Abhanga 2831
Love for God is a gift, not an earned achievement, and once it takes hold it dissolves body-consciousness, ritual anxiety, and even the hold of past sin.
The verse
प्रेम देवाचें देणें । देहभाव जाय जेणें । न धरावी मनें । शुद्धी देशकाळाची ॥१॥
मुक लज्जाविरहित । भाग्यवंत हरिभक्त। जाले वोसंडत । नामकीर्तिपवाडे ॥ध्रु.॥
जोडी जाली अविनाश । जन्मोनि जाले हरिसे दास । त्यांस नव्हे गर्भवास । परब्रम्हीं सौरस ॥२॥
हे चि वाहाती संकल्प । पुण्यप्रसंगाचे जप । तुका म्हणे पाप । गांवीं नाहीं हरिजना ॥३॥
Literal translation
Prema Devāñce deṇe — prema is Deva's giving; deha-bhāva jāya jeṇe — by whichdeha-bhāvagoes; na dharāvī manē — one should not hold in (one's) mind; śuddhī deśa-kāḷācī — theśuddhī(purification-rules) ofdeśa-kāḷa(place-and-time). Muke lajjā-virahita — (they are) mute (silent in awe),lajjā-virahita(devoid-of-shame); bhāgyavanta Hari-bhakta — blessed are the Hari-bhakta; jāle vōsaṇḍata — they have becomevōsaṇḍata(overflowing); nāma-kīrti-pavāḍe — withnāma-kīrti-pavāḍe(Name-fame-praises). Jōḍī jālī avināśa — thejōḍī(joining) has becomeavināśa(imperishable); janmōnī jāle Harise dāsa — born, they became Hari-dāsa; tyāmsa navhe garbha-vāsa — for them, there is nogarbha-vāsa(rebirth in womb); para-Brahmī saurasa — (there is)saurasa(juice-essence) inpara-Brahma. He chi vāhātī sankalpa — these very (Hari-bhakta) bear/carry thesankalpa(resolves); puṇya-prasangāñce japa — thejapa(recitation) ofpuṇya-prasanga(auspicious-occasion-affairs). Tukā says: pāpa — (there is no)pāpa; gāmvī nāhī Hari-janā — in (the) village (society) of Hari-jana, (there is) none.
What it means
A 3-verse extreme-prema text. Prema Devāñce deṇe — deha-bhāva jāya jeṇe — prema is Deva's giving — by which deha-bhāva goes. The opening foundational-claim: prema is not earned by the bhakta; it is given by Deva. And: prema is what dissolves deha-bhāva (body-consciousness).
Na dharāvī manē — śuddhī deśa-kāḷācī — one should not hold in (one's) mind the śuddhī (purification-rules) of deśa-kāḷa (place-and-time). In prema-mode, one should-not-be-bound by ritual-purity-rules of place-and-time. The radical bhakti-claim against vidhi-niṣedha (rule-and-prohibition).
The dhrūpada: muke lajjā-virahita — bhāgyavanta Hari-bhakta — jāle vōsaṇḍata — nāma-kīrti-pavāḍe — (they are) mute, shameless, blessed Hari-bhakta — they have become overflowing with Name-fame-praises. Muke (mute-in-awe), lajjā-virahita (shame-removed) — these are the prema-mode signs. They are vōsaṇḍata (overflowing) with nāma-kīrti (Name-fame).
Jōḍī jālī avināśa — janmōnī jāle Harise dāsa — tyāmsa navhe garbha-vāsa — para-Brahmī saurasa — the joining (with Hari) has become imperishable — born, they became Hari-dāsa — for them, no garbha-vāsa — there is juice-essence in para-Brahma. The Hari-bhakta's jōḍī (joining-with-Hari) is avināśa (imperishable); their birth-itself was already as Hari-dāsa; therefore no rebirth-in-womb for them. The saurasa (juice-essence) is in para-Brahma.
The close: Tukā mhaṇe — pāpa — gāmvī nāhī Hari-janā — Tukā: pāpa — there is none in the village (society) of Hari-jana. The canonical Vārkarī claim: in the village/society of Hari-jana, pāpa does not exist. (Compare vaiṣṇavāmcyā gāmvī pāpa nāhī canonical line.)
For someone today
A foundational prema-text. Prema is Deva's giving — deha-bhāva goes by which. One should not hold deśa-kāḷa-purification in mind. Mute, shameless, blessed Hari-bhakta — overflowing with Name-fame-praises. The joining is imperishable — born Hari-dāsa, no garbha-vāsa — juice-essence in para-Brahma. There is no pāpa in the village of Hari-jana. Three operative-claims: (1) prema is Deva's-giving, not earned; (2) deśa-kāḷa-purity-rules don't apply in prema-mode; (3) no pāpa in Hari-jana's society. The verse warrants the radical bhakti-liberation from ritualism.
Where this applies
- When you feel unworthy of divine love because you have not followed every ritual correctly
- When you are anxious about getting the timing, place, or purity rules of worship exactly right
- When you find yourself bursting into praise or song and feel embarrassed about showing that much emotion
- When guilt over past mistakes makes you feel permanently separated from goodness or grace