Abhanga 1628
Simply naming Pandharpur burns away wrongdoing and celebrates the sacred name, and a small wordplay reveals that this very earthly place is heaven itself, no other world needed.
The verse
पंढरी पंढरी । म्हणतां पापाची बोहोरी ॥१॥ धन्य धन्य जगीं ठाव । होतो नामाचा उत्साव ॥ध्रु.॥ रिद्धिसिद्धी लोटांगणीं । प्रेमसुखाचिया खाणी ॥२॥ अधिक अक्षरानें एका । भूवैकुंठ म्हणे तुका ॥३॥
Literal translation
Saying "Paṇḍharī Paṇḍharī" — bonfire of pāpa. Blessed-blessed place in world — nāma-festival happens. Ṛddhi-siddhi prostrate — mines of prema-sukha. With one extra letter — Tuka says — bhū-Vaikuṇṭha.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| पंढरी पंढरी | "Paṇḍharī Paṇḍharī" |
| म्हणतां पापाची बोहोरी | "saying — of pāpa — bonfire-burning (bōhōrī)" |
| धन्य धन्य जगीं ठाव | "blessed-blessed — in world — place" |
| होतो नामाचा उत्साव | "happens — of nāma — utsava" |
| रिद्धिसिद्धी लोटांगणीं | "ṛddhi-siddhi — prostrate" |
| प्रेमसुखाचिया खाणी | "of prema-sukha — mines" |
| अधिक अक्षरानें एका | "with one extra letter" |
| भूवैकुंठ म्हणे तुका | "bhū-Vaikuṇṭha — Tuka says" |
What it means
Paṇḍharī = bhū-Vaikuṇṭha abhang. A condensed-witty praise of Paṇḍharpur using a famous one-letter wordplay.
The opening: Paṇḍharī Paṇḍharī — mhaṇatām pāpācī bōhōrī — saying "Paṇḍharī Paṇḍharī" — bonfire of pāpa. Bōhōrī = bonfire / sacred-fire that burns through the heap. Just-saying-the-name twice burns the heap of pāpa.
The blessing: dhanya dhanya jagīm ṭhāva — hōtō nāmācā utsāva — blessed-blessed place in world — nāma-festival happens. Utsava = festival, celebration. Paṇḍharī is where nāma-utsava happens.
The siddhi-prostration: ṛddhi-siddhī lōṭāngaṇīm — prēma-sukhāciyā khāṇī — ṛddhi-siddhi prostrate — mines of prema-sukha. Lōṭāngaṇa = full-body-prostration; the yogic-powers themselves prostrate at Paṇḍharī; Paṇḍharī is the mine (= source) of prema-sukha.
The famous-witty-claim: adhika akṣarānē ēkā — bhū-Vaikuṇṭha mhaṇē Tukā — with one extra letter — Tuka says — bhū-Vaikuṇṭha. The wordplay: by adding the single-letter prefix bhū- (earth) to Vaikuṇṭha, you get Bhū-Vaikuṇṭha (= Earth-Vaikuṇṭha = Paṇḍharī). The bhū-Vaikuṇṭha doctrine: Paṇḍharī is the Vaikuṇṭha-on-earth — one need not go elsewhere; this very-place is the heavenly-realm.
This bhū-Vaikuṇṭha designation becomes a standing-epithet for Paṇḍharpur in warkari-tradition.
[T]
For someone today
For today: just saying "Paṇḍharī Paṇḍharī" twice burns the bonfire of all pāpa; blessed-blessed is this place in the world — the nāma-festival happens here; the ṛddhi-siddhi yogic-powers themselves prostrate here — this is the mine of all prema-sukha; with just one extra letter — bhū- (earth-) prefixed — Tuka says: this very is bhū-Vaikuṇṭha, the earthly-Vaikuṇṭha.
Where this applies
- When you feel weighed down by guilt and want a simple way to begin releasing it
- When you are chasing some special power, status, or achievement and forget what actually brings you joy
- When you assume paradise or peace must be found somewhere far away or in some future life
- When repeating a sacred name or place brings you unexpected comfort in an ordinary moment