Abhanga 2905
Being wildly in love with God's name and staying close to fellow devotees brings a joy greater than any heaven, and at those feet birth and death lose their hold.
The verse
तुझ्या नामाची आवडी । आम्ही विठो तुझीं वेडीं ॥१॥
आतां न वजों अणिकां ठायां । गाऊं गीत लागों पायां ॥ध्रु.॥
काय वैकुंठ बापुडें । तुझ्या प्रेमासुखापुढें ॥२॥
संतसमागममेळे । प्रेमसुखाचा सुकाळ ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे तुझ्या पायीं । जन्ममरणा ठाव नाहीं ॥४॥
Literal translation
Tujhyā nāmāñcī āvaḍī — love of your Nāma; āmhī Viṭhō tujhīm vēḍīm — we, Viṭho, arevēḍīm(mad, crazy) for you. Ātām na vajōm aṇikām ṭhāyām — now (we) shall not go to other places; gāūm gīta lāgōm pāyām — (we) shall sing the song and lay (ourselves) at (your) feet. Kāya Vaikuṇṭha bāpuḍe — what is Vaikuṇṭha —bāpuḍē(poor, pathetic, lowly-thing)?; tujhyā premā-sukhā-puḍhe — before yourprema-sukha. Santa-samāgama-mēḷe — thesanta-samāgama-mēḷā(gathering of sants); prema-sukhāñcā sukāḷa — (is) thesukāḷa(good-time, abundance, golden-age) ofprema-sukha. Tukā says: tujhyā pāyī — at your feet; janma-maraṇā ṭhāva nāhī — there is noṭhāva(place) ofjanma-maraṇa(birth-death).
What it means
THE canonical 4-verse Vaikuṇṭha-bāpuḍe + sant-samāgama-prema-sukha-sukāḷa text in the Tukārām corpus.
Verse 1: Tujhyā nāmāñcī āvaḍī — āmhī Viṭhō tujhīm vēḍīm — love of your Nāma — we, Viṭho, are crazy for you. The opening madness-of-Name-love.
Dhrūpada: Ātām na vajōm aṇikām ṭhāyām — gāūm gīta lāgōm pāyām — now (we) shan't go elsewhere — (we'll) sing-song-and-lay-at-(your)-feet. The exclusive-discipline + the singing-as-the-practice.
Verse 2 (the radical-claim): Kāya Vaikuṇṭha bāpuḍe — tujhyā premā-sukhā-puḍhe — what is Vaikuṇṭha — (it's) bāpuḍē (poor, pathetic) — before your prema-sukha. The canonical radical-claim: Vaikuṇṭha (the highest-heaven) is bāpuḍē (low, poor, pathetic) compared-to your-prema-sukha. Pairs with 2864 hā sukha-sōhaḷā svargī nāhī (this joy is not in svarga). Both texts assert: the bhakti-joy-here is greater-than any-heaven-elsewhere.
Verse 3 (sant-samāgama): Santa-samāgama-mēḷe — prema-sukhāñcā sukāḷa — the sant-samāgama-gathering — (is) the sukāḷa (abundance, golden-time) of prema-sukha. The sant-sanga-claim: prema-sukha is abundant in sant-samāgama. Sukāḷa — a golden-age, abundance-time (the opposite of durkāḷa, famine).
Verse 4 (close): Tukā mhaṇe tujhyā pāyī — janma-maraṇā ṭhāva nāhī — at your feet — there is no place of birth-death. The eschatological-claim: birth-death has no place at your feet.
For someone today
This is the canonical text declaring devotion greater than Vaikuṇṭha and finding that joy in the company of sants. Love of your Nāma — we, Viṭho, are crazy for you. Now (we) shan't go elsewhere — we will sing songs and lay ourselves at your feet. What is Vaikuṇṭha — pathetic — before your prema-sukha? The sant-samāgama gathering — is the abundance-time of prema-sukha. At your feet — no place of birth-death. Three operative claims: (1) Vaikuṇṭha itself seems poor and pathetic compared to the joy of your love; (2) gathering together with sants is a time of abundant loving joy; (3) at your feet, birth and death have no foothold. The verse is recited as a statement of devotion's supremacy over Vaikuṇṭha in Vārkarī liturgy, and pairs with 2864, where clapping hands in kīrtana, the poet says this joy is not found even in heaven.
मराठी: हा वैकुंठापेक्षाही भक्ती श्रेष्ठ आहे आणि संतसंगातच तो आनंद मिळतो असे सांगणारा प्रमाणभूत अभंग आहे. तुझ्या नामाची आवड — आम्ही विठो तुझ्यासाठी वेडे आहोत. आता आम्ही दुसरीकडे जाणार नाही — गीत गाऊ आणि तुझ्या पायी लागू. तुझ्या प्रेमसुखापुढे वैकुंठ काय — ते तर बापुडे आहे. संतसमागमाचा मेळा — हाच प्रेमसुखाचा सुकाळ आहे. तुझ्या पायी — जन्ममरणाला स्थान नाही. तीन मुख्य दावे : (१) तुझ्या प्रेमसुखापुढे वैकुंठसुद्धा गरीब, बापुडवाणे वाटते; (२) संतांबरोबरचा मेळावा हा प्रेमसुखाचा भरभराटीचा काळ आहे; (३) तुझ्या पायी जन्ममरणाला जागा नाही. हा अभंग वारकरी परंपरेत भक्तीचे वैकुंठापेक्षा श्रेष्ठत्व सांगणारा उद्गार म्हणून म्हटला जातो, आणि २८६४ शी नाते सांगतो, जिथे टाळी वाजवत कीर्तनात कवी म्हणतो की हे सुख स्वर्गातही नाही.
Where this applies
- When you keep chasing spiritual highs elsewhere and forget the joy already in front of you
- When you wonder whether simple devotion is enough compared to grand promises of heaven
- When you are part of a gathering of fellow devotees and feel the joy multiply
- When you long for release from an endless cycle of struggle and want reassurance it is possible