Abhanga 2877
Āmhām Viṣṇu-dāsām he chi bhāṇḍavala — for us Viṣṇu-dāsas — this very (is the) bhāṇḍavala (capital, working-stock); avaghā Viṭhṭhala dhana vatti — all (is) Viṭṭhal — (our) dhana (wealth) (and) vatti (conduct, behavior).
The verse
आम्हां विष्णुदासां हें चि भांडवल । अवघा विठ्ठल धन वत्ति ॥१॥
वाणी नाहीं घ्यावें आपुलिया हातें । करोनियां चित्ती समाधान ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे द्रव्य मेळविलें मागें । हें तों कोणासंगें आलें नाहीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Āmhām Viṣṇu-dāsām he chi bhāṇḍavala — for us Viṣṇu-dāsas — this very (is the) bhāṇḍavala (capital, working-stock); avaghā Viṭhṭhala dhana vatti — all (is) Viṭṭhal — (our) dhana (wealth) (and) vatti (conduct, behavior). Vāṇī nāhī ghyāve āpuliyā hāte — the vāṇī (trading-business) — not to be taken by one's own hand; karōnīyām chitti samādhāna — making samādhāna (peace) in (the) chitta. Tukā says: dravya meḷavile māge — the dravya (wealth) (that was) gathered earlier (in the past, by previous generations); he tōm kōṇā-sange āle nāhī — that — did not come (along) with anyone (i.e., people died and it stayed).
What it means
A short Viṣṇu-dāsa-capital declaration verse. Āmhām Viṣṇu-dāsām he chi bhāṇḍavala — avaghā Viṭhṭhala dhana vatti — for us Viṣṇu-dāsas — this is the bhāṇḍavala — all (is) Viṭṭhal — wealth and conduct. The opening-declaration: Viṭṭhal alone is both our-wealth and our-conduct-template. The bhakta-merchant-class image: Viṭṭhal is the working-capital (bhāṇḍavala).
Vāṇī nāhī ghyāve āpuliyā hāte — karōnīyām chitti samādhāna — the trading-business is not for taking by one's own hand — make peace in (the) chitta. The discipline: don't push-the-business (the vāṇī) with one's own hand — i.e., don't grasp-anxiously. Instead, make samādhāna (peace) in the chitta. (This echoes 2839's prārabdha-discipline — don't sōsa, bhaja-Pandharī-rāya.)
The close: Tukā mhaṇe dravya meḷavile māge — he tōm kōṇā-sange āle nāhī — the wealth gathered earlier — did not come with anyone. The canonical-reminder: wealth-gathered-by-previous-generations did-not-come-with-them-at-death. The implicit-lesson: don't grasp-now-what-you-cannot-take-anyway. The bhakta's bhāṇḍavala (Viṭṭhal) does-come-with-him; ordinary-dravya doesn't.
For someone today
A canonical Viṣṇu-dāsa-capital declaration. For us Viṣṇu-dāsas — this is the capital — all is Viṭṭhal — wealth and conduct. The business is not for taking by one's own hand — make peace in the chitta. The wealth gathered earlier — did not come with anyone. The verse permits the bhakta-as-merchant template: (1) Viṭṭhal is the working-capital; (2) don't push-the-business with anxious-effort; (3) make samādhāna in chitta; (4) remember that wealth-doesn't-go-with-anyone-at-death. The verse is companion to 2839 (by-prārabdha-the-belly-is-filled) and 2867 (ṭhevilē-Anantē-taisē-chi-rāhāve) — same equanimity-discipline applied to economic-life.
Where this applies
- The canonical Viṣṇu-dāsa-bhāṇḍavala-is-all-Viṭṭhal declaration
- Recognizing all-Viṭṭhal is the bhakta's wealth-and-conduct
- Dravya-doesn't-come-with-anyone-at-death — the canonical anti-wealth-hoarding reminder
- Pairs with 2839, 2867 as the economic-equanimity triad