Abhanga 2813
Karīm dhandā parī āvaḍatī pāya — I do the dhanda (business) — but the feet are dear; prīti sāngō kāya neṇām Devā — what to say of (my) prīti — would you not know, Deva?
The verse
करीं धंदा परि आवडती पाय । प्रीती सांगों काय नेणां देवा ॥१॥
रूप डोळां देखें सदा सर्वकाळ । संपादितों आळ प्रपंचाचा ॥ध्रु.॥
नेमून ठेविली कारया कारणीं । आमुचिये वाणी गुण वदे ॥२॥
मनासीं उत्कंठा दर्शनाचा हेवा । नाहीं लोभ जीवा धन धान्य ॥३॥
उसंतितों पंथ वेठीचिया परी । जीवनसूत्र दोरीपाशीं ओढ ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे ऐसें करितों निर्वाण । जीव तुम्हां भिन्न नाहीं माझा ॥५॥
Literal translation
Karīm dhandā parī āvaḍatī pāya — I do the dhanda (business) — but the feet are dear; prīti sāngō kāya neṇām Devā — what to say of (my) prīti — would you not know, Deva? Rūpa ḍoḷām dekhem sadā sarva-kāḷa — the rūpa — the eye sees, always all-the-time; sampāditōm āḷa prapanchāñcā — I just finish-up the āḷa (round-of-tasks) of prapañca. Nēmūn ṭhevilī kāryā kāraṇī — āmuchiye vāṇī guṇa vadē — (my voice) is fixed to the kārya-kāraṇī (work-business) — our voice speaks (your) guṇa (qualities). Mānāsī utkaṇṭhā darśanāñcā hēvā — the mind has utkaṇṭhā (longing-eagerness) for darśana; nāhī lōbha jīvā dhana-dhānya — no lōbha (greed) in jīva for wealth or grain. Usantitōm pantha vēṭhīñciyā parī — I clear-the-path like vēṭhī (extorted-labor); jīvana-sūtra dōrī-pāśīm ōḍha — the jīvana-sūtra (life-thread) is ōḍha (pulled) at the dōrī (string) (held by you). Tukā says: aise karītōm nirvāṇa — I make such nirvāṇa (full-stake-decision); jīva tumhām bhinna nāhī mājhā — my jīva is not separate from you.
What it means
A 5-verse householder-bhakti-with-jīva-tied-to-the-feet verse. Karīm dhandā parī āvaḍatī pāya — prīti sāngō kāya neṇām Devā — I do the business — but the feet are dear; what to say of my prīti, Deva? The opening declaration: I do business AND the feet are dear. Both coexist. The bhakta doesn't have to abandon prapañca; his prīti is at the feet even while he works.
The dhrūpada: rūpa ḍoḷām dekhem sadā sarva-kāḷa — sampāditōm āḷa prapanchāñcā — the rūpa, the eye sees always; I just finish-up the prapañca's round-of-tasks. The rūpa (form-of-the-Lord) is sadā-sarva-kāḷa (always all-time) in the eye. Meanwhile, the āḷa (round-of-prapañca-tasks) is being finished-up — almost mechanically.
The second verse: nēmūn ṭhevilī kāryā kāraṇī — āmuchiye vāṇī guṇa vadē — (the voice) is fixed to the work-business — (yet) our voice speaks (your) guṇa. Even within the work, the voice speaks the Lord's qualities.
The third: mānāsī utkaṇṭhā darśanāñcā hēvā — nāhī lōbha jīvā dhana-dhānya — the mind has longing-eagerness for darśana; no greed in jīva for wealth or grain. The mind's-orientation is darśana-utkaṇṭhā; no lōbha for material (compare 2659's kāma-krodha-māyā as mourners).
The fourth: usantitōm pantha vēṭhīñciyā parī — jīvana-sūtra dōrī-pāśīm ōḍha — I clear the path like vēṭhī-labor; the life-thread is pulled at the string (held by you). Vēṭhīñciyā parī — like extorted-labor — the bhakta does the prapañca-work as if it were extracted-from-him (not by genuine-attachment). And the jīvana-sūtra (life-thread) is pulled by the Lord's dōrī (string). (Compare 2791's kite-string-at-self.)
The close: aise karītōm nirvāṇa — jīva tumhām bhinna nāhī mājhā — I make such nirvāṇa (full-stake-decision); my jīva is not separate from you. The full-stake.
For someone today
A useful householder-bhakti template. I do the business but feet are dear. The rūpa is in the eye always; I just finish-up the prapañca-round. My voice is fixed to work, yet it speaks your guṇa. The mind has longing-eagerness for darśana — no greed for wealth-or-grain. I clear the path like extorted-labor; the life-thread is pulled at the string by you. I make such full-stake-decision — my jīva is not separate from you. The verse permits a complete bhakti-while-doing-prapañca: the rūpa-in-eye, voice-speaking-guṇa, mind-utkaṇṭhā, jīva-not-separate. The work-of-prapañca becomes vēṭhī-like extorted-labor — done because-it-must-be, not because of attachment.
Where this applies
- The householder-bhakti-with-jīva-tied-to-the-feet model
- Recognizing that one can do business while feet remain dear
- The life-thread-string-pulled-by-you anchor-claim
- Vēṭhī-like prapañca-work — done as duty, not from attachment