Abhanga 2251
Vitthal directs the world's play like a skilled puppeteer, yet stands forever at Pandharpur, hands on hips, too overflowing with love and grace to sit, always waiting for his devotees.
The verse
लाघवी सूत्रधारी दोरी नाचवी कुसरी । उपजवी पाळूनि संसारि नानापरिचीं लाघवें ॥१॥ पुरोनि पंढरिये उरलें भक्तिसुखें लांचावलें । उभें चि राहिलें कर कटीं न बैसे ॥ध्रु.॥ बहु काळें ना सावळें बहु कठिण ना कोंवळें । गुणत्रया वेगळें बहुबळें आथीलें ॥२॥ असोनि नसे सकळांमधीं मना अगोचर बुद्धी । स्वामी माझा कृपानिधि तुका म्हणे विठ्ठल ॥३॥
Literal translation
The deft puppeteer makes the string dance skillfully — creates and protects in samsāra many-kinds-of plays. [The Lord] full in Paṇḍharī, surplus of bhakti-sukha, surplus given — stood with hands on hips, doesn't sit. Neither very black nor dusky, neither very hard nor soft — beyond the three-guṇas, of great-power, endowed. Present-yet-absent in all — beyond mind and buddhi — my Master, the kṛpā-nidhi — Tuka says — Viṭhṭhala.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| लाघवी सूत्रधारी दोरी नाचवी कुसरी | "the deft puppeteer makes the string dance skillfully" |
| उपजवी पाळूनि संसारि नानापरिचीं लाघवें | "creates and protects in samsāra many-kinds-of plays" |
| पुरोनि पंढरिये उरलें भक्तिसुखें लांचावलें | "[the Lord] full in Paṇḍharī — surplus of bhakti-sukha — surplus given" |
| उभें चि राहिलें कर कटीं न बैसे | "stood with hands on hips, doesn't sit" |
| बहु काळें ना सावळें बहु कठिण ना कोंवळें | "[neither] very black nor dusky, neither very hard nor soft" |
| गुणत्रया वेगळें बहुबळें आथीलें | "beyond the three-guṇas, of great-power, endowed" |
| असोनि नसे सकळांमधीं मना अगोचर बुद्धी | "present-yet-absent in all — beyond mind and buddhi" |
| स्वामी माझा कृपानिधि तुका म्हणे विठ्ठल | "my Master, the kṛpā-nidhi — Tuka says — Viṭhṭhala" |
What it means
THE CELEBRATED VIṬHṬHAL-ICONOGRAPHY ABHANG. Deft-puppeteer + Paṇḍharī-stands-with-hands-on-hips + neither-this-nor-that + kṛpā-nidhi-Viṭhṭhala abhang.
The opening — the deft puppeteer: lāghavī sūtra-dhārī dōrī nāchavī kusarī — upajavī pāḷūni samsāri nānā-parichīm lāghavē — the deft puppeteer makes the string dance skillfully — creates and protects in samsāra many-kinds-of plays. Lāghavī = deft, skilled. Sūtra-dhārī = string-holder, puppeteer (also: stage-director in Sanskrit drama). Kusarī = with-skill. The Lord-as-deft-sūtra-dhārī makes-the-dōrī (string) dance-with-skill; creates-and-protects in-samsāra many-kinds-of-plays. A Sanskrit-drama image — the world as-puppet-theater with Viṣṇu as-sūtra-dhārī.
THE CELEBRATED PAṆḌHARĪ-ICONOGRAPHY LINE: purōni Paṇḍhariyē uralē bhakti-sukhē lāñchāvalē — ubhē chi rāhilē kara kaṭīm na baisē — [the Lord] full in Paṇḍharī, surplus of bhakti-sukha, surplus given — stood with hands on hips, doesn't sit. Purōni = being full/filling. Uralē = remained as surplus. Lāñchāvalē = was bestowed-as-surplus. Kara kaṭīm = hands on the hips. The Lord, being-fully-(complete-everywhere), in-Paṇḍharī remained-as-surplus (= the surplus-of-himself); bestowed in-bhakti-sukha; stood-with-hands-on-hips, doesn't-sit. THE CELEBRATED IMAGE: Viṭhṭhal's iconic-posture (the Paṇḍharī-mūrti standing on the brick, hands on hips, waiting eternally) is here-explained-doctrinally — he is-the-surplus-of-bhakti-sukha, standing-because-he-can't-bear-to-sit-while-the-bhaktas-come.
The neither-this-nor-that: bahu kāḷē nā sāvaḷē bahu kaṭhiṇa nā kōmvaḷē — guṇa-trayā vēgaḷē bahu-baḷē āthīlē — neither very black nor dusky, neither very hard nor soft — beyond the three-guṇas, of great-power, endowed. Kāḷē = black. Sāvaḷē = dusky. Kōmvaḷē = soft. Guṇa-traya = three-guṇas (sattva-rajas-tamas). Āthīlē = endowed. Neither very-black nor sāvaḷa, neither very-hard nor soft; beyond the three-guṇas, endowed with great-strength.
The closing — present-yet-absent, kṛpā-nidhi: asōni nasē sakaḷām-madhīm manā agōchara buddhī — svāmī mājhā kṛpā-nidhi Tukā mhaṇē Viṭhṭhala — present-yet-absent in all — beyond mind and buddhi — my Master, the kṛpā-nidhi — Tuka says — Viṭhṭhala. Present-yet-absent in-all; beyond-mind-and-buddhi; my master, kṛpā-nidhi (treasure-of-grace) — Viṭhṭhala.
The full theological-portrait: Viṭhṭhal as (1) sūtra-dhārī-puppeteer of-samsāra, (2) surplus-of-himself standing-at-Paṇḍharī, (3) beyond-all-binaries, (4) present-yet-absent, mind-beyond, kṛpā-nidhi. One of the most-cited abhangs in Vārkarī iconography-discussions.
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For someone today
For today: deft puppeteer — makes string dance — creates and protects many plays in samsāra; full in Paṇḍharī — surplus of bhakti-sukha — stood with hands on hips, doesn't sit; neither black nor dusky, neither hard nor soft — beyond three-guṇas — endowed with great-power; present-yet-absent in all — beyond mind-buddhi — my master, kṛpā-nidhi, Viṭhṭhala.
Where this applies
- When you wonder who is really directing the ups and downs of your life, as if unseen strings were being pulled.
- When you stand before the image of Vitthal at Pandharpur, hands on hips, and want to understand what that stance means.
- When you try to imagine God as fitting one fixed color, texture, or category and find the image keeps slipping away.
- When you feel alone but sense a quiet, grace-filled presence still holding everything together.