संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 2343 of 4582

Abhanga 2343

A mind truly fixed on the divine loses its taste for wealth and celebration, and such longing is met by the Lord's own waiting.

When you realize that money and parties no longer excite you the way a quiet pull toward the sacred does.

When you are marking days on a calendar, eager for a festival or pilgrimage that matters to your heart.

When you doubt that your yearning for the divine is worth anything, and need reassurance it is answered.

The verse

संपदा सोहळा नावडे मनाला । करी तें टकळा पंढरीचा ॥१॥ जावें पंढरिसी आवडी मनासी । कधीं एकादशी आषाढी हे ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे ऐसें आर्त ज्याचे मनीं । त्याची चक्रपाणी वाट पाहे ॥३॥

Literal translation

Wealth and festivities don't please the mind — the gaze is fixed on Paṇḍharī. To go to Paṇḍharī — fondness in the mind — when [will be] this Āṣāḍhī ēkādaśī. Tuka says: whose mind has such ārta — Chakrapāṇī awaits his coming.

What it means

THE ĀṢĀḌHĪ-ĒKĀDAŚĪ-LONGING ABHANG. Chakrapāṇī awaits the ārta-bhakta.

The opening — no wealth-fascination: sampadā sōhaḷā nāvaḍē manālā — karī tē ṭakaḷā Paṇḍharīchā — wealth and festivities don't please the mind — the gaze is fixed on Paṇḍharī. Ṭakaḷā = gaze, fixed look. Wealth and-festivities don't-please the-mind; the gaze is-fixed-on Paṇḍharī.

THE FAMOUS LONGING-LINE: jāvē Paṇḍharīsī āvaḍī manāsī — kadhīm ēkādaśī Āṣāḍhī hē — to go to Paṇḍharī — fondness in the mind — when [will be] this Āṣāḍhī ēkādaśī. Āṣāḍhī ēkādaśī = the great-ēkādaśī of the Āṣāḍha-month, when the main-Vārkarī-pilgrimage culminates at Paṇḍharī. The mind-yearns to-go-to-Paṇḍharī: when-will-this-Āṣāḍhī-ēkādaśī come? The most-celebrated Vārkarī-longing-line.

The closing — Chakrapāṇī awaits: Tukā mhaṇē aisē ārta jyāchē manīm — tyāchī Chakrapāṇī vāṭa pāhē — Tuka says: whose mind has such ārta — Chakrapāṇī awaits his coming. Whose-mind has-such-ārta (yearning), Chakrapāṇī (the Lord-with-the-discus) himself-awaits-his-coming. The Lord-as-eager-awaiter — a-beautiful-reciprocity-of-bhakti.

[T]

For someone today

For today: wealth and festivities don't please — gaze on Paṇḍharī; to go to Paṇḍharī — when will Āṣāḍhī ēkādaśī come; Tuka says — whose mind has such ārta — Chakrapāṇī awaits his coming.

Where this applies

When festivals and material success around you feel hollow compared to a quiet inner pull toward something sacred
When you find yourself counting down the days to a pilgrimage or a spiritual gathering you long to attend
When you feel embarrassed or alone in caring more about devotion than about wealth or status
When you wonder whether your longing for the divine is even noticed or returned

Bhakti Pāṇḍuranga / Viṭhṭhal