Abhanga 2811
Bhēṭīlāgīm jīvā lāgalīse āsa — for the meeting — āsa (longing) is lāgalīse (tied, attached) to (my) jīva; pāhe rātrīm divasa vāṭa tujhī — (I) watch your vāṭa (path) night-and-day.
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) is lāgalīse (tied, attached) to (my) jīva; pāhe rātrīm divasa vāṭa tujhī — (I) watch your vāṭa (path) night-and-day. Pūrṇimēcā chandra chakorāñce jīvana — the pūrṇimā (full-moon)'s chandra is the chakora-bird's jīvana (life); taise mājhe mana vāṭa pāhe — thus my mind watches the path. Dīvāḷīcyā mūḷā lēnkī āsāvalī — for the Dīvāḷī mūḷā (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 the Śrī-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-recited Tukārām yearning-prayers. The four images each name a different kind-of-yearning: - Chakora — the soul-bird that lives-on-the-beloved's-light - Dīvāḷī-daughter — the family-member longing-for-the-summons-home - Hungry-baby — the one-utterly-dependent crying-and-watching - Tukārām himself — hunger has been tied to me
Each can be your-own-yearning-mode at different times. You can pray this verse exactly: bhēṭīlāgīm jīvā lāgalīse āsa — pāhe rātrīm divasa vāṭa tujhī. The vāṭa-pāhaṇē (path-watching) is the bhakti-discipline-of-yearning.
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