Abhanga 2807
Charaṇāñca mahimā — the mahimā (greatness, glory) of the foot; hā to tujhyā Puruṣōttamā — this is yours, Puruṣōttama.
The verse
चरणाचा महिमा । हा तो तुझ्या पुरुषोत्तमा ॥१॥
अंध पारखी माणिकें । बोलविशी स्पष्ट मुकें ॥ध्रु.॥
काय नाहीं सत्ता । हातीं तुझ्या पंढरीनाथा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे मूढा । मज चेष्टविलें जडा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Charaṇāñca mahimā — the mahimā (greatness, glory) of the foot; hā to tujhyā Puruṣōttamā — this is yours, Puruṣōttama. Andha pārakhī māṇikē — the blind (one) judges the māṇika (gem) as connoisseur; bōlavisi spaṣṭa mukē — you make the mukē (mute) speak spaṣṭa (clearly). Kāya nāhī sattā — hātīm tujhyā Paṇḍharī-nāthā — what is not in (your) sattā (authority) — in your hand, Paṇḍharī-nātha? Tukā says: mūḍhā — maja cheṣṭavile jaḍā — me, the mūḍha (fool), the jaḍa (heavy, dull) — you have cheṣṭavile (made-to-perform, made-to-act).
What it means
A short gratitude-recognition verse. Charaṇāñca mahimā — hā to tujhyā Puruṣōttamā — the foot-mahimā (greatness) — this is yours, Puruṣōttama. The bhakta-claim: whatever greatness-is-being-displayed (by the bhakta-foot or by other-feet that-touch-the-Lord) — this is the Lord's mahimā, not the foot's own.
The dhrūpada offers two impossibility-overcome images: andha pārakhī māṇikē — bōlavisi spaṣṭa mukē — the blind one judges the gem; you make the mute speak clearly. Two impossibilities: - Blind-one as gem-connoisseur (normally, gem-judging requires-eyes) - Mute one made to speak clearly (normally, the mute cannot)
Both are the Lord's mahimā — impossibilities overcome.
The second verse: kāya nāhī sattā — hātīm tujhyā Paṇḍharī-nāthā — what is not in your authority — in your hand, Paṇḍharī-nātha? The rhetorical question: what is not in your hand? Nothing is outside-the-Lord's-authority.
The close is Tukārām's self-recognition: mūḍhā — maja cheṣṭavile jaḍā — me, the fool, the dull — you have made-to-perform. Mūḍha (foolish) + jaḍa (heavy, dull) — Tukārām's self-naming. Cheṣṭavile — made-to-perform, made-to-be-the-actor. The bhakta's-performance (his own poetry, his own bhakti) is the Lord performing through him. The credit is entirely-the-Lord's.
(Compare 2676's mī āhē majūra Viṭhōbāñcā — I am Viṭhoba's hired-laborer. Same authorship-disclaimer.)
For someone today
A useful gratitude-recognition prayer. The foot's mahimā — this is yours, Puruṣōttama. The blind connoisseur judges the gem; you make the mute speak clearly. What is not in your authority, Paṇḍharī-nātha? Me, the fool, the dull — you have made-to-perform. The verse permits honest authorship-disclaimer: when one finds-oneself doing-what-one-couldn't-have-done, recognize it as the Lord's cheṣṭavile (made-to-perform). The mūḍha-jaḍa (foolish-dull) self-naming + cheṣṭavile by-you close is a clean attribution-of-credit. The bhakta's-output is the Lord's-work-through-the-bhakta.
Where this applies
- Recognizing one's-own-abilities as the Lord's mahimā working through one
- The blind-connoisseur-judges-gem; mute-made-to-speak impossibility-overcome examples
- Me-the-fool-made-to-perform-by-you honest authorship-disclaimer
- Pairs with 2676's mī-āhē-majūra-Viṭhōbāñcā hired-laborer self-naming