Abhanga 2837
A hidden inner light finally shines, and devotion gives the formless divine a shape you can stand before, until the whole cosmos feels like Paṇḍharī, an endless storehouse of love.
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 — thejyōti(lamp, light) of the inner — hasprakāśalī(lit-up) itsdīpti(radiance); muḷīñcī je hōtī ācchādilī — (the light) which from themuḷī(root, beginning) wasācchādilī(covered, veiled). Tēthīñcā ānanda brahmāṇḍī na māye — theānanda(joy) of there — does not fit in thebrahmāṇḍa(cosmic-egg); upamēśīm kāye dēūm sukhā — for thesukha— whatupamā(analogy) can I give? Bhāvāñce mathilē nirguṇa sañchalē — churned-bybhāva—nirguṇahassañchalē(condensed); te he ubhe kele viṭēvarī — that-very-(thing) has been-stood on theviṭā(brick). Tukā says: āmhām brahmāṇḍa Paṇḍharī — for us, thebrahmāṇḍa(whole-cosmos) is Paṇḍharī; premāñcī je thōrī sāmṭhavaṇa — the greatsāmṭhavaṇa(storehouse, gathering-place) ofprema.
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
This is a radical mystical vision of inner radiance. A light within you — hidden from the very beginning — has finally shone forth, and the joy it brings is so vast that no earthly comparison can capture it. Devotion itself is the churning force that takes the formless divine and gives it a shape you can stand before, as Vitthal stood on the brick at Pandhari. For the one who realizes this, the whole cosmos becomes Pandhari itself — an endless storehouse of love.
मराठी: ही एक विलक्षण गूढ अनुभूती आहे. आतला प्रकाश — जो आरंभापासूनच झाकलेला होता — आता उजळून निघाला आहे, आणि त्यातून मिळणारा आनंद इतका अपार आहे की त्याला कोणतीही उपमा देता येत नाही. भक्तीच निर्गुण तत्त्वाचे मंथन करून त्याला असे रूप देते, ज्यासमोर आपण उभे राहू शकतो — जसे विठ्ठल पंढरीच्या विटेवर उभा आहे. ज्याला हे उमगते, त्याच्यासाठी सारे विश्वच पंढरी बनते — प्रेमाचा अखंड साठा.
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