Abhanga 2975
Pāhōm grantha tarī āyuṣya nāhī hātī — looking at grantha — there is no āyuṣya (life-time) in my hand; nāhī aiśī mati artha kaḷe — (I) don't have such mati (intelligence) (that) the artha (meaning) would be known.
The verse
पाहों ग्रंथ तरी आयुष्य नाहीं हातीं । नाहीं ऐशी मति अर्थ कळे ॥१॥
होईंल तें हो या विठोबाच्या नांवें । आचरलें भावें जीवीं धरूं ॥ध्रु.॥
एखादा अंगासी येईंल प्रकार । विचारितां फार युक्ति वाढे ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे आळी करितां गोमटी । मायबापा पोटीं येते दया ॥३॥
Literal translation
Pāhōm grantha tarī āyuṣya nāhī hātī — looking at grantha — there is no āyuṣya (life-time) in my hand; nāhī aiśī mati artha kaḷe — (I) don't have such mati (intelligence) (that) the artha (meaning) would be known. Hōīla te hō yā Viṭhōbāñcyā nāve — whatever happens — may it happen in this Viṭhōbā's Name; ācharale bhāve jīvī dharūm — what is ācharale (practiced) with bhāva, hold (it) in (the) jīva. Ekhādā angāsī yeīla prakāra — if some prakāra (condition, situation) comes onto (my) anga; vichāritām phāra yukti vāḍhe — on vichāra (considering), many yukti (means) grow. Tukā says: āḷī karitām gōmaṭī — (when one makes) a sweet āḷī (baby's-fuss, tender-fuss); māyabāpā pōṭī yete dayā — the māyabāpa (mother-father) — dayā (compassion) comes in (their) belly.
What it means
A short bhakta's-recourse-by-baby's-fuss verse. Pāhōm grantha tarī āyuṣya nāhī hātī — nāhī aiśī mati artha kaḷe — can't read grantha — no life-time in hand — no mati to understand meaning. The honest-confession: no time, no intelligence, for studying scripture.
Hōīla te hō yā Viṭhōbāñcyā nāve — ācharale bhāve jīvī dharūm — whatever happens, in Viṭhōbā's Name — what is practiced with bhāva, hold in jīva. The simpler-path: live with bhāva-in-Viṭhōbā's-Name.
Ekhādā angāsī yeīla prakāra — vichāritām phāra yukti vāḍhe — if some condition comes — many tricks grow on considering. The pragmatic-claim: don't-plan-ahead; when-the-situation-comes, the-yukti-grows-by-itself.
The close: Tukā mhaṇe āḷī karitām gōmaṭī — māyabāpā pōṭī yete dayā — making a sweet baby's-fuss — māyabāpa's-belly fills-with-dayā. The bhakti-image: baby's-fuss is the bhakta's-recourse; the parent's-belly fills-with-compassion at-the-baby's-cry. (Pairs with 2850 baby's-words-wonderful-to-parents.)
For someone today
A useful baby's-fuss prayer. Looking at grantha — no life-time in (my) hand — (I) don't have such mati to understand the meaning. Whatever happens, may it happen in Viṭhōbā's Name — what is practiced with bhāva, hold in (the) jīva. If some condition comes onto (the) body, on considering, many tricks grow. Making a sweet baby's-fuss — the māyabāpa — compassion comes in (their) belly. The verse permits the simpler-path: (1) no-grantha-study possible; (2) live-with-bhāva-in-Name; (3) yukti-grows-as-needed; (4) baby's-fuss recruits-Mother-Father's-compassion. The bhakta's-strategy: not śāstra-erudition, but bhāva-and-childlike-fussing.
Where this applies
- The can't-read-grantha-no-mati; live-with-bhāva-in-Viṭhōbā's-Name; baby's-fuss→mother's-dayā prayer
- Recognizing no-time-to-read-grantha; live-with-bhāva discipline
- Baby's-fuss makes-māyabāpa's-belly-fill-with-dayā image
- Pairs with 2850 (baby-talk-prema), 2946 (I-don't-know-how-to-sing-shameless)