Abhanga 2875
Mājhā svāmī tujhī vāgavitō lāta — my svāmī (master, Viṭṭhal) carries your lāta (kick — i.e., the Bhrgu-foot-kick on Viṣṇu's chest); tēthē mī patita kāya ālōm — there — what (am) I, the patita (fallen one), arriving (to praise)?
The verse
माझा स्वामी तुझी वागवितो लात । तेथें मी पतित काय आलों ॥१॥
तीथॉ तुमच्या चरणीं जाहालीं निर्मळ । तेथें मी दुर्बळ काय वाणूं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे तुम्ही देवा द्विजवंद्य । मी तों काय निंद्य हीन याति ॥३॥
Literal translation
Mājhā svāmī tujhī vāgavitō lāta — my svāmī (master, Viṭṭhal) carries your lāta (kick — i.e., the Bhrgu-foot-kick on Viṣṇu's chest); tēthē mī patita kāya ālōm — there — what (am) I, the patita (fallen one), arriving (to praise)? Tīrthe tumchyā charaṇī jāhālīm nirmaḷa — (the) tīrthas (holy-waters) become nirmaḷa (pure) at your feet; tēthē mī durbaḷa kāya vāṇūm — there — what shall I, the durbaḷa (weak), describe? Tukā says: tumhī Devā dvija-vandya — you, Deva, are dvija-vandya (saluted-by-the-twice-born); mī tōm kāya nindya hīna yāti — and I — what (am I)? nindya (condemnable), of hīna-yāti (low caste).
What it means
A short comparative-humility verse — likely addressing a brāhmaṇa-host or addressing-someone-of-dvija-rank during the Chinchwaḍa-visit. Mājhā svāmī tujhī vāgavitō lāta — tēthē mī patita kāya ālōm — my svāmī (Viṭṭhal) carries your kick — there, what am I, the patita, arriving (to praise)?
Key reference: vāgavitō lāta — carries the kick. This points to the Bhrgu-charaṇa-prahāra — the canonical Bhāgavata-Purāṇa story where sage Bhrgu kicked Viṣṇu's chest (to test which Deva was supreme), and Viṣṇu embraced the kick lovingly and pressed Bhrgu's foot. Viṣṇu's chest bears the Śrīvatsa mark — variously interpreted as the mark-of-the-kick. The image: Viṭṭhal (my-svāmī) carries-the-kick-of-the-brāhmaṇa-sage on his-chest as-a-mark-of-honor.
The application: my-Lord-carries-your-(brāhmaṇa's)-kick-as-honor; what-am-I, the-patita, to-praise-you-then? The bhakta argues: the Lord himself honors the brāhmaṇa-sage; I am too-low even to praise.
Tīrthe tumchyā charaṇī jāhālīm nirmaḷa — tēthē mī durbaḷa kāya vāṇūm — the tīrthas become pure at your feet — what shall I, the durbaḷa, describe? The second-image: even the holy-waters take-purity from your feet; I can-describe-nothing in your praise.
The close: Tukā mhaṇe tumhī Devā dvija-vandya — mī tōm kāya nindya hīna yāti — you, Deva, are saluted-by-the-twice-born — and I — what (am I)? — condemnable, of low-caste. The contrast: you are dvija-vandya; I am hīna-yāti, nindya.
The verse is a brāhmaṇa-praise — likely directed-at-the-Chinchwaḍa-host-brāhmaṇas during the bhojana-occasion. Tukārām, of-śūdra-vamśa, defers to the brāhmaṇa-hosts by-comparison-with-the-Lord-who-himself-honors-the-brāhmaṇa. The verse is part-of-the-cross-tradition-courtesy.
For someone today
A useful comparative-humility prayer. My svāmī (the Lord) carries your kick — there, what am I, the fallen, arriving (to praise)? The tīrthas become pure at your feet — there, what shall I, the weak, describe? You, Deva, are saluted-by-the-twice-born — and I — what (am I)? — condemnable, of low-caste. The verse permits humility-before-the-brāhmaṇa-by-comparison-with-the-Lord: the Lord himself bears the brāhmaṇa's kick honorably; the tīrthas become pure at the brāhmaṇa's feet; therefore I (of low-caste) am too-low to praise. The humility-by-divine-precedent is a fine rhetorical-strategy.
Where this applies
- The my-Lord-is-greater-still; I-am-doubly-low comparative-humility prayer
- Recognizing the Bhrgu-foot-kick canonical reference
- Tīrthas-become-pure-at-the-feet canonical-image
- Part of cross-tradition-courtesy in the Chinchwaḍa-visit context