Abhanga 2402
For today: happily take rebirths — IF among the Paṇḍharī-Vārkarīs ; Hari-dāsas' company is prema-rest; this mind asks for nothing else as its desire-gift.
The verse
सुखें घेऊं जन्मांतरें । एक बरें इहलोकीं ॥१॥ पंढरीचे वारकरी । होतां थोरी जोडी हे ॥ध्रु.॥ हरिदासांचा समागम । अंगीं प्रेम विसांवे ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे हें चि मन । इच्छादान मागतसे ॥३॥
Literal translation
Happily take rebirths — one good [thing] in this world. Pandharī-Vārkarīs — being great association. Hari-dāsas' company — prema-rest in the body. Tuka says: this mind itself — begs as desire-gift.
What it means
THE FOUNDATIONAL VĀRKARĪ-IDENTITY ABHANG. One of the most-cited Tukārām-lines on the value of the Vārkarī-tradition.
THE FAMOUS PAIR-OF-LINES: - sukhē ghē'ūm janmāntarē — ēka barē ihalōkīm — happily take rebirths — one good [thing] in this world - Paṇḍharīchē Vārakarī — hōtām thōrī jōḍī hē — Pandharī-Vārkarīs — being [their] great association
I'll-happily-take-rebirths IF in-each-life I-can-be among-the-Paṇḍharī-Vārkarīs. The Vārkarī-association is-the-one-good-thing-of-this-world worth-perpetual-incarnation. Inversion of the usual liberation-from-rebirth goal: Tukārām says if rebirth means more-Vārkarī-pilgrimage-and-association, bring-it-on.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: This line is foundational for Vārkarī self-identity — quoted at the annual-Pandharpur-Vārī, in Vārkarī kīrtans, on Vārkarī-tradition posters and publications. It defines the tradition's distinctive position: not mokṣa-as-escape-from-rebirth, but rebirth-itself-as-bhakti-opportunity alongside the saint-community.
The Hari-dāsas-company: Hari-dāsāñchā samāgama — angīm prēma visāmvē — Hari-dāsas' company — prema-rest in the body. Hari-dāsas' company is-where the-body-rests in-prema.
The mind's-desire-gift: Tukā mhaṇē hē chi mana — ichchhā-dāna māgatasē — this mind itself — begs as desire-gift. The mind-itself begs-this as-its-ichchhā-dāna (desire-gift, the-only-thing-it-wants-to-receive).
[T]
For someone today
For today: happily take rebirths — IF among the Paṇḍharī-Vārkarīs; Hari-dāsas' company is prema-rest; this mind asks for nothing else as its desire-gift.
Where this applies
- When you're weighing what actually makes life worth living, more than any achievement or possession.
- When you've found a community of shared devotion or values and want to explain why it matters so much to you.
- When you've been taught that the highest goal is escaping this world, and want a different way to think about that.
- When you notice your mind quietly wants only one thing, the company of people who share your deepest values.