Abhanga 1589
For today: signs are appearing on my body — auspicious omens, excellent ones; father-mother have been remembered — I don't know what summons will come; the mind has become eager-with-longing — that itself is the sign of that-place; Tuka says — I avoid work, but I cannot pass time with laziness at home.
The verse
चिन्हें उमटताती अंगीं । शकुना जोगीं उत्तम ॥१॥ आठवला बापमाय । येइल काय मूळ नेणों ॥ध्रु.॥ उत्कंठित जालें मन । ते चि खुण तेथींचि ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे काम वारीं । आळस घरीं करमेना ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: Signs are appearing on the body — śakunā-jōgī (omen-worthy) — excellent. Father-mother are remembered — will the mūḷa come? — I do not know. The mind has become utkaṇṭhita — that very is the mark of that-place. Tuka says: I avoid work — laziness at home, I cannot bear.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| चिन्हें उमटताती अंगीं | "signs — are appearing — on (the) body" |
| शकुना जोगीं उत्तम | "worthy of omen (śakunā jōgī) — excellent" |
| आठवला बापमाय | "bāpa-māya — has been remembered" |
| येइल काय मूळ नेणों | "will come? — what mūḷa? — I do not know" |
| उत्कंठित जालें मन | "utkaṇṭhita (eager-with-longing) — has become — the mind" |
| ते चि खुण तेथींचि | "that very — is the mark (khūṇa) — of that-place" |
| तुका म्हणे काम वारीं | "Tuka says — work — I avoid (vārīm)" |
| आळस घरीं करमेना | "laziness — at home — I cannot pass time" |
What it means
Signs-of-impending-departure abhang. Vaikuṇṭha-gamana sequence (1588-1597).
The body-signs: cinhēm umaṭatātī angīm — śakunā jōgī uttama — signs are appearing on the body — śakunā-jōgī (worthy-of-omen) — excellent. Cinha-umaṭaṇē = signs becoming-visible; śakunā-jōgī = omen-worthy. The bhakta-watcher is reading omens-on-his-own-body announcing the imminent-departure.
The longing: āṭhavalā bāpa-māya — yē'īla kāya mūḷa nēṇōm — bāpa-māya are remembered — what mūḷa will come? I don't know. Bāpa-māya (father-mother) = the divine-parents; mūḷa = the summons / bringer-of-summons. I don't know what shape the summons will take — the uncertainty within the certainty of departure.
The mind-as-sign: utkaṇṭhita jālēm mana — tē chi khūṇa tēthīñci — the mind has become utkaṇṭhita (eager-longing) — that very is the mark of that-place. Utkaṇṭhā = the upward-throat-arching of yearning; the mind's own utkaṇṭhā is itself the mark of that-place (= the longing-itself is the sign that the divine-source is calling). (Pattern P11: yearning-as-its-own-evidence.)
The closing: kāma vārīm — āḷasa gharīm karamēnā — I avoid work — laziness at home, I cannot bear. The bhakta is unable to do work (chitta is elsewhere), and also unable to sit idle at home (the longing won't allow it). The liminal-state of impending-departure.
[T]
For someone today
For today: signs are appearing on my body — auspicious omens, excellent ones; father-mother have been remembered — I don't know what summons will come; the mind has become eager-with-longing — that itself is the sign of that-place; Tuka says — I avoid work, but I cannot pass time with laziness at home.
Where this applies
- Body-signs-omen-worthy.* Cinha-anga-śakunā-jōgī.
- Bāpa-māya-remembered-mūḷa-uncertain.* Bāpa-māya-mūḷa-nēṇōm.
- Mind-utkaṇṭhā-as-sign-of-that-place.* Mana-utkaṇṭhita-khūṇa-tēthīñci.
- Avoid-work-can't-bear-laziness-at-home.* Kāma-vārīm-āḷasa-karamēnā.