संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 2739 of 4582

Abhanga 2739

Kōṇa dujē Harī sīṇa — who-other-than Hari (knows) the sīṇa (struggle, suffering); śaraṇa dīna ālyāñcā — of the dīna (destitute) who has come for refuge.

The canonical only-Hari-takes-this-on recognition
Without-you, who has the udāra-imprint in three-worlds? rhetorical question
Recognizing Hari as the unique birth-heat-remover

The verse

कोण दुजें हरी सीण । शरण दीन आल्याचा ॥१॥ तुम्हांविण जगदीशा । उदार ठसा त्रिभुवनीं ॥ध्रु.॥ कोण ऐसें वारी पाप । हरी ताप जन्माचा ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे धांव घाली । कोण चाली मनाचे ॥३॥

Literal translation

Kōṇa dujē Harī sīṇawho-other-than Hari (knows) the sīṇa (struggle, suffering); śaraṇa dīna ālyāñcāof the dīna (destitute) who has come for refuge. Tumhāmvīṇa Jagadīśawithout you, Jagadīśa; udāra ṭhasā tribhuvanīm(who has) the udāra (generous) ṭhasā (imprint, stamp) in the three-worlds. Kōṇa aisē vārī pāpawho removes sin like this?; Harī tāpa janmāñca(only) Hari (removes) the tāpa (heat) of birth. Tukā says: dhāmva ghālī(you) run-place yourself (rush); kōṇa chālī manāñcewhose chālī (gait) is in (my) mind?

What it means

A short canonical-claim verse. Kōṇa dujē Harī sīṇa — śaraṇa dīna ālyāñcāwho other-than-Hari (knows) the struggle — of the destitute who has come for refuge? The rhetorical question establishes Hari's-uniqueness as the-knower-of-the-refuge-taker's-struggle. No one else can do this work.

The dhrūpada: tumhāmvīṇa Jagadīśa — udāra ṭhasā tribhuvanīmwithout you, Jagadīśa — who has the udāra (generous) imprint in the three-worlds? Another rhetorical: without you, what other generous-mark exists in the three-worlds? The udāra (generous) stamp is uniquely Hari's.

The second verse: kōṇa aisē vārī pāpa — Harī tāpa janmāñcawho removes sin like this? Hari removes the heat of birth. The third rhetorical-question. Only Hari can vārī (fan-away, dispel) sin; only Hari can dispel the janma-tāpa (heat-of-birth, the burning-of-samsāra).

The close: dhāmva ghālī — kōṇa chālī manāñceyou run-place yourself; whose chālī (gait) is in my mind? The dhrūpada's-running-image returns: you rush. And the question: whose gait is in my mind? — i.e., who else's gait could my mind hold? — implying only your gait, Hari.

For someone today

A useful template for the only-Hari-takes-this-on canonical-claim prayer. Who other-than Hari knows the struggle of the destitute refuge-taker? Without you, Jagadīśa, who has the udāra-imprint in the three-worlds? Who removes sin like this — Hari removes the birth-heat? You run-place yourself; whose-gait-is-in-my-mind? The series of rhetorical-questions builds toward the conclusion that Hari is uniquely suited to this work. The closing self-test (whose gait is in my mind?) inverts the question — turning it back on oneself: whose pattern do I actually carry in my attention?

Where this applies