Abhanga 2242
For today: seeing the Vaiṣṇavas' force — Yama's messengers fled; Vaiṣṇava-heroes have come — Kāḷa trembles, asuras; under Garuḍa-ṭakā's force — earth roars with jay-jay; Tuka says — Kāḷa flees, seeing the strength.
The verse
भार देखोनि वैष्णवांचे । दूत पळाले यमाचे ॥१॥ आले आले वैष्णववीर । काळ कांपती असुर ॥ध्रु.॥ गरुडटकयाच्या भारें । भूमी गर्जे जेजेकारें ॥ २॥ तुका म्हणे काळ । पळे देखोनियां बळ ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: Seeing the Vaiṣṇavas' force — Yama's messengers fled. The Vaiṣṇava-heroes have come, have come — Kāḷa trembles, the asuras. Under the Garuḍa-ṭakā's force — the earth roars with jay-jay. Tuka says: Kāḷa flees, seeing the strength.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| भार देखोनि वैष्णवांचे | "seeing the Vaiṣṇavas' force" |
| दूत पळाले यमाचे | "Yama's messengers fled" |
| आले आले वैष्णववीर | "the Vaiṣṇava-heroes have come, have come" |
| काळ कांपती असुर | "Kāḷa trembles, the asuras" |
| गरुडटकयाच्या भारें | "under the Garuḍa-ṭakā's force" |
| भूमी गर्जे जेजेकारें | "the earth roars with jay-jay" |
| तुका म्हणे काळ | "Tuka says — Kāḷa" |
| पळे देखोनियां बळ | "flees seeing the strength" |
What it means
★ THE CLASSIC VAIṢṆAVA-PROCESSION-VICTORY ABHANG. ★ The vaiṣṇavas come, Kāḷa flees, Yama's messengers retreat, the Garuḍa-banner makes the earth roar.
The opening — Yama's-messengers flee: bhāra dēkhōni vaiṣṇavāñchē — dūta paḷālē Yamāchē — seeing the Vaiṣṇavas' force — Yama's messengers fled. Bhāra = force, weight, host. Yama = the Lord of death. Dūta = messenger. Seeing the Vaiṣṇavas'-host, Yama's-messengers fled. Powerful image: the bhakti-procession itself banishes-death's-attendants.
The Vaiṣṇava-heroes' arrival: ālē ālē vaiṣṇava-vīra — kāḷa kāmpatī asura — the Vaiṣṇava-heroes have come, have come — Kāḷa trembles, the asuras. The Vaiṣṇava-vīras have-come, have-come (= here-they-come, with-emphatic-repetition); Kāḷa (Time/Death) trembles, (as do) the asuras. A war-cry style — announcing-the-procession's-arrival.
The Garuḍa-banner roar: garuḍa-ṭakayāchyā bhārē — bhūmī garjē jē-jē-kārē — under the Garuḍa-ṭakā's force — the earth roars with jay-jay. Garuḍa-ṭakā = the Garuḍa-banner/standard (Viṣṇu's symbol, carried in vārī-processions). Jē-jē-kāra = the jay-jay shout (= jaya-jaya, victory-victory). Under the Garuḍa-banner's force, the earth roars with jay-jay-shouts. The vārī-image: thousands of-vaiṣṇavas marching-under-the-Garuḍa-standard, the earth-itself echoing-the-jay-shouts.
The closing — Kāḷa-flees: Tukā mhaṇē kāḷa — paḷē dēkhōniyām baḷa — Tuka says: Kāḷa flees, seeing the strength. Kāḷa flees, seeing-the-(vaiṣṇava)-strength.
Post-bhāṇḍaṇa shift: after the quarrel-cluster (2238-2241), the Gatha shifts to a-triumph-mode. The intimate-bhakta-Lord-quarrel is now-followed-by the-public-procession-victory. The bhāṇḍaṇa was-private; the procession is-public — both-are-modes of-Vaiṣṇava-bhakti.
[T]
For someone today
For today: seeing the Vaiṣṇavas' force — Yama's messengers fled; Vaiṣṇava-heroes have come — Kāḷa trembles, asuras; under Garuḍa-ṭakā's force — earth roars with jay-jay; Tuka says — Kāḷa flees, seeing the strength.
Where this applies
- Yama's-messengers-flee-from-Vaiṣṇavas.* Bhāra-vaiṣṇavāñchē-dūta-Yamāchē.
- Vaiṣṇava-heroes-arrive-Kāḷa-trembles.* Ālē-ālē-vaiṣṇava-vīra-kāḷa-kāmpatī-asura.
- Garuḍa-banner-earth-roars-jay-jay.* Garuḍa-ṭakayā-bhūmī-garjē-jē-jē-kārē.
- Kāḷa-flees-seeing-strength.* Kāḷa-paḷē-baḷa.