Abhanga 1594

For today: on this side throngs will be seen — countless diṇḍīs and banners; sukha comes to the mind — my eyes and arms throb; the gajara of nāma has risen — Vaiṣṇava army-throngs are coming; Tuka makes an empty place — room for them to sit.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

Vaiṣṇava-procession-arriving abhang. Vaikuṇṭha-gamana cluster. After the Lord's arrival (1592-1593), the Vaiṣṇava-procession arrives.

The procession-vision: paila disatīla bhāra — diṇḍī patākā apāra — on this side throngs will be seen — diṇḍīs and patākās countless. Diṇḍī = the small flag-of-a-warkari-troupe; patākā = banner-flag; both are standard-warkari-procession-paraphernalia. The Vaiṣṇava-procession is visibly arriving with countless flags.

The body-omens: sukha vāṭē manā — ḍōḷē bāhyā sphuratī — sukha seems to the mind — eyes and arms throb. Sphuratī — quivering / throbbing (auspicious-omens of impending good-meeting). Eyes-throbbing-arms-throbbing are folk-omens of imminent-meeting-with-the-beloved.

The sound-arrival: uṭhilē gajara nāmācē — daḷa-bhāra Vaiṣṇavāñcē — the gajara (= resonating-collective-shout) of nāma has risen — army-throngs of Vaiṣṇavas. Gajara = the loud-collective-chanting that bursts out together; daḷa-bhāra = army-throngs / battalion-loads. The Vaiṣṇavas come like an army, with the nāma-gajara rising.

The hospitality: Tukā karī ritā ṭhāva — tyāmsī baisāvayā vāva — Tuka makes an empty place — for them to sit room. Tuka clears space in his small house for the divine-army to sit. (Compare 1596 — kaṇyā-darā-darā: I am poor; cracked-rice in water-boiled — same hospitality-theme.)

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For someone today

For today: on this side throngs will be seen — countless diṇḍīs and banners; sukha comes to the mind — my eyes and arms throb; the gajara of nāma has risen — Vaiṣṇava army-throngs are coming; Tuka makes an empty place — room for them to sit.

Where this applies

• When a wave of good news or a joyful crowd is approaching and your body responds before your mind catches up
• When a community of like-minded people wants to gather at your home or in your life and you need to decide whether to make space for them
• When you hear people celebrating together and feel the pull to join rather than watch from a distance
• When you are anticipating something good so strongly that you can physically feel it in your body

Related verses

• Abhanga 2448 — The easiest path to God is repeating divine names with love at home, right where you are,
• Abhanga 2467 — What looks like your whole world, like a fig to the insect living inside it, is only a tin
• Abhanga 2494 — Living in devotion turns an ordinary day into a festival and removes the fear of birth and
• Abhanga 4481 — Tukaram promises that sincerely calling on the Lord's name, knowingly or unknowingly, with