warkari understanding of Tukaram's authority and prolific output.

The narrative: Sant Nāmdēv (the 13th-c. warkari predecessor) had reportedly vowed to sing 100 crore (śata-koṭi = one billion) abhangs in praise of Viṭṭhala. He completed only a portion before passing. The vow remained unfilled. In Tukaram's lifetime (17th-c.), Nāmdēv came to Tukaram in a dream — accompanied by Pāṇḍuranga himself — and commissioned Tukaram to complete the count.

Reading the verbs:

1. Nāmdēvē kēlēm svapnāmājhī jāgē — Nāmdēv made (me) awake within the svapna. Striking inversion: in the dream, Tuka is made awake (rather than waking from the dream). The dream itself is the waking-into-reality.

2. Sāngitalēm kāma karāvē kavitva — (they) told me: do the work of kavitva (poetry-making). And — vā'ugēm nimitya bōlōm nakō — don't speak vain excuses. (Tukaram had been resistant to writing more, perhaps citing humility or his lay-householder status.)

3. Māpa ṭākī saḷa dhariyalī Viṭṭhalē — Viṭṭhala threw the māpa (measuring-cup) and held the saḷa (standard / measuring-rod). The merchant-imagery: Viṭṭhala becomes the measure-master — the one who tests-and-confirms quantity. Tuka, the village-merchant, recognized the gesture.

4. Thāpaṭōnī kēlē sāvadhāna — by thāpaṭanī (gentle pat / slap), made (me) sāvadhāna (alert). The wake-up-pat — a teacher's gesture, or a parent's wake-up-tap.

5. Pramāṇācī samkhyā sāngē śata-kōṭi — uralē śēvaṭīm lāvī Tukā — (Nāmdēv) says — the pramāṇa-count is śata-koṭi — what remains, at the end — complete, Tuka! The commission is precise: complete-the-count.

This abhang authorizes Tukaram's vast composition (~4,500-5,000 abhangs preserved in the Sakal-Sant-Gatha) as commissioned-by-Nāmdēv-and-Pāṇḍuranga-themselves. It situates Tukaram as the successor and completer of Nāmdēv's mission. And it defangs the modesty-question: when Hari himself slaps you awake and gives you a quota, vā'ugēm nimitya bōlōm nakō.

This is the second of the 2 abhangs in the dream-commission group (marker ॥२॥ at end of 1316). The first is implicit in 1316, but more likely refers to a sub-series 1317-1318. The next abhang (1318) at the start of Fire 73 will be the second of this dream-commission set.

[T]

For someone today

For today: when the work is commissioned — even by the divine — don't make excuses; the saḷa is held, the measure thrown, the wake-up given; complete what remains.

Where this applies

• Nāmdēv-and-Pāṇḍuranga-in-dream.* Nāmdēvē-Pāṇḍurangē-svapna.
• Do-the-work-of-kavitva.* Kāma-karāvē-kavitva.
• Don't-make-excuses.* Vā'ugēm-nimitya-na.
• Viṭṭhala-threw-measure-held-rod.* Māpa-ṭākī-saḷa-dhariyalī-Viṭṭhalē.
• Wake-up-by-pat.* Thāpaṭōnī-sāvadhāna.
• Śata-koṭi-count-complete-rest.* Śata-kōṭi-uralē-lāvī-Tukā.

Related verses

• Abhanga 1330 — For today: vairāgya happens through losses (parents, wife, dhana, māna); through sustained
• Abhanga 4481
• Abhanga 4482
• Abhanga 4582