Abhanga 2837
A radical mystical-radiance text. The inner-jyoti's radiance has lit-up — (the light) which from the root was covered. The ānanda there doesn't fit in the brahmāṇḍa — for the sukha, what analogy can I give? Bhāva has churned-the-nirguṇa and condensed-it — that-very-thing has stood on the brick. For us, the whole brahmāṇḍa is Paṇḍharī — the great storehouse of prema.
The verse
अंतरींची ज्योती प्रकाशली दीप्ति । मुळींची जे होती आच्छादिली ॥१॥
तेथींचा आनंद ब्रम्हांडीं न माये । उपमेशीं काये देऊं सुखा ॥ध्रु.॥
भावाचे मथिलें निर्गुण संचलें । तें हें उभें केलें विटेवरी ॥२॥
तुरा म्हणे आम्हां ब्रम्हांड पंढरी । प्रेमाची जे थोरी सांठवण ॥३॥
Literal translation
Antarīñcī jyōti prakāśalī dīpti — the jyōti (lamp, light) of the inner — has prakāśalī (lit-up) its dīpti (radiance); muḷīñcī je hōtī ācchādilī — (the light) which from the muḷī (root, beginning) was ācchādilī (covered, veiled). Tēthīñcā ānanda brahmāṇḍī na māye — the ānanda (joy) of there — does not fit in the brahmāṇḍa (cosmic-egg); upamēśīm kāye dēūm sukhā — for the sukha — what upamā (analogy) can I give? Bhāvāñce mathilē nirguṇa sañchalē — churned-by bhāva — nirguṇa has sañchalē (condensed); te he ubhe kele viṭēvarī — that-very-(thing) has been-stood on the viṭā (brick). Tukā says: āmhām brahmāṇḍa Paṇḍharī — for us, the brahmāṇḍa (whole-cosmos) is Paṇḍharī; premāñcī je thōrī sāmṭhavaṇa — the great sāmṭhavaṇa (storehouse, gathering-place) of prema**.
What it means
A radical mystical-radiance verse. Antarīñcī jyōti prakāśalī dīpti — muḷīñcī je hōtī ācchādilī — the inner-jyōti's radiance has lit-up — (the light) which from the root was covered. The opening: the inner-light, previously covered/veiled (since the beginning), has now-shone. The veil-of-māyā has lifted.
Tēthīñcā ānanda brahmāṇḍī na māye — upamēśīm kāye dēūm sukhā — the joy of there — doesn't fit in the brahmāṇḍa; for the sukha — what upamā can I give? The hyperbole: the joy-experienced is larger-than-the-cosmos; no analogy can give it. (Compare 2659-2662's uttarē kāya upamā dyāve te — what analogy can be given.)
Bhāvāñce mathilē nirguṇa sañchalē — te he ubhe kele viṭēvarī — churned-by-bhāva — nirguṇa has condensed; that very-(thing) has-been-stood on the brick. The radical-claim: the formless (nirguṇa) has been-churned by bhāva and condensed/solidified; that condensed-form is what stands on the viṭā (brick) — i.e., Viṭṭhal at Paṇḍharī. The bhakta's-bhāva is the churning that condenses nirguṇa into Viṭṭhal-on-the-brick. (Compare Eknāth's bhaktīcē-mathūnī-rasa-kāḍhilā.)
Tukā mhaṇe āmhām brahmāṇḍa Paṇḍharī — premāñcī je thōrī sāmṭhavaṇa — Tukā: for us, the whole-cosmos is Paṇḍharī — the great storehouse of prema. The cosmic-radical-close: for the realized-bhakta, the entire cosmos is Paṇḍharī — the great storehouse of prema. The Paṇḍharī-cosmos identification is the mystical-pinnacle of Tukārām's bhakti.
For someone today
A radical mystical-radiance text. The inner-jyoti's radiance has lit-up — (the light) which from the root was covered. The ānanda there doesn't fit in the brahmāṇḍa — for the sukha, what analogy can I give? Bhāva has churned-the-nirguṇa and condensed-it — that-very-thing has stood on the brick. For us, the whole brahmāṇḍa is Paṇḍharī — the great storehouse of prema.
Three operative-claims: (1) the inner-light, hidden-from-the-beginning, has now shone; (2) bhāva-churns-nirguṇa into Viṭṭhal-on-the-brick — bhakta's-feeling is the operative-cause of Viṭṭhal's-form; (3) for the realized-bhakta, the whole cosmos = Paṇḍharī = the storehouse of prema. The verse offers a complete mystical-cosmology: light-shone + form-emerged-from-formless + cosmos-is-Paṇḍharī.
Where this applies
- The canonical inner-jyoti + brahmāṇḍa-is-Paṇḍharī mystical-radiance text
- Recognizing bhāva-churned, nirguṇa-condensed, standing-on-the-brick — formless taking form for bhakta
- Brahmāṇḍa-is-Paṇḍharī, great-storehouse-of-prema radical claim
- The mystical-pinnacle of Tukārām's bhakti — cosmos-as-Paṇḍharī