Abhanga 2794
Grace can turn even the most feared place, like a cremation ground, into a source of quiet joy, and it widens your sense of kinship to include trees, creatures, and stones.
The verse
स्मशानीं आम्हां न्याहालीचें सुख । या नांवें कौतुक तुमची कृपा ॥१॥
नाहीं तरीं वांयां अवघें निर्फळ । शब्द ते पोकळ बडबड ॥ध्रु.॥
झाडें झुडें जीव सोइरे पाषाण । होती तई दान तुम्हीं केलें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे आतां पाहे अनुभव । घेऊनि हातीं जीव पांडुरंगा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Smaśānīm āmhām nyāhālīñce sukha — in thesmaśāna(cremation-ground) — for us —nyāhālī(gentle-affectionate, tender)sukha(joy); yā nāvē kautuka tumhī krpā — by this name — yourkautuka(wonder) iskrpā(compassion). Nāhī tarī vāyām avaghē nirphaḷa — otherwise, all goesvāyām(in vain) —nirphaḷa(fruitless); śabda te pōkaḷa baḍabaḍa — the words arepōkaḷa baḍabaḍa(hollow-blather). Jhāḍē jhuḍe jīva sōyare pāṣāṇa — trees-bushes, creatures (jīva), kinsmen (sōyare), stones; hōtī taī dāna tumhī kele — when they are (so) — then you gave thedāna. Tukā says: ātām pāhe anubhava — now see theanubhava; ghē'ūnī hātīm jīva Pāṇḍurangā — taking the jīva in (your) hand, Pāṇḍurangā.
What it means
A striking radical-kinship-expansion verse. Smaśānīm āmhām nyāhālīñce sukha — yā nāvē kautuka tumhī krpā — in the cremation-ground — for us — joy is gentle-and-affectionate; by this name, your wonder is your compassion. The opening-image is striking: the smaśāna (cremation-ground, place-of-the-dead) is the place wherewefeelnyāhālī sukha(gentle-affectionate joy). This is a paradox: the place-of-death is the place-of-joy. The explanation: your wonder is your krpā — your compassion is what makes the cremation-ground a joyful-place.
The dhrūpada: nāhī tarī vāyām avaghē nirphaḷa — śabda te pōkaḷa baḍabaḍa — otherwise — all goes vain, fruitless; the words are hollow-blather. Without krpā, all is nirphaḷa (fruitless) and words are pōkaḷa baḍabaḍa (hollow-noise).
The second verse names the radical-expansion: jhāḍē jhuḍe jīva sōyare pāṣāṇa — hōtī taī dāna tumhī kele — trees, bushes, creatures-kinsmen, stones — when they are (so), then you have given the dāna. Trees, bushes, creatures, kinsmen, stones — all become one-family. The bhakta names this expansion as the dāna (gift) the Lord has given. (Compare 2471's vrkṣa-vallī āmhām sōyare — trees-and-vines are our kinsmen.)
The close: ātām pāhe anubhava — ghē'ūnī hātīm jīva Pāṇḍurangā — now see the anubhava — taking the jīva in (your) hand, Pāṇḍurangā. The direct-petition: take the jīva in hand, Pāṇḍurangā, see the anubhava.
The verse extends the eco-bhakti canon of 2471 with the cremation-ground-becomes-joyful paradox and the creatures-stones-kinsmen radical-expansion.
For someone today
A useful radical-kinship-expansion meditation. In the cremation-ground — for us — joy is gentle-affectionate; by this name, your wonder is compassion. Otherwise all is fruitless, hollow-words. Trees, bushes, creatures, kinsmen, stones — when they are, you have given the dāna. Now see the anubhava — taking the jīva in hand, Pāṇḍurangā. The signs of the Lord's dāna: (1) joy in unexpected-places (smaśāna); (2) trees, bushes, creatures, and stones felt as kinsmen. Both are signs of the compassion-already-given.
मराठी: नात्याचं मूलगामी विस्तारीकरण दर्शवणारं एक उपयुक्त चिंतन. स्मशानात — आमच्यासाठी — आनंद कोमल आणि प्रेमळ असतो; या नावानेच तुझं अद्भुत रूप हीच तुझी कृपा आहे. अन्यथा सगळं व्यर्थ, पोकळ शब्दांचा भडिमार. झाडं, झुडुपं, प्राणी, नातलग, दगड — हे सगळे असतात तेव्हाच तू खरं दान दिलेलं असतं. आता तो अनुभव बघ — जीव हातात घेऊन, पांडुरंगा. देवाच्या दानाच्या खुणा अशा — (१) अनपेक्षित ठिकाणी आनंद (स्मशानात); (२) झाडं, झुडुपं, प्राणी आणि दगड यांना नातलगासारखं वाटणं. दोन्ही खुणा आधीच दिलेल्या कृपेची साक्ष देतात.
Where this applies
- When you visit a place associated with grief or death and unexpectedly feel a quiet sense of peace there
- When you catch yourself feeling a real kinship with nature, animals, or even ordinary objects around you
- When you wonder whether your spiritual words are genuine or just empty talk without real feeling behind them
- When you want to hand over your fear about life and death directly and ask to be held and understood