Abhanga 3034
Pilgrims to Pandharpur are promised liberation, and even the flawed and sinful are rescued just as they are, simply by being drawn close.
The verse
पंढरीचे वारकरी । ते अधिकारी मोक्षाचे ॥१॥
पुंडलिका दिला वर । करुणाकरें विठ्ठलें ॥ध्रु.॥
मूढ पापी जैसे तैसे । उतरी कासे लावूनि ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे खरें जालें । एका बोलें संतांच्या ॥३॥
Literal translation
Paṇḍharīñce vārakarī — thevārakarīsof Paṇḍharī; te adhikārī mōkṣāñce — they are theadhikārīsofmōkṣa. Puṇḍalikā dilā vara — (he) gave thevarato Puṇḍalika; karuṇākare Viṭhṭhale — thekaruṇākaraViṭhṭhala. Mūḍha pāpī jaise taise — mūḍha-pāpīs— as-they-are; utarī kāse lāvūnī — (he) brings (them) across by grasping (their)kāsē. Tukā mhaṇe khare jāle — Tukā says: this has been-made true; ekā bōle samtāñcyā — by one word of the sants.
What it means
A canonical Vārkarī-pilgrim-mokṣa text by Tukārām. The most-direct doctrinal-warrant for the Vārkarī-soteriology that vārakarīs-are-qualified-for-mokṣa.
The four-step argument: 1. Doctrinal claim: Paṇḍharī-vārakarīs are adhikārī of mokṣa 2. Origin-justification: the karuṇākara Viṭṭhal gave this vara to Puṇḍalika (foundational Puṇḍalīka-legend reference) 3. Mechanism: mūḍha-pāpīs as-they-are — (Viṭṭhal) brings-them-across by grasping-their-kāsē — even-the-deluded-and-sinful are-rescued 4. Authority: this is-made-true by-one-word-of-the-sants
The image utarī-kāse-lāvūnī (bringing-across by-grasping-the-waist-cloth) is striking — the kāsē is the part-of-the-cloth-tied-around-the-waist; the bhakta needs-only-to-be-clothed-as-a-vārakarī and Viṭṭhal-himself grasps-the-waist-cloth and-pulls-them-across the-bhava-sindhu.
This is the most-direct Vārkarī-pilgrim-claim in the Tukārām-corpus. Vārkarīs cite-this-verse as the textual-warrant for-their-soteriological-confidence.
Compare-the-related-anchor-texts: 2777 (Pandhari-darśana = all-tīrthas-gone, sins-cleared, birth-arthaka), 2896 (Puṇḍalika-served-parents, brought-Pāṇḍuranga-to-stand-on-brick).
For someone today
Tukārām's canonical Vārkarī-pilgrim-mokṣa text. The pilgrim-devotees of Paṇḍharī — they are the qualified-ones of mokṣa. The compassion-doer Viṭhṭhala gave this boon to Puṇḍalika. The deluded and the sinful — as-they-are — (he) brings across by grasping (their) waist-cloth. This has been-made-true by one word of the sants. The verse permits the foundational Vārkarī-soteriological-claim that vārakarīs-are-mokṣa-adhikārī by Viṭṭhal's-Puṇḍalika-vara.
Where this applies
- When you feel too flawed or sinful to deserve any spiritual reward.
- When you doubt that simply showing up, just as you are, could really be enough.
- When you take comfort in a tradition or community that has carried this promise for generations.