Abhanga 2471
The verse
वृक्ष वल्ली आम्हां सोयरीं वनचरें । पक्षी ही सुस्वरें आळविती ॥१॥ येणें सुखें रुचे एकांताचा वास । नाहीं गुण दोष अंगा येत ॥ध्रु.॥ आकाश मंडप पृथुवी आसन । रमे तेथें मन क्रीडा करी ॥२॥ कंथाकुमंडलु देहउपचारा । जाणवितो वारा अवश्वरु ॥३॥ हरिकथा भोजन परवडी विस्तार । करोनि प्रकार सेवूं रुची ॥४॥ तुका म्हणे होय मनासी संवाद । आपुला चि वाद आपणांसी ॥५॥
Literal translation
English: ★★★ Trees-vines our kinsmen, forest-creatures — birds too sweetly call ★★★. By this joy, solitude tastes — no merit-fault touches body. ★★ Sky-canopy, earth-seat — mind plays there ★★. Kanthā-kamaṇḍalu for body's-service — wind announces ritual-time. Hari-kathā is food — many varieties — relish with rasa. Tuka says: dialogue with mind — own debate with oneself.
What it means
★★★ THE MOST-FAMOUS TUKĀRĀM ECO-BHAKTI ABHANG ★★★. The most-anthologized Tukārām forest-friendship / solitude / self-dialogue poem. Used at Maharashtra environmental-celebrations.
★★★ THE OPENING ★★★: vṛkṣa-vallī āmhām sōyarīm vanacharē — pakṣī hī susvarē āḷavitī — ★★★ trees-vines our kinsmen, forest-creatures — birds too sweetly call ★★★. Sōyarī = kinsmen, relations. Vanachara = forest-dwellers (animals). ★★★ Trees-and-vines are-our-kinsmen, the-forest-dwellers; birds-too sweetly-call. ★★★ The ecological-bhakti vision — nature-as-kin, not-resource.
★★ THE SKY-CANOPY ★★: ākāśa-maṇḍapa pṛthvī āsana — ramē tēthē mana krīḍā karī — ★★ sky-canopy, earth-seat — mind plays there ★★. ★★ The-sky is-the-canopy (maṇḍapa = pavilion); the-earth is-the-seat (āsana); the-mind plays-there. ★★ The whole-cosmos as-the-meditation-hall.
The minimal-life: kanthā-kumaṇḍalū dēha-upachārā — jāṇavitō vārā avaśvaru — kanthā-kamaṇḍalu for body's-service — wind announces ritual-time. Just-a-kanthā (patched-cloak) and-kamaṇḍalu (water-pot) for-body-needs; the-wind tells-the-ritual-hour.
Hari-kathā-as-food: Hari-kathā bhōjana paravaḍī vistāra — Hari-kathā is-food, many-varieties to-relish.
Self-dialogue: Tukā mhaṇē hōya manāsī samvāda — āpulā chi vāda āpaṇāmsī — Tuka says: dialogue with the mind — own debate with oneself.
★★★ HISTORICAL-CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE ★★★: - One of THE most-anthologized Tukārām abhangs — appears in nearly every Marathi-school-textbook - Used at Maharashtra environmental-celebrations as the Vārkarī ecological-classic - Cited as proof-text for Tukārām's appreciation-of-nature - A model for spiritual-solitude — sufficient with sky-canopy, earth-seat, minimal-implements - The line vṛkṣa-vallī āmhām sōyarī has become a slogan-phrase for environmental-Hindu-bhakti
Note: Despite-2459 / 2464 saying no-need-to-go-to-the-forest, Tukārām here-praises-the-forest-as-natural-sant-sanga. Not-a-contradiction: the forest is-better-than-cities-of-hypocrisy, but the Vārkarī-householder's-Chandrabhāgā is-also-sufficient.
[T]
For someone today
For today: ★★★ trees-vines are our kinsmen, forest-creatures, sweet-birds ★★★; solitude tastes good; ★★ sky-canopy, earth-seat ★★; minimal needs; Hari-kathā as food; self-dialogue with mind*.
Where this applies
- ★★★ Trees-vines-our-kinsmen-forest-creatures-birds ★★★. ★★★ Vṛkṣa-vallī-āmhām-sōyarīm-vanacharē-pakṣī-susvarē-āḷavitī ★★★.
- Sky-canopy-earth-seat-mind-plays. Ākāśa-maṇḍapa-pṛthvī-āsana-ramē-mana-krīḍā.