Abhanga 2826
The canonical Tukārām Janmāṣṭamī text. The two were swapped — the daughter and Chakrapāṇi. Joy of joys came — Govinda incarnated. The bonds were broken — Vasudeva-Devakī's darśanas. The unmanifest-Brahman, the good one, came to Gokula. Nanda and Yaśodā — blessed to see Śrīpati. Midnight birth-time — Gopāḷa came on aṣṭamī. The earth was joyful — the burden all went. For Kamsa — the whirl of fate (turned-around).
The verse
फिराविलीं दोनी । कन्या आणि चक्रपाणी ॥१॥
जाला आनंदें आनंद । अवतरले गोविंद ॥ध्रु.॥
तुटलीं बंधनें । वसुदेवदेवकीचीं दर्शनें ॥२॥
गोकुळासी आलें । ब्रम्ह अव्यक्त चांगलें ॥३॥
नंद दसवंती । धन्य देखिले श्रीपती ॥४॥
निशीं जन्मकाळ । आले अष्टमी गोपाळ ॥५॥
आनंदली मही । भार गेला सकळ ही ॥६॥
तुका म्हणे कंसा । आट भोविला वळसा ॥७॥
Literal translation
Firāvilīm dōnī — the two were firāvilīm (swapped); kanyā āṇi Chakrapāṇī — the daughter and Chakrapāṇi. Jālā ānandē ānanda — joy-of-joys happened; avataralē Govinda — Govinda incarnated. Tuṭalīm bandhanē — the bandhanē (bonds) were broken; Vasudeva-Devakīñcīm darśanē — (Vasudeva-Devakī's) darśanas (of him). Gōkuḷāsī ālē — came to Gokuḷa; Brahma avyakta chāngalē — the Brahma avyakta (unmanifest-Brahman), the chāngalē (good-one). Nanda Dasavantī — Nanda (and) Dasavantī (Yaśodā); dhanya dekhile Śrīpati — blessed they saw Śrīpati. Niśīm janma-kāḷa — at night, the birth-time; āle aṣṭamī Gōpāḷa — Gōpāḷa came on aṣṭamī. Ānandalī mahī — the mahī (earth) was joyful; bhāra gēlā sakaḷa hī — the bhāra (burden) — all of it — went. Tukā says: Kamsā — āṭa bhōvilā vaḷasā — for Kamsa — the āṭa (whirl, twist) — (whirled-around) the vaḷasā (the fate-pot).
What it means
A 7-verse compressed Krṣṇa-janma narrative. Tukārām's most-condensed retelling of the Daśama Skandha of Bhāgavata. Each verse is a compressed-stanza.
1. The swap: firāvilīm dōnī — kanyā āṇi Chakrapāṇī — the two were swapped — the daughter and Chakrapāṇi. The canonical Bhāgavata episode: Vasudeva carries newborn-Krṣṇa from Mathurā to Gokula, exchanges him with Yaśodā's newborn-daughter (who is Yoga-māyā), brings the daughter back. The opening-image of firāvilī-dōnī (the-two-swapped) is the central-Janmāṣṭamī image.
2. Govinda incarnated: jālā ānandē ānanda — avataralē Govinda — joy-of-joys happened — Govinda incarnated.
3. Vasudeva-Devakī bonds broken: tuṭalīm bandhanē — the prison-shackles fall (canonical Bhāgavata episode).
4. Gokula receives Brahma-avyakta: Gōkuḷāsī ālē — Brahma avyakta chāngalē — (it) came to Gokula — the unmanifest-Brahman, the good (one). The avyakta (unmanifest) Brahman has become vyakta (manifest) at Gokula.
5. Nanda-Daśavantī: Nanda Dasavantī — dhanya dekhile Śrīpati — Nanda and Daśavantī (Yaśodā) — blessed (were they) to see Śrīpati. (Daśavantī may be a name-variant for Yaśodā.)
6. Aṣṭamī-niśīm-janma-kāḷa: niśīm janma-kāḷa — āle aṣṭamī Gōpāḷa — at night the birth-time — Gōpāḷa came on aṣṭamī. The canonical Janmāṣṭamī details: aṣṭamī-tithi at midnight.
7. Earth joyful, burden-removed: ānandalī mahī — bhāra gēlā sakaḷa hī — the earth was joyful — the burden (of demons) all went. The standard Bhāgavata theme: Earth-as-cow had complained-to-the-Lord about the demon-kings'-burden; Krṣṇa's birth promises that burden's-removal.
8. Kamsa's whirl: Kamsā — āṭa bhōvilā vaḷasā — for Kamsa — the whirl-of-fate (whirled-around the pot). Kamsa (Krṣṇa's-uncle-and-tyrant who-had-imprisoned Vasudeva-Devakī) — his vaḷasā (fate-pot, fortune-pot) is bhōvilā (whirled-around) — i.e., fortune-reversed.
For someone today
The canonical Tukārām Janmāṣṭamī text. The two were swapped — the daughter and Chakrapāṇi. Joy of joys came — Govinda incarnated. The bonds were broken — Vasudeva-Devakī's darśanas. The unmanifest-Brahman, the good one, came to Gokula. Nanda and Yaśodā — blessed to see Śrīpati. Midnight birth-time — Gopāḷa came on aṣṭamī. The earth was joyful — the burden all went. For Kamsa — the whirl of fate (turned-around).
The verse can be recited at Janmāṣṭamī as the compressed-Krṣṇa-birth narrative. Each of the eight elements (swap, incarnation, bonds-broken, Gokula-arrival, Nanda-Yaśodā-seeing, midnight-aṣṭamī, earth-joyful, Kamsa-whirled) is a theme-cell worth meditating-on.
Where this applies
- Sung at Krṣṇa-Janmāṣṭamī celebrations
- The canonical Tukārām compressed Janmāṣṭamī narrative
- Recognizing the daughter-Chakrapāṇi swap canonical-Bhāgavata reference
- Each of the 8 elements as a meditation-point