Abhanga 2266

Do not let laziness or complacency dull your longing; call out again and again, because if what you seek is everywhere, there is no real distance left between you and it.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

Triple-cry-to-Vīṭhā-bā'ī + eagerness-must-be-perfected abhang.

The triple-call to come: yē'īvō yē'īvō yē'ī dhāmvōniyām — vilamba kām vāyām lāvilā kṛpāḷē — come, oh come, come running — why have you needlessly put delay, kṛpāḷē. Come, come, come-running — why-have-you-needlessly-delayed, kṛpāḷē? The triple-imperative urgency.

The Vīṭhā-bā'ī address: Viṭhā-bā'īm viśvambharē bhava-chchēdakē — kōṭhē gumtalīsa agē viśva-vyāpakē — Vīṭhā-bā'ī, viśvambhare, breaker-of-the-bhava — where are you entangled, alas, viśva-vyāpaka. Vīṭhā-bā'ī = the feminine-form of Viṭhṭhal (the Vārkarī-tradition's-māulī-image). Viśvambhare = world-supporter (feminine). Bhava-chchēdaka = cutter-of-the-bhava. Viśva-vyāpaka = all-pervader. Vīṭhā-bā'ī (the feminine-form), viśvambhare, bhava-chchēdaka; where are-you-entangled, alas, viśva-vyāpaka? The feminine-mother-form of-Viṭhṭhal — distinctive Vārkarī-tradition image-mode.

The triple don't-make-delay: na karīm na karīm na karīm ātām aḷasa avhēru — vhāvayā prakaṭa kaiñchē dūri antaru — don't, don't, don't make any laziness, rejection now — for making yourself manifest, what far-distance. Don't, don't, don't make laziness-or-rejection now; for-manifesting-yourself, what-far-distance is-there?

The triple won't-take + eagerness: nēghē nēghē nēghē mājhī vāchā visāmvā — Tukā mhaṇē hāmvā hāmvā hāmvā sādhāvā — won't take, won't take, won't take — my speech has no rest — Tukā says — eagerness, eagerness, eagerness must be perfected. Hāmvā = eagerness, yearning. Sādhāvā = should be perfected/achieved. Won't-take, won't-take, won't-take — my speech has no rest; Tukā says — eagerness, eagerness, eagerness must-be-perfected. The triple-pattern continues into the closing — establishing-an-urgency through-the-rhetorical-form itself.

The triple-repetition pattern: 12 triple-repetitions across the abhang (yē'īvō ×3, na karīm ×3, nēghē ×3, hāmvā ×3) — a highly-unusual-and-emphatic rhetorical-form. A literary-tour-de-force of-urgency.

[T]

For someone today

For today: come, come, come running — why delay, kṛpāḷē; Vīṭhā-bā'ī, viśvambhare, bhava-chchēdaka — where are you entangled, viśva-vyāpaka; don't, don't, don't — no laziness, rejection — for manifesting, no far-distance; won't, won't, won't — speech has no rest — Tukā says — eagerness, eagerness, eagerness must be perfected.

Where this applies

• When you long for something or someone so deeply that ordinary patience starts to feel impossible
• When you catch yourself growing complacent in a relationship or practice you care about and need to shake off that laziness
• When you sense the divine or something meaningful is actually near, not distant, but you still feel disconnected from it
• When you want to remind yourself that restless, repeated longing is not a flaw but something worth nurturing

Related verses

• Abhanga 2374 — Rather than scattering devotion among many lesser deities who demand offerings, Tukaram sa
• Abhanga 2377 — This detailed meditation on Vitthal standing on a brick at Pandharpur, out of love for his
• Abhanga 2387 — Accept whatever life brings with reverence, and place the burden on God rather than carryi
• Abhanga 2402 — For today: happily take rebirths — IF among the Paṇḍharī-Vārkarīs ; Hari-dāsas' company is