Abhanga 2811
Real longing for God can be as constant and tender as a bird watching the moon, a daughter waiting to be fetched home, or a hungry baby watching for its mother.
The verse
भेटीलागीं जीवा लागलीसे आस । पाहे रात्रीं दिवस वाट तुझी ॥१॥
पूर्णिमेचा चंद्र चकोराचें जीवन । तैसें माझें मन वाट पाहे ॥ध्रु.॥
दिवाळीच्या मुळा लेंकी आसावली । पाहतसे वाटुली पंढरीची ॥२॥
भुकेलिया बाळ अति शोक करी । वाट पाहे परि माउलीची ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे मज लागलीसे भूक । धांवूनि श्रीमुख दावीं देवा ॥४॥
Literal translation
Bhēṭīlāgīm jīvā lāgalīse āsa — for the meeting —āsa(longing) islāgalīse(tied, attached) to (my) jīva; pāhe rātrīm divasa vāṭa tujhī — (I) watch yourvāṭa(path) night-and-day. Pūrṇimēcā chandra chakorāñce jīvana — thepūrṇimā(full-moon)'s chandra is thechakora-bird'sjīvana(life); taise mājhe mana vāṭa pāhe — thus my mind watches the path. Dīvāḷīcyā mūḷā lēnkī āsāvalī — for the Dīvāḷīmūḷā(summons-fetch-messenger), the daughter is longing; pāhātase vāṭulī Paṇḍharīñcī — watches the little path-of-Paṇḍharī. Bhukēliyā bāḷa ati śōka karī — the hungry baby cries-extreme-grief; vāṭa pāhe parī māulīñcī — but watches the path of (the)māulī(mother). Tukā says: maja lāgalīse bhūka — dhāmvūnī Śrī-mukha dāvīm Devā — hunger has been tied to me — running, show theŚrī-mukha(auspicious-face), Deva.
What it means
This is one of the most-recited Tukārām daily-yearning-prayers across Maharashtra. Each of the four images builds the yearning-state.
The opening declaration: bhēṭīlāgīm jīvā lāgalīse āsa — pāhe rātrīm divasa vāṭa tujhī — for the meeting, longing is tied to my jīva — I watch your path night and day. The jīva-tied-to-longing state is vāṭa-pāhaṇē (path-watching), continuous night-and-day.
Image 1 — chakora and full-moon: pūrṇimēcā chandra chakorāñce jīvana — taise mājhe mana vāṭa pāhe. The chakora-bird is said in poetic-tradition to live-on-moonlight; on the full-moon-night, it watches-the-sky-for-its-life. Thus my mind watches the path.
Image 2 — Dīvāḷī-daughter: Dīvāḷīcyā mūḷā lēnkī āsāvalī — pāhātase vāṭulī Paṇḍharīñcī. The Maharashtra-cultural tradition: at Dīvāḷī (the lights-festival), the brother goes to fetch the married-sister from her in-laws' household. The mūḷā (messenger/summons) is sent for her; she longs (āsāvalī) and watches the little-path (vāṭulī). The vāṭulī (path-diminutive) is a particularly-tender form. (The verse adds Paṇḍharīñcī — the little-path-of-Paṇḍharī — to specify the path-being-watched.)
Image 3 — hungry-baby-watching-mother: bhukēliyā bāḷa ati śōka karī — vāṭa pāhe parī māulīñcī. The hungry baby cries ati-śōka (extreme-grief) — yet at the same time watches the path of the mother. The double-state: crying-and-watching. The grief doesn't prevent the watching.
The close — Tukārām's self-application: maja lāgalīse bhūka — dhāmvūnī Śrī-mukha dāvīm Devā — hunger has been tied to me — running, show the Śrī-mukha (auspicious-face), Deva. The hunger-image from the baby is brought-into-the-bhakta's-self. Dhāmvūnī (running) — the petition is for hurried-coming. Śrī-mukha — the auspicious-face — is what is to be shown.
For someone today
This is one of the most beloved of Tukaram's daily longing-prayers, built around four tender images. First, the chakora bird, which legend says lives on moonlight and gazes at the sky, waiting for it. Second, a married daughter at Diwali, longing for her brother to come and fetch her home, watching the little path to Pandhari. Third, a hungry baby who cries in distress yet never stops watching for its mother to appear. And finally Tukaram turns the image on himself: hunger has taken hold of him too, and he begs God to come running and show his gracious face. Each image names a different shade of longing you might feel at different times, and you can pray the opening line exactly as Tukaram wrote it, watching and waiting for God the way each of these watches for what it loves.
मराठी: हा तुकारामांच्या सर्वात प्रिय व्याकुळतेच्या प्रार्थनांपैकी एक आहे, चार हळुवार प्रतिमांभोवती रचलेला. पहिली, चकोर पक्षी, जो दंतकथेनुसार चांदण्यावरच जगतो आणि आकाशाकडे टक लावून वाट पाहतो. दुसरी, दिवाळीच्या वेळी सासरी असलेली लेक, भावाच्या मुळाची वाट पाहणारी, पंढरीची छोटी वाट न्याहाळणारी. तिसरी, भुकेने रडणारे बाळ, जे अतीव दुःखात रडत असतानाही आईची वाट पाहणे सोडत नाही. आणि शेवटी तुकाराम हीच प्रतिमा स्वतःवर लावतात — मलाही अशीच भूक लागली आहे, आणि ते देवाला धावत येऊन आपले प्रसन्न मुख दाखवण्याची विनवणी करतात. प्रत्येक प्रतिमा वेगवेगळ्या वेळी तुम्हाला जाणवणाऱ्या व्याकुळतेचे एक रूप दाखवते, आणि तुम्ही तुकारामांनी लिहिलेली सुरुवातीची ओळ जशीच्या तशी म्हणू शकता — प्रत्येकजण ज्याची वाट पाहतो, त्याचीच वाट पाहत, देवाची वाट पाहत.
Where this applies
- The canonical Vārkarī daily-yearning-prayer
- Recognizing the path-watching tradition of waiting-for-the-beloved
- The four-image-meditation: chakora, Dīvāḷī-daughter, hungry-baby, Tukārām-hunger
- The closing-petition: running, show the Śrī-mukha