संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 2355 of 4582

Abhanga 2355

Many devotees circling one divine center in shared joy can dissolve, one by one, into a single unbroken light.

When you join others in group singing or dancing devoted to the same center.

When you feel your sense of being a separate person soften inside a crowd of shared devotion.

When you feel content being one among many devotees rather than needing to stand out.

The verse

उदासीना पावल्या वेगीं । अंगा अंगीं जडलिया ॥१॥ वेटाळिला भोंवता हरी । मयोरफेरीं नाचती ॥ध्रु.॥ मना आले करिती चार । त्या फार हा एकला ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे नारायणीं । निराजनी मीनलिया ॥३॥

Literal translation

The udāsīna [gopīs] reached quickly — limb-to-limb attached. Hari was encircled all around — they dance in mayūra-phera. As the mind comes, they do the round — they are many, he is alone. Tuka says: in Nārāyaṇa — they have merged into the niranjana.

What it means

HARI-ENCIRCLED + GOPĪ-MAYŪRA-PHERA-DANCE ABHANG. Fourth of the gopikā-līlā cluster.

THE CELEBRATED IMAGE: vēṭāḷilā bhōmvatā Hari — mayōra-phērīm nāchatī — Hari was encircled all around — they dance in mayūra-phera. Mayōra-phera = peacock-dance, peacock-circle-dance. Hari was-encircled (vēṭāḷilā) all-around (bhōmvatā); they dance in-mayūra-phera (peacock-circle-dance). The classic rāsa-līlā image — gopīs-circle-Kṛṣṇa in-the-peacock-style-dance.

The many-to-one: manā ālē karitī chāra — tyā phāra hā ēkalā — as the mind comes, they do the round — they are many, he is alone. As-the-mind-comes, they-do-the-round; they-are-many, he-is-alone. The classic Kṛṣṇa-rāsa-līlā multiplication — one-Kṛṣṇa with-many-gopīs.

The closing — merger: Tukā mhaṇē Nārāyaṇī — nirājanī mīnaliyā — Tuka says: in Nārāyaṇa — they have merged into the niranjana. In-Nārāyaṇa, they-have-merged into-the-niranjana (stainless, unbroken-light).

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For someone today

For today: udāsīna gopīs reached quickly, limb-to-limb; Hari encircled — mayūra-phera dance; they many, he alone; Tuka says — in Nārāyaṇa — merged into the niranjana.

Where this applies

When you join a group kirtan or dance and feel your sense of being a separate self start to fade.
When you are one of many people devoted to the same cause or person and do not need to be singled out.
When communal worship or singing pulls everyone's attention to one shared center until individual identity softens.
When you notice that joy grows larger when it is shared with others circling the same source.

Krṣṇa-līlā Bhakti