Abhanga 2827
Soḍiyēlyā gāṭhī — the gāṭhī (knots, bondage-knots) were untied; daruṣaṇē Krṣṇa-bhēṭī — at the daruṣaṇa (darśana) — Krṣṇa-meeting.
The verse
सोडियेल्या गांठी । दरुषणें कृष्णभेटी ॥१॥
करिती नारी अक्षवाणें । जीवभाव देती दानें ॥ध्रु.॥
उपजल्या काळें । रूपें मोहीलीं सकळें ॥२॥
तुका तेथें वारी । एकी आडोनि दुसरी ॥३॥
Literal translation
Soḍiyēlyā gāṭhī — the gāṭhī (knots, bondage-knots) were untied; daruṣaṇē Krṣṇa-bhēṭī — at the daruṣaṇa (darśana) — Krṣṇa-meeting. Karitī nārī akṣa-vāne — the nārī (women) perform the akṣa-vāne (welcoming-rice-ritual); jīva-bhāva dētī dāne — they give jīva-bhāva as dāna. Upajalyā kāḷe — at the upajalyā (birth-time); rūpē mōhilīm sakaḷē — all the rūpa (forms, those-present) were mōhilīm (enchanted) (by his form). Tukā tēthē vārī — Tukā there warding (warding-off, blocking); ekī āḍōnī dusarī — one (woman) blocked by another (in the crowd).
What it means
A 4-verse continuation of 2826's Krṣṇa-janma narrative, focusing on the women's-welcoming-ritual after the birth.
1. Knots untied at darśana: soḍiyēlyā gāṭhī — daruṣaṇē Krṣṇa-bhēṭī — the knots were untied — at the darśana, Krṣṇa-meeting. The gāṭhī are simultaneously the prison-bondage-knots (which fell off Vasudeva-Devakī) AND the inner-karma-knots (of the bhakta whom Krṣṇa-darśana releases). The double-meaning is intentional.
2. Women's akṣa-vāne: karitī nārī akṣa-vāne — jīva-bhāva dētī dāne — the women perform the akṣa-vāne (welcoming-rice-ritual); they give jīva-bhāva as dāna. The akṣa-vāne is a traditional-Maharashtra ritual: at a birth (or auspicious-occasion), women hold-grains-of-rice (akṣata) and welcome the new-arrival by ritual-throwing-or-sprinkling. The image: the women of Gokula performing-akṣa-vāne for the newborn Krṣṇa. Jīva-bhāva dētī dāne — they give jīva-bhāva (life-feeling) as dāna — meaning, their gift IS their feeling-of-love, not material-things.
3. All rūpas enchanted at birth: upajalyā kāḷe — rūpē mōhilīm sakaḷē — at the birth-time, all rūpas (those-present) were enchanted (by his form). Rūpa — forms — those-present, having-bodies. Sakaḷe mōhilīm — all-enchanted. The newborn's-form is so-beautiful-that all-those-present are spellbound.
4. Tukārām's witnessing: Tukā tēthē vārī — ekī āḍōnī dusarī — Tukā there warding — one (blocked) by another. The cryptic-line: Tukārām imagines-himself-there and is warding (vārī = blocking, warding-off — or perhaps watching). Ekī āḍōnī dusarī — one (woman, in the crowd) is in-front-of (blocking-the-view-of) another. The image is of the crowd of women jostling to see the newborn; Tukārām (in his imagination) is among them, with one in-front-of another — the joyful chaos of the welcoming-crowd.
For someone today
The Janmāṣṭamī women's-welcoming continuation. The knots were untied at the darśana-Krṣṇa-meeting. The women perform akṣa-vāne; they give jīva-bhāva as dāna. At the birth-time, all forms were enchanted (by his form). Tukā there warding — one (woman) blocked by another (in the crowd). The verse permits the bhakta to imaginatively-be-present at the Krṣṇa-birth — as one-of-the-crowd-of-women performing the akṣa-vāne, jostling to see the newborn. The jīva-bhāva-as-dāna claim is foundational: one's love itself is the gift; nothing-else is needed.
Where this applies
- The Janmāṣṭamī women's-welcoming continuation of 2826
- Recognizing the akṣa-vāne (rice-welcoming-ritual) tradition
- Jīva-bhāva-as-dāna offering to the newborn
- The imaginative-participation-as-one-of-the-crowd at Krṣṇa-birth