Abhanga 2699
We held ēka (one) in the chitta — Rakhumāī's pati (husband).
The verse
एक धरिला चित्तीं । आम्हीं रखुमाईंचा पती ॥१॥
तेणें जालें अवघें काम । निवारला भवश्रम ॥ध्रु.॥
परद्रव्य परनारी । जालीं विषाचिये परी ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे फार । नाहीं लागत वेव्हार ॥३॥
Literal translation
We held ēka (one) in the chitta — Rakhumāī's pati (husband). By this, avaghē kāma (all the work) was done — the bhava-śrama (samsāra-labor) was nivāralā (averted). Paradravya paranārī (others' wealth and others' women) — became viṣāñciyē parī (like venom). Tukā says: no more vēvhāra (transactional-business) is needed.
What it means
A short, settled-state verse. Ēka dharilā chittīm — āmhī Rakhumāīñcā patī — we held one in the chitta — Rakhumāī's husband. The single-mindedness is named: only one in the chitta, and that one is Rakhumāī's pati (Viṭhṭhala). Rakhumāīñcā patī is the affectionate Vārkarī kinship-name for Viṭhṭhala.
The dhrūpada gives the result: tēṇē jālē avaghē kāma — nivāralā bhava-śrama — by this, all the work was done — the bhava-śrama (samsāra-labor) was averted. The bhakti-claim: holding one in chitta does the work of all the other works. Bhava-śrama — the laboring-in-samsāra — is nivāralā (turned-aside, averted).
The second verse names the side-effect on the standard vices: paradravya paranārī jālīm viṣāñciyē parī — others' wealth and others' women have become like venom. The paradravya-paranārī (the canonical two trespasses — others' wealth, others' women — see 2630) no longer require willpower to avoid; they become like venom on their own. The bhakta does not have to push them away; they become repulsive by virtue of the one-held-in-chitta.
The close: na lāgata vēvhāra — no more vēvhāra needed. Vēvhāra — transaction, dealing, business-with — the transactional-mode of bhakti (which-rite-does-which-work) is no longer required. The one-held-in-chitta has replaced the vēvhāra mode.
For someone today
A useful description of how single-mindedness automatically handles things that previously required willpower. Hold one in chitta — and you don't have to push the venoms away; they become venom on their own. The bhakti-mechanism: rather than willing-against paradravya-paranārī, the one-held-in-chitta makes them taste like venom spontaneously. The verse is the structural-claim about how genuine devotion resolves competing-attractions — not by force but by changed-perception.
Where this applies
- The result of holding-one-in-chitta — bhava-śrama averted, vēvhāra unnecessary
- The mechanism: paradravya-paranārī become like venom spontaneously
- Single-mindedness as the route to the cessation of struggle
- Rakhumāī's pati as the affectionate-single-addressee