Abhanga 1419

For today: the world is a full market of bustle, samcita-paths branching; Hari is the samkalpa-less witness; the rule of pāpa-puṇya runs automatically; people are pulled by debt — but calling on Hari cuts the bondage.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

Samsāra-as-Hari's-market abhang. The opening cosmic-market-image: bharalā disē hāṭa — avaghī vāḍhalī khaṭapaṭa — samcitācē vāṭa — vāṭā'ūnī phānkatī — thehāṭa(= market) appearsfull; — all thekhaṭa-paṭa(= bustle) has grown; —samcita's paths — having beenallotted out, branch out. The whole world is a full market of bustle; the samcita-karma-paths have been handed out (vāṭā'ūnī = portioned-out) and branch in many directions.

The mechanics: bhōgā aisē ṭhāyā-ṭhāva — karmā tri-vidhācē bhāva — draṣṭā yēthēm Deva — virahita samkalpā — places-and-seats according tobhōga; —bhāvas ofthree-fold karma(= samcita, prārabdha, kriyamāṇa); — thedraṣṭā(witness) here — is Deva; —virahita(free from)samkalpa. Hari is the witness-without-samkalpa — he watches the karma-game without himself willing it. (= Vedānta-formulation: Hari is kūṭastha-sākṣī, the unaffecting witness.)

The legal-image: dilā pāḍūniyām dhaḍā — pāpa-puṇyāñcā nivāḍā — ācaratī gōḍā — ācaraṇēm āpulālyā — (Hari) — having laid down — thedhaḍā(= scheme); — thenivāḍā(verdict / settlement) ofpāpa-puṇya; — they (sweetly) practice (gōḍā) —each their own ācaraṇa. Hari has laid down the rule-scheme; the nivāḍa (verdict) on pāpa-puṇya runs automatically; people sweetly practice their own conduct — each thinking it's good.

The closing: parādhīnēm — jālīm ōḍhaliyā ṛṇēm — tuṭatī bandhanēm — jarī Devā āḷavitē — bypara-adhīna(= other-dependence) — they've becomedrawn-alongbyṛṇa(debt); — thebandhana(bonds) — get cut —iftheycall uponDeva. The escape-clause: call on Deva, the bonds get cut. (Compare 1410's hāka-dē'īna-Nārāyaṇā — Paṇḍharīcā rāṇā āikōna dhāvēla — same call-and-Hari-rescues mechanism.)

[T]

For someone today

For today: the world is a full market of bustle, samcita-paths branching; Hari is the samkalpa-less witness; the rule of pāpa-puṇya runs automatically; people are pulled by debt — but calling on Hari cuts the bondage.

Where this applies

• When you feel swept up in the rush and bustle of everyday life like a crowded market and cannot find a still point
• When you notice people around you confidently doing their own thing as if it were pure free choice
• When you feel pulled along by old debts, habits, or obligations you never consciously chose
• When you feel trapped and need a genuine way to call out for help and break free

Related verses

• Abhanga 2467 — What looks like your whole world, like a fig to the insect living inside it, is only a tin
• Abhanga 4481 — Tukaram promises that sincerely calling on the Lord's name, knowingly or unknowingly, with
• Abhanga 4482 — Tukaram teaches that no ritual equals sincerely speaking the Lord's name, that self-center
• Abhanga 4497 — Tukaram describes a life so soaked in devotion that Krishna's presence fills every ordinar