Abhanga 2893
Māsa charma hāḍe — flesh, skin, bones; Devā avaghī chi gōḍe — to Deva, all (these) are sweet.
The verse
मासं चर्म हाडें । देवा अवघीं च गोडें ॥१॥
जे जे हरिरंगीं रंगले । कांहीं न वचे वांयां गेले ॥ध्रु.॥
वेद खाय शंखासुर । त्याचें वागवी कलिवर ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे ऐसा । बराडी हा भक्तिरसा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Māsa charma hāḍe — flesh, skin, bones; Devā avaghī chi gōḍe — to Deva, all (these) are sweet. Je je Hari-rangī rangale — those who have rangale (been-dyed, colored, stained) in Hari-ranga (Hari-color, Hari-passion); kāmhī na vache vāmyām gele — none of them go in vain. Veda khāya Śankhāsura — (the demon) Śankhāsura ate the Vedas; tyāñce vāgavī kalivara — (yet Deva) vāgavī (carries, bears) his kalivara (body, form). Tukā says: aisā — such (is); barāḍī hā bhakti-rasā — the barāḍī (vagabond, vagrant-friend, indiscriminate-companion) — this bhakti-rasa.
What it means
A 3-verse striking bhakti-rasa-takes-all verse. Māsa charma hāḍe — Devā avaghī chi gōḍe — flesh, skin, bones — all sweet to Deva. The opening-claim: the gross-bodily-substances themselves (māsa-charma-hāḍe) are sweet-to-Deva. The body is not-impure to Deva.
Je je Hari-rangī rangale — kāmhī na vache vāmyām gele — those who have been dyed in Hari-color — none of them go in vain. The Hari-rangī-rangale (Hari-stained) are guaranteed.
The radical-reference: Veda khāya Śankhāsura — tyāñce vāgavī kalivara — Śankhāsura ate the Vedas — yet (Deva) carries his body. The reference is to the Matsya-avatāra story (Bhāgavata 8.24): the demon Śankhāsura (conch-demon, also called Hayagrīva) stole the Vedas from Brahmā and hid in the cosmic-ocean. Viṣṇu took Matsya-avatāra (fish-avatāra), killed the demon, recovered the Vedas. The radical-Tukārām-twist: even though Śankhāsura ate the Vedas (the greatest-sin), Deva carries his body — because being-killed-by-Viṣṇu is itself a form of liberation. So even the demon is not-rejected.
The close: Tukā mhaṇe aisā — barāḍī hā bhakti-rasā — such is the bhakti-rasa — a barāḍī (vagabond, indiscriminate friend). Barāḍī — a vagabond-friend, drifting-buddy, indiscriminate-companion. The image is striking: bhakti-rasa is so easy-going, so indiscriminate, that it takes-everyone — even Veda-stealing demons.
For someone today
A canonical bhakti-rasa-takes-all claim. Flesh, skin, bones — all sweet to Deva. Those who have been dyed in Hari-color — none go in vain. (Even) Śankhāsura ate the Vedas — yet (Deva) carries his body. Such is the bhakti-rasa — a barāḍī (vagabond, indiscriminate-friend). The verse permits the most-radical bhakti-democratization: even gross-bodily-substances are sweet to Deva; even Veda-stealing-demons (when killed-by-Viṣṇu) are not-rejected. The barāḍī-as-bhakti-rasa image is the indiscriminate-friendship-of-bhakti-toward-everyone. (Pairs with 2787 bhakti-redeems-the-fallen — Ajāmīḷa-Bhillī-Kuṇṭanī-Vālmīka.)
Where this applies
- The canonical bhakti-rasa-takes-everything-even-demons claim
- Recognizing the Veda-eater-Śankhāsura-still-carried-by-Deva reference (Matsya-avatāra)
- Bhakti-rasa-is-a-barāḍī — the vagabond-friend who accepts all
- Pairs with 2787 (bhakti-redeems-the-fallen), 2843 (5-figure-redemption-list)