Abhanga 2899
When your joy meets the Divine's joy, the bond becomes unbreakable, too vast to fully describe, and love itself closes any distance.
The verse
सुख सुखा भेटे । मग तोडिल्या न तुटे ॥१॥
रविरिश्मकळा । नये घालितां पैं डोळां ॥ध्रु.॥
दुरि तें जवळी । स्नेहें आकाशा कवळी ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे चत्ति । माझें पायीं अखंडित ॥३॥
Literal translation
Sukha sukhā bhēte — sukha (joy) meets sukha; maga tōḍiliyā na tuṭe — then, even by breaking (it), (it) doesn't break. Ravi-riśmi-kaḷā — the sun'sraśmi-kaḷā(ray-art, ray-emanations); nye ghālitām paim ḍōḷām — cannot be put into the eye (cannot be contained). Duri te javaḷī — the far (becomes) near; snehe ākāśā kavaḷī — bysnēha(oil, love-affection), (one)kavaḷī(embraces, encompasses) the sky. Tukā says: chitti — (my) chitta; mājhe pāyī akhaṇḍita — at (your) feet, unbroken.
What it means
A short bhakti-union image-set verse.
Sukha sukhā bhēte — maga tōḍiliyā na tuṭe — sukha meets sukha — once joined, doesn't break. The opening-image: when two sukhas meet (the bhakta's-sukha meets the Lord's-sukha), the union is unbreakable.
Ravi-riśmi-kaḷā — nye ghālitām paim ḍōḷām — the sun's rays cannot be put into the eye. The image: the sun-rays are too-vast to be contained in the eye. (Application: the bhakti-union is too-vast to be contained-or-described.)
Duri te javaḷī — snehe ākāśā kavaḷī — the far becomes near — by snēha, one embraces the sky. The classical-image: snēha (love-affection, oil-substance) can embrace-the-sky (with affection, even the most-distant becomes near). Snēha is both love-affection and oil in Marathi — and oil-spreads-everywhere; so love does too.
The close: Tukā mhaṇe chitti — mājhe pāyī akhaṇḍita — my chitta — at (your) feet, unbroken. The bhakta's-claim: my chitta-at-your-feet is akhaṇḍita (unbroken, continuous). The bhakti-union the verse-described is the bhakta's-own-experience.
For someone today
A useful set of images for the union of devotion. Sukha meets sukha — once joined, doesn't break. The sun's rays cannot be put into the eye. The far becomes near — by snēha (love), one embraces the sky. My chitta — at your feet, unbroken. Three operative images: (1) joy meeting joy forms a bond that cannot be broken; (2) the sun's rays are too vast to be held within the eye; (3) love brings what is far near, the way affection can seem to embrace the whole sky. The closing claim is that the poet's own heart rests unbroken at the Lord's feet. The verse offers a claim of union with the divine, backed by these poetic images.
मराठी: हे भक्तीच्या मिलनाचे उपयुक्त प्रतिमासंच आहे. सुख सुखाला भेटते — मग तोडूनही तुटत नाही. सूर्याची किरणे डोळ्यात मावत नाहीत. दूरचे जवळ येते — स्नेहाने आकाश कवळता येते. माझे चित्त — तुझ्या पायी अखंडित आहे. तीन ठळक प्रतिमा : (१) सुख सुखाला भेटले की तो बंध तुटत नाही; (२) सूर्याची किरणे इतकी विशाल असतात की डोळ्यात मावत नाहीत; (३) स्नेहाने दूरचे जवळ येते, जसे प्रेमाने अख्खे आकाशही कवळता येते. शेवटचा दावा असा की कवीचे स्वतःचे चित्त देवाच्या पायी अखंड राहते. हा अभंग या काव्यमय प्रतिमांच्या आधारे देवाशी मिलन झाल्याचा दावा करतो.
Where this applies
- When you finally feel a settled joy in prayer or meditation that nothing afterward seems to shake
- When you try to explain a deep spiritual experience to someone and the words keep falling short
- When love or affection for someone makes a person who feels far away suddenly feel close
- When you want proof that your devotion is real and find it simply in how steady your attention stays