Abhanga 1325
For today: the great-striving aimed at the sweet last day; tṛṣṇā staked-down, mukti married as bride — now four days of khēḷī-mēḷīm.
The verse
याजसाटीं केला होता आटाहास्ये । शेवटाचा दिस गोड व्हावा ॥१॥ आतां निश्चितीनें पावलों विसांवा । खुंटलिया धांवा तृष्णेचिया ॥ध्रु.॥ कवतुक वाटे जालिया वेचाचें । नांव मंगळाचें तेणें गुणें ॥२॥ म्हणे मुक्ति परिणिली नोवरी । आतां दिवस चारी खेळीमेळीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: For this — I had made the āṭāhāsa — (that) the last day be sweet. Now — with niścinti — (I) have reached visāvā — the running of tṛṣṇā has been staked-and-cut. Kavutuka at the made vēca — the name (becomes) mangaḷa, by that guṇa. (Tuka) says: mukti has been married — the bride — now four days for khēḷī-mēḷīm.
मराठी: याज-साठीं — आटाहास्ये केला होता — शेवटाचा दिस गोड व्हावा. आतां निश्चितीनें — विसांवा पावलों — तृष्णेच्या धांवा खुंटलिया. कवतुक वाटे — झाल्या वेचाचें — मंगळाचें नांव — त्या गुणानें-च. (Tukā) म्हणे — मुक्ति परिणिली — नोवरी; आतां — दिवस चारी — खेळी-मेळीं.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| याजसाटीं केला होता आटाहास्ये | "for this (yāja-sāṭīm) — I had made the āṭāhāsa (great-striving / great-toil)" |
| शेवटाचा दिस गोड व्हावा | "(that) the śēvaṭācā disa (last day) — be gōḍa (sweet)" |
| आतां निश्चितीनें पावलों विसांवा | "now — with niścinti (carefreeness) — (I) have reached visāvā (rest)" |
| खुंटलिया धांवा तृष्णेचिया | "the dhāmvā (running) of tṛṣṇā — has been khuṇṭa-viled (cut by stake / brought to halt)" |
| कवतुक वाटे जालिया वेचाचें | "(I find) kavutuka (wonder) at the made vēca (expense / spending)" |
| नांव मंगळाचें तेणें गुणें | "the name (becomes) mangaḷa — by that guṇa" |
| मुक्ति परिणिली नोवरी | "mukti has been pariṇa-led (= married) — (as) the nōvarī (bride)" |
| आतां दिवस चारी खेळीमेळीं | "now — four days — for khēḷī-mēḷīm (play-and-meeting / festival-fellowship)" |
What it means
THE celebrated mukti-pariṇilī-nōvarī abhang — Tuka's marriage to mukti.
The opening recapitulates the bhakta's life-project: yāja-sāṭīm kēlā hōtā āṭāhāsa — śēvaṭācā disa gōḍa vhāvā — for this I had done the great-striving — that the last day be sweet*. The whole life of bhakti has been aimed at one thing: a sweet last day.
Now that day has come. Ātām niścinti-nē pāvalōm visāmvā — now, with niścinti, I have reached visāvā (rest). Khuṇṭaliyā dhāmvā tṛṣṇēciyā — the running of tṛṣṇā has been staked-and-cut (khuṇṭa-villa is the verb of staking-down; tṛṣṇā's running has been staked-to-the-ground).
The image: kavutuka vāṭē jāliyā vēcāncē — nāva mangaḷācē tēṇē guṇē — I find kavutuka at the made-vēca — the name becomes mangaḷa by that guṇa. Vēca (= expense, outgo, what was spent) — Tuka wonders at all the spending he made over a lifetime; that very vēca now bears the name of mangaḷa (auspiciousness).
The clinching couplet: mukti pariṇilī nōvarī — ātām divasa cārī khēḷī-mēḷīm — mukti has been married — the bride; now four days for khēḷī-mēḷīm. The mukti-as-bride image is bridal-festival imagery (Marathi pariṇa = formal wedding-procession; nōvarī = bride). After the wedding, the customary cārī divasa (four days) of khēḷī-mēḷīm (= play-and-meeting, the post-wedding festival visits, the kēḷavaṇī) follow.
So Tuka's life is now post-wedding-mukti-festival — the four days of khēḷī-mēḷīm before the bride goes to the husband's house. The śēvaṭācā gōḍa disa has come.
This image lives in warkari memory as one of the most-cited expressions of jīvan-mukti-as-festival. (Some take it autobiographically as Tuka's premonition of his own vaikuṇṭha-gamana.)
[T]
For someone today
For today: the great-striving aimed at the sweet last day; tṛṣṇā staked-down, mukti married as bride — now four days of khēḷī-mēḷīm.
Where this applies
- Striving-for-sweet-last-day.* Yāja-sāṭīm-āṭāhāsa-gōḍa-disa.
- Reached-visāvā-with-niścinti.* Niścinti-nē-pāvalōm-visāmvā.
- Tṛṣṇā's-running-staked-down.* Khuṇṭaliyā-dhāmvā-tṛṣṇā.
- Wonder-at-the-vēca-now-mangaḷa.* Kavutuka-jāliyā-vēca-mangaḷa.
- Mukti-married-as-bride.* Mukti-pariṇilī-nōvarī.
- Four-days-of-khēḷī-mēḷīm.* Divasa-cārī-khēḷī-mēḷīm.