Abhanga 1332

For today: give thanks for the very losses that brought you to bhakti — bankruptcy, famine, public disgrace, lost cattle, abandoned shame; without anutāpa, no cintana; samsāra had to become vomit.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

THE FAMOUS BARĒṀ JĀLĒṀ ABHANG — closes the vairāgya-prakāra set ॥३॥.

This is among the most-quoted Tukaram-compositions in the warkari tradition. The structure is liturgical: each line begins barēm jālēm (good it is / good it happened) — celebrating the very losses that drove him to bhakti.

The list of blessings-disguised-as-losses:

1. Divāḷē nighālē — bankruptcy came out (the moneylending business collapsed in the famine)
2. Duṣkāḷē pīḍā kēlī — the famine gave pīḍā (1629-30 Maharashtrian famine)
3. Jagīm pāvalōm apamāna — got apamāna in the world (creditors and former associates turned against him)
4. Gēlē dhana ḍhōrē gurē — dhana, ḍhōrē, gurē went (lost wealth and cattle)
5. Nāhīm dharilī lōka-lāja — didn't hold lōka-lāja (didn't let public shame deter the new path)
6. Lēkarēm bā'ila upēkṣilīm — neglected children-and-wife (left aside the householder duties)

Each bare item is named good — because anutāpē tujhē rāhilē cintana — jālā hā vamana samsāra — by anutāpa, your cintana stayed; this samsāra became vomit. Anutāpa (the after-burning, the searing-regret) is what kept his cintana on Hari. Without the losses, no anutāpa; without anutāpa, no cintana; without cintana, no bhakti. The losses manufactured the bhakti.

The vamana (vomit) image is precise: samsāra is not just left-behind — it's vomited-out, expelled with revulsion (vīṭa). What's vomited cannot be re-eaten. The losses made samsāra into vomit, ensuring it stayed out.

The closing — barēm vrata ēkādaśī — kēlēm upavāsīm jāgaraṇa — good — Ekādaśī-vrata — kept fasting and jāgaraṇa. The single positive practice that emerged: bi-monthly Ekādaśī fasts and night-vigils.

The marker ॥३॥ closes the 3-abhang vairāgya-prakāra set (1330-1331-1332). Together, these three abhangs are the primary-source autobiography of Tukaram, given in response to the saints' question.

[T]

For someone today

For today: give thanks for the very losses that brought you to bhakti — bankruptcy, famine, public disgrace, lost cattle, abandoned shame; without anutāpa, no cintana; samsāra had to become vomit.

Where this applies

• Good-that-bankruptcy-came.* Bare-jālē-divāḷē.
• Good-that-famine-pained.* Bare-duṣkāḷē-pīḍā.
• Anutāpa-kept-cintana.* Anutāpē-rāhilē-cintana.
• Samsāra-became-vomit.* Jālā-vamana-samsāra.
• Lost-dhana-and-cattle.* Gēlē-dhana-ḍhōrē-gurē.
• Didn't-hold-lōka-lāja.* Nāhīm-dharilī-lōka-lāja.
• Came-to-your-śaraṇa.* Tuja-śaraṇa-Devā.
• Ekādaśī-fasting-and-vigil.* Ekādaśī-upavāsīm-jāgaraṇa.
• Closes-vairāgya-set-॥३॥.*

Related verses

• Abhanga 4581
• Abhanga 4532
• Abhanga 4568
• Abhanga 1330 — For today: vairāgya happens through losses (parents, wife, dhana, māna); through sustained