Abhanga 2467
The verse
उंबरांतील कीटका । हें चि ब्रम्हांड ऐसें लेखा ॥१॥ ऐसीं उंबरें किती झाडीं । ऐशीं झाडें किती नवखडीं ॥ध्रु.॥ हें चि ब्रम्हांड आम्हांसी । ऐसीं अगणित अंडें कैसीं ॥२॥ विराटाचे अंगी तैसे । मोजूं जातां अगणित केंश ॥३॥ ऐशा विराटाच्या कोटी । सांटवल्या ज्याच्या पोटीं ॥४॥ तो हा नंदाचा बाळमुकुंद । तान्हा म्हणवी परमानंद ॥५॥ ऐशी अगम्य ईंश्वरी लीळा । ब्रम्हानंदीं गम्य तुक्याला ॥६॥
Literal translation
English: ★★★ Insect inside the fig — counts THIS as the brahmāṇḍa ★★★. ★ How many such figs on the tree — how many such trees in the nine-corners ★. ★ This is brahmāṇḍa to us — how many countless eggs ★. Virāṭ-body, similarly — countless hairs to count. ★★ Crores of such Virāṭ — stored in whose belly ★★. ★★★ This is Nanda's child-Mukunda — the infant called parama-ānanda ★★★. Such inscrutable Īśvara-līḷā — Brahmānanda-graspable by Tukyā.
What it means
★★★ THE COSMOGRAPHIC FIG-TREE ABHANG ★★★. One of Tukārām's most-philosophical cosmological-bhakti meditations.
The concentric-scale meditation — Tukārām builds-a-zoom-out across six magnitudes:
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★★★ Insect-in-fig: the smallest-scale ★★★ — umbarāntīla kīṭakā — hē chi brahmāṇḍa aiśē lēkhā — the insect-inside-the-fig (umbara = wild-fig, Ficus-glomerata) counts-THE-FIG as-the-entire-brahmāṇḍa.
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★ Many-figs on tree, many-trees in nine-corners ★ — aiśīm umbarē kitī jhāḍīm — aiśīm jhāḍē kitī navakhaḍīm — uncountable-figs on-each-tree, uncountable-trees in-the-nine-directions.
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★ Countless-eggs/worlds ★ — aiśīm agaṇita aṇḍē kaisīm — countless-cosmic-eggs (brahmāṇḍas).
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Virāṭ-body's countless hairs — virāṭāchē angī taisē — mōjūm jātām agaṇita kēśa — countless-hairs on-the-Virāṭ-body.
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★★ Crores-of-Virāṭ in whose-belly ★★ — aiśā virāṭāchyā kōṭī — sāṇṭavalyā jyāchyā pōṭīm — crores-of-such-Virāṭ stored in-someone's-belly.
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★★★ ALL OF THIS — IS NANDA'S CHILD-MUKUNDA ★★★ — tō hā Nandāchā bāḷa-Mukunda — tānhā mhaṇavī parama-ānanda — ★★★ this very [container of cosmoses] is Nanda's child-Mukunda — the infant called parama-ānanda ★★★.
★★★ THE COSMOLOGICAL-BHAKTI SYNTHESIS ★★★: Each-scale-of-reality (insect, fig, tree, nine-corners, Virāṭ, crores-of-Virāṭ) is-contained-in-the-next, and-ALL-OF-IT is-finally-contained in-the-belly-of-the-child-Kṛṣṇa at-Nanda's-house — the infant-called-parama-ānanda. The famous Bhāgavata-Purāṇa-image of-Yaśodā-seeing-the-cosmos-in-Kṛṣṇa's-mouth rendered as a-concentric-fig-meditation.
The closing: aiśī agamya īśvarī līḷā — Brahmānandīm gamya Tukyālā — such inscrutable Īśvara-līḷā — Brahmānanda-graspable by Tukyā. What's inscrutable-as-philosophy becomes-graspable through-Brahmānanda (ānanda-of-Brahman) — bhakti's-cognitive-superiority.
[T]
For someone today
For today: ★★★ insect-in-fig thinks fig is the cosmos ★★★; ★ many figs on tree, many trees in directions ★; ★★ crores of Virāṭ stored in whose belly ★★; ★★★ Nanda's child-Mukunda — the infant called parama-ānanda ★★★.
Where this applies
- Insect-in-fig-counts-fig-as-brahmāṇḍa. Umbarāntīla-kīṭakā-brahmāṇḍa-lēkhā.
- Crores-of-Virāṭ-in-child-Mukunda's-belly. Virāṭāchyā-kōṭī-pōṭīm-Nandāchā-bāḷa-Mukunda.
- Inscrutable-līḷā-graspable-via-Brahmānanda. Agamya-īśvarī-līḷā-Brahmānandīm-gamya-Tukyālā.