Abhanga 3065
Jāya jāya tūm Paṇḍharī — go go you to Paṇḍharī; hōya hōya vārakarī — be, be a vārakarī.
The verse
जाय जाय तूं पंढरी । होय होय वारकरी ॥१॥
सांडोनियां वाळवंट । काय इच्छिसी वैकुंठ ॥ध्रु.॥
खांद्या पताकांचे भार । तुळसीमाळा आणि अबीर ॥२॥
साधुसंतांच्या दाटणी । तुका जाय लोटांगणीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Jāya jāya tūm Paṇḍharī — go go you to Paṇḍharī; hōya hōya vārakarī — be, be a vārakarī. Sāṇḍōnīyām vāḷavamṭa — abandoning the vāḷavamṭa; kāya ichchhisī Vaikuṇṭha — why do you wish for Vaikuṇṭha. Khāmdyā patākāñce bhāra — on (the) shoulders, the load of patākas; tuḷasī-māḷā āṇi abīra — tuḷasī-māḷās and abīra. Sādhu-samtāñciyā dāṭaṇī — in the dāṭaṇī (crowd) of sādhu-samtas; Tukā jāya lōṭāngaṇīm — Tukā goes prostrating.
What it means
★ A canonical short 3-verse Paṇḍharī-vārakarī-call by Tukārām.
The call: Go-go-to-Paṇḍharī, be-a-vārakarī. The reasoning: Why-want-Vaikuṇṭha when the-vāḷavamṭa (sandy-banks-of-the-Chandrabhāgā at-Paṇḍharī) is-here? The picture: flags-on-shoulders, tuḷasī-māḷās, abīra, in-the-crowd-of-sants, Tukā-himself-prostrates.
★ This is one of the most-iconic Vārkarī-pilgrim-call texts. The claim vāḷavamṭa is preferable-to Vaikuṇṭha is striking — the sandy-banks of the-Chandrabhāgā at-Paṇḍharī are-superior-to the-paradise-realm. Bhakti-place beats bhakti-destination.
Compare-Tukārām's 3034 (Paṇḍharī-vārakarī mokṣa-adhikārī), 3036 (Paṇḍharī-jā-rē-samsāra), 2777 (Chandrabhāgā-all-tīrthas).
For someone today
Tukārām's canonical Paṇḍharī-vārakarī-call. Go-go you to Paṇḍharī — be-be a vārakarī. Abandoning the sandy-banks, why do you wish for Vaikuṇṭha? On your shoulders — the load of flags; tuḷasī-māḷās and abīra. In the crowd of sādhus-and-sants — Tukā goes prostrating. The verse permits the iconic Vārkarī-call with the radical-claim that-vāḷavamṭa is-superior-to-Vaikuṇṭha.
Where this applies
- ★ Canonical Paṇḍharī-vārakarī-call text
- Sandy-banks > Vaikuṇṭha radical-claim
- Iconic Vārkarī imagery: flags, tuḷasī-māḷās, abīra
- Companion to 3034, 3036, 2777