Abhanga 2743
Gangā ālī āmhāmvarī — santa-pā'ule sājirīm — Gangā has come over us — the sants' feet-steps are lovely.
The verse
गंगा आली आम्हांवरि । संतपाउलें साजिरीं ॥१॥
तेथें करीन मी अंघोळी । उडे चरणरजधुळी । येती तीर्थावळी । पर्वकाळ सकळ ॥ध्रु.॥
पाप पळालें जळालें । भवदुःख दुरावलें॥२॥
तुका म्हणे धन्य जालों । सप्तसागरांत न्हालों ॥३॥
Literal translation
Gangā ālī āmhāmvarī — santa-pā'ule sājirīm — Gangā has come over us — the sants' feet-steps are lovely. Tēthē karīna mī anghoḷī — there I will do anghoḷī (bath); uḍē charaṇa-raja-dhūḷī — the foot-dust flies up; yētī tīrthāvaḷī — parva-kāḷa sakaḷa — the rosary-of-tīrthas comes; all parva-kāḷa (auspicious-times). Pāpa paḷālē — jaḷālē — sin has fled — burned; bhava-duḥkha durāvalē — bhava-sorrow has been distanced. Tukā says: dhanya jālōm — sapta-sāgarānta nhālōm — I have become blessed — I have bathed in the sapta-sāgara (seven-oceans).
What it means
A celebrated sants'-feet-as-Ganga bhakti-image verse. Gangā ālī āmhāmvarī — santa-pā'ule sājirīm — Gangā has come over us — the sants' feet-steps are lovely. The identification is direct: santa-pā'ule = Gangā. The sants' feet-steps coming-near is Gangā coming-near. Sājirīm (lovely, beautiful) — the affectionate description of the sants' feet.
The dhrūpada extends the image: tēthē karīna mī anghoḷī — uḍē charaṇa-raja-dhūḷī — yētī tīrthāvaḷī — parva-kāḷa sakaḷa — there I will bathe — the foot-dust flies; tīrthas come — all auspicious-times. The bath happens in the charaṇa-raja-dhūḷī (foot-dust). When the sants walk by, their dust uḍē (flies up), and all the tīrthas (sacred-waters) come into the dust — along with parva-kāḷa sakaḷa (all auspicious-times). The foot-dust contains all sacred-waters and all sacred-times.
The second verse names the effects: pāpa paḷālē — jaḷālē — bhava-duḥkha durāvalē — sin fled — burned; bhava-sorrow has been distanced. Sin both fled and burned. Bhava-duḥkha (samsāra-sorrow) was durāvalē (placed-at-a-distance, removed).
The close: dhanya jālōm — sapta-sāgarānta nhālōm — I have become blessed — I have bathed in the seven-oceans. The result-magnitude: contact-with-sant-feet-dust = bathing-in-the-seven-oceans. This is among the highest-claims in the Tukārām-Vārkarī foot-dust theology.
For someone today
The verse hands you a beautiful theology of sant-feet-as-Ganga. Where the sants walk, Ganga has come; their foot-dust flies up and all tīrthas-with-it; auspicious-times come together-with-the-dust; sin flees-and-burns; samsāra-sorrow is distanced; one has bathed in the seven-oceans. The practical-implication: being-in-the-physical-vicinity of sants is itself the bathing-in-Ganga. You don't need to travel-to-Ganga; the sants bring Ganga to you. The verse celebrates contact-with-sants as sacrament.
Where this applies
- The canonical sants'-feet-are-Ganga recognition
- Recognizing that sant-contact-itself-is-tīrtha
- The foot-dust-theology of bhakti
- The bathed-in-seven-oceans result-claim of sant-contact