Abhanga 2799
Aikā gā e avaghe jana — listen, O all-people; śuddha mana te hita — pure-mind is the hita (welfare).
The verse
ऐका गा ए अवघे जन । शुद्ध मन तें हित ॥१॥
अवघा काळ नव्हे जरी । समयावरी जाणावें ॥ध्रु.॥
नाहीं कोणी सवें येता । संचिता या वेगळा ॥२॥
बरवा अवकाश आहे । करा साहे इंद्रियें ॥३॥
कर्मभूमीऐसा ठाव । वेवसाव जाणावा ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे उत्तम जोडी । जाती घडी नरदेह ॥५॥
Literal translation
Aikā gā e avaghe jana — listen, O all-people; śuddha mana te hita — pure-mind is the hita (welfare). Avaghā kāḷa navhe jarī — even if not (always) all-time; samayāvarī jāṇāve — know-at-the-samaya (right-occasion). Nāhī kōṇī save yētā — no one comes save (along-with) (you); samchitā yā veGaḷā — separate from this samchita (accumulated-karma). Baravā avakāśa āhe — the avakāśa (opportunity) is baravā (good); karā sāhe indriyē — let the indriyas help. Karma-bhūmi-aisā ṭhāva — this place is karma-bhūmi-like; vyavasāya jāṇāvā — the vyavasāya (business) should be known. Tukā says: uttama jōḍī — jātī ghaḍī nara-deha — the uttama jōḍī (excellent joining) — the nara-deha (human-body) is jātī ghaḍī (slipping-every-ghaṭikā).
What it means
A 5-verse exhortation verse. Aikā gā e avaghe jana — śuddha mana te hita — listen, all people — pure-mind is the welfare. The opening direct-address: to everyone. The basic-claim: śuddha-mana (pure-mind) is the hita (welfare); not external-fortune.
The dhrūpada: avaghā kāḷa navhe jarī — samayāvarī jāṇāve — even if not all-time — know-at-the-occasion. Concession to-human-limitation: even if you can't be pure-minded all-time, at-least-be-so-at-the-right-occasion.
The second verse: nāhī kōṇī save yētā — samchitā yā veGaḷā — no one comes along — separate from this samchita. The mortality-clear-claim: only samchita (accumulated-merit-and-karma) accompanies you; no other being or relation does. (Compare 2747's Harīvīṇa nāhī sakhā.)
The third verse names the opportunity: baravā avakāśa āhe — karā sāhe indriyē — there is good opportunity — let the indriyas help. The avakāśa (window-of-opportunity) is baravā (good) — i.e., the time-is-now. Let the indriyas (senses) cooperate (sāhe = help) — turn them toward the welfare.
The fourth verse: karma-bhūmi-aisā ṭhāva — vyavasāya jāṇāvā — this place is karma-bhūmi — the business should be known. Karma-bhūmi (the field-of-karmic-action — traditionally identified as the human-birth, since other-realms are bhōga-bhūmi). The vyavasāya (business, occupation) of karma-bhūmi is what should-be-known.
The close: uttama jōḍī — jātī ghaḍī nara-deha — the excellent joining — the human-body is slipping every ghaṭikā. Uttama-jōḍī (the most-excellent acquisition) is the nara-deha (human-body) — but it is jātī ghaḍī (slipping every 24-minute-unit). The urgency.
For someone today
A canonical 5-verse exhortation. Listen, all people — pure-mind is the welfare. Even if not all-time, at-the-right-occasion. No one comes with you — samchita alone. There is good opportunity — let the indriyas help. This place is karma-bhūmi — the business should be known. Tukā: the excellent acquisition — the human-body — is slipping every ghaṭikā. The structural-argument: (1) pure-mind is the welfare; (2) at-least-at-the-right-occasion; (3) only samchita accompanies you; (4) opportunity-is-good-now; (5) this-is-karma-bhūmi; (6) the human-body is slipping-by-the-minute. The closing-urgency: jātī-ghaḍī nara-deha.
Where this applies
- The canonical seize-the-human-body-now exhortation
- Recognizing that karma-bhūmi is here, vyavasāya is now
- Nara-deha-slipping-every-ghaṭikā — the urgency-fact
- Only-samchita-accompanies-you — the mortality-clear claim