Abhanga 2754
A striking celebrated verse. In the kīrtana-place, happiness dwells; Vaiṣṇavas sing-and-dance; pennants flash; Hari-names thunder; sins are grab-grab-killed; the Lord forgot Deva-ness and stood at Paṇḍharī, distasted of nirguṇa, took the lovely-form; the belly, served, doesn't fill; hunger stays hungry — who cares about mukti? The descent-theology is precise: the Lord prefers the form to the formless; he distasted-of-nirguṇa and chose gōjira. The implication: the bhakta should follow the Lord's preference. And the anti-mukti close: bhakti-hunger is more-desirable than mukti — who cares about this mukti?
The verse
तेथें सुखाची वसति । गाती वैष्णव नाचती । पताका झळकती । गर्जती हरिनामें ॥१॥
दोषा जाली घेघेमारी । पळती भरले दिशा चारी । न येती माघारीं । नाहीं उरी परताया ॥ध्रु.॥
विसरोनि देवपणा । उभा पंढरीचा राणा । विटोनि निर्गुणा । रूप धरिलें गोजिरें ॥२॥
पोट सेवितां न धाये । भूक भुकेली च राहे । तुका म्हणे पाहे । कोण आस या मुक्तीची ॥३॥
Literal translation
Tēthē sukhāñcī vasatī — there, happiness dwells; gātī Vaiṣṇava nāchatī — Vaiṣṇavas sing and dance; patākā jhaḷakatī — pennants flash; garjatī Hari-nāmēm — Hari-names thunder. Dōṣā jālī ghē-ghē-mārī — sins have been ghē-ghē-mārī (grab-grab-killed); paḷatī bharale diśā chārī — they flee, filling the four directions; na yetī māghārīm — they don't return back; nāhī urī paratāyā — no urī (remnant) remains to return. Visarōnī Deva-paṇā — ubhā Paṇḍharīñcā rāṇā — forgetting Deva-ness, the king-of-Paṇḍharī stood; viṭōnī nirguṇā — distasted of nirguṇa; rūpa dharilē gōjirē — (he) took the gōjira (lovely) form. Pōṭa sēvitām na dhāye — belly, served, doesn't get-full; bhūka bhukelī chi rāhe — hunger stays bhukelī (hungry). Tukā says: pāhē — kōṇa āsa yā muktīñcī — see — who has āsa (desire) for this mukti?
What it means
A striking celebratory-and-theological verse. Tēthē sukhāñcī vasatī — gātī Vaiṣṇava nāchatī — patākā jhaḷakatī — garjatī Hari-nāmēm — there, happiness dwells — Vaiṣṇavas sing and dance — pennants flash — Hari-names thunder. The kīrtana-scene is named with four-fold attribute: dwelling-of-sukha, singing-dancing-Vaiṣṇavas, flashing-pennants, thundering-Hari-names.
The dhrūpada: dōṣā jālī ghē-ghē-mārī — paḷatī bharale diśā chārī — na yetī māghārīm — nāhī urī paratāyā — sins are ghē-ghē-mārī (grab-grab-killed); they flee, filling the four directions; they don't return; no remnant remains to come-back. The kīrtana's-effect on sins: grab-grab-killed, fleeing in all four-directions, with no remnant.
The second verse names the descent-theology: visarōnī Deva-paṇā — ubhā Paṇḍharīñcā rāṇā — viṭōnī nirguṇā — rūpa dharilē gōjirē — forgetting Deva-ness, the king-of-Paṇḍharī stood; distasted of nirguṇa, he took the lovely (gōjira) form. The Lord forgot-his-Deva-ness (didn't stand-on-it) to stand-at-Paṇḍharī; distasted of nirguṇa (formless-aspect), he took the gōjira (lovely) form. The descent from nirguṇa to gōjira-rūpa is named with the verb viṭōnī — distasted — implying the Lord himself preferred the form over the formless.
The close offers the striking anti-mukti claim: pōṭa sēvitām na dhāye — bhūka bhukelī chi rāhe — kōṇa āsa yā muktīñcī — the belly, served, doesn't get-full; hunger stays hungry — who has desire for this mukti? The bhakti-claim: in this kīrtana, the belly is fed-yet-doesn't-fill, hunger remains hungry. This is bhakti-as-eternal-hunger-of-love (compare 2724's rasanā dhālī na dhāya — tongue filled, doesn't satiate). And the rhetorical close: kōṇa āsa yā muktīñcī — who has any desire for this mukti (when this hunger-of-love is available)? (Compare 2624's kāya mōkṣa karāvā — tumchiyā gōvā darśanāsī — what mokṣa, my entanglement is in your darśana.)
For someone today
A striking celebrated verse. In the kīrtana-place, happiness dwells; Vaiṣṇavas sing-and-dance; pennants flash; Hari-names thunder; sins are grab-grab-killed; the Lord forgot Deva-ness and stood at Paṇḍharī, distasted of nirguṇa, took the lovely-form; the belly, served, doesn't fill; hunger stays hungry — who cares about mukti? The descent-theology is precise: the Lord prefers the form to the formless; he distasted-of-nirguṇa and chose gōjira. The implication: the bhakta should follow the Lord's preference. And the anti-mukti close: bhakti-hunger is more-desirable than mukti — who cares about this mukti?
Where this applies
- Celebrated kīrtana-and-bhakti-vs-mukti canonical text
- The Lord-preferred-form-over-formless (gōjira-over-nirguṇa) descent-theology
- The belly-fed-doesn't-sate-hunger-stays-hungry bhakti-as-eternal-hunger
- The rhetorical who-cares-about-mukti when bhakti-hunger is available