Abhanga 1333
Tukaram teaches that calling, seeing, and feeling the divine as your very self fills you so completely that anger and desire lose their place.
The verse
बोलावा विठ्ठल पाहावा विठ्ठल । करावा विठ्ठल जीवभाव ॥१॥ येणें सोसें मन जालें हांवभरी । परती माघारी घेत नाहीं ॥ध्रु.॥ बंधनापासूनि उकलली गांठी । देतां आली मिठी सावकाशें ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे देह भारिला विठ्ठलें । कामक्रोधें केलें घर रितें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Call Viṭṭhala — see Viṭṭhala — make Viṭṭhala (your) jīva-bhāva. By this yearning, the mind has become yearning-full — does not take a returning-back step. The bandhana-knot has been opened — embracing came at sāvakāśa. Tuka says: the body has been filled by Viṭṭhala — kāma-krōdha emptied (its) house.
मराठी: बोलावा विठ्ठल — पाहावा विठ्ठल — करावा विठ्ठल — जीव-भाव. येणें सोसानें — मन हांव-भरी झालें — परती-माघारी घेत नाहीं. बंधनापासूनि — गांठी उकलली — मिठी सावकाशें देतां आली. Tukā म्हणे — देह विठ्ठलानें भारिला — काम-क्रोधानें घर रिकामें केलें.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| बोलावा विठ्ठल पाहावा विठ्ठल | "call (bōlāvā) Viṭṭhala — see (pāhāvā) Viṭṭhala" |
| करावा विठ्ठल जीवभाव | "make (karāvā) Viṭṭhala — (your) jīva-bhāva" |
| येणें सोसें मन जालें हांवभरी | "by this sōsa (yearning) — the mind has become hāmva-bharī (yearning-full)" |
| परती माघारी घेत नाहीं | "doesn't take a paratī-māghārī (returning-back) step" |
| बंधनापासूनि उकलली गांठी | "from the bandhana — the gāṇṭhī (knot) — has been opened (ukalalī)" |
| देतां आली मिठी सावकाशें | "embracing — came (ālī) — at sāvakāśa (with leisure)" |
| देह भारिला विठ्ठलें | "the body — has been bhārilā (filled) — by Viṭṭhala" |
| कामक्रोधें केलें घर रितें | "(this) emptied the house of kāma-krōdha" |
What it means
THE bōlāvā-pāhāvā-karāvā Viṭṭhala abhang — among the most-recited warkari kīrtana-lines.
The triple-imperative is built on a tight Marathi-grammatical pattern: three verbs in vidhyartha (let-it-be-done) form, each governing Viṭṭhala as object:
- Bōlāvā Viṭṭhala — call Viṭṭhala (with the voice — kīrtana, japa, nāma-smaraṇa)
- Pāhāvā Viṭṭhala — see Viṭṭhala (with the eye — darśana, dhyāna, mūrti-pūjā)
- Karāvā Viṭṭhala jīva-bhāva — make Viṭṭhala your jīva-bhāva (= make him the very bhāva of your jīva — your essential life-feeling)
This triple — call-see-be — covers vāk, cakṣus, antaḥkaraṇa (speech, eye, inner-instrument). All three faculties Viṭṭhala-bound.
The dhruva: yēṇē sōsē mana jālēm hāmva-bharī — paratī māghārī ghēta nāhīm — by this sōsa (yearning), the mind has become hāmva-bharī (yearning-full) — and does not take a returning-back step. Hāmva-bharī — fully-aroused-and-yearning — the mind that has tasted Viṭṭhala-bhāva can't re-step back into worldliness.
The closing image: bandhanāpāsūnī ukalalī gāṇṭhī — dētām ālī miṭhī sāvakāśē — the bandhana-knot has been opened from the bandhana itself; embracing came at sāvakāśa (with leisure). The knot of samsāric-bondage opens; the embrace of Viṭṭhala comes naturally.
Deha bhārilā Viṭṭhalē — kāma-krōdhē kēlē ghara ritē — the body has been filled by Viṭṭhala — (and so) kāma-krōdha have emptied (their) house. When Viṭṭhala fills the deha, kāma-krōdha have nowhere to dwell — they leave the house empty.
[T]
For someone today
For today: call Viṭṭhala, see Viṭṭhala, make Viṭṭhala your jīva-bhāva — the body fills with Him, kāma-krōdha empty their own house.
Where this applies
- When you are starting a daily practice of chanting or naming the divine and wonder if it is enough
- When you notice old bad habits losing their grip once a new devotion has filled your attention
- When you feel a pull toward something sacred that keeps you from wanting to go back to old patterns
- When you want a simple way to explain what steady devotion actually looks like day to day