Abhanga 3079
No burden is too heavy for God to carry, and his quiet, constant care for everyone is too vast to ever fully count or describe.
The verse
देवीं आणि दैतीं सिंधू गुसळिला । भार पृथ्वीस जाला साहावेना ॥१॥
जालासी कासव धरिली पाठीवरी । चिंता तुज हरी सकळांची ॥ध्रु.॥
तये काळीं देव करिताती स्तुती । कृपाळु श्रीपती म्हणोनियां ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे ऐसे उदंड पवाडे । ज्यासी सहस्र तोंडें सिणला तो ही ॥३॥
Literal translation
Devīm āṇi daityīm sindhū gusaḷilā — the devas and daityas churned the sindhu; bhāra prthvīsa jālā sāhāvenā — the bhāra of prthvī became unbearable. Jālāsī kāsava dharilī pāṭhīvarī — (you) became kāsava, (you) held (it) on back; chintā tuja Harī sakaḷāñcī — you have chintā for all, Hari. Taye kāḷīm deva karitātī stutī — at that time, the devas praise; krpāḷu Śrīpatī mhaṇōnīyām — calling (you) krpāḷu Śrīpati. Tukā mhaṇe aise udaṇḍa pavāḍe — Tukā says: such pavāḍas are udaṇḍa; jyāsī sahasra tōṇḍe siṇalā tō hī — even one with sahasra-tōṇḍa is tired.
What it means
The Kūrma-avatāra entry in the Daśāvatāra meditation-cluster.
The meditation: Devas-and-daityas churned-the-sindhu; prthvī's-weight-was-unbearable; you-became-Kūrma-(tortoise) and-held-the-Mandāra-mountain on-your-back during-the-churning. The framing: you-have-chintā-for-all; devas-praised-as-krpāḷu-Śrīpati.
The closing-image is striking: such-pavāḍas-are-udaṇḍa; even-Śeṣa (the sahasra-mukha-serpent, with-thousand-mouths-and-thus-thousand-tongues) is-siṇalā (tired) of-counting-them. The Lord's-heroic-deeds-exceed-even-Śeṣa's-thousand-mouths capacity-to-tell.
This is the Vedic Samudra-manthana legend — the churning-of-the-ocean-of-milk for-the-amrta. Kūrma-avatāra supports-the-Mandāra-mountain-pillar from-below.
For someone today
Tukārām's Kūrma-avatāra meditation. The devas and daityas churned the sindhu; the weight of prthvī became unbearable. (You) became the tortoise — (you) held (it) on (your) back. You have chintā for all, Hari. At that time, the devas praised — calling (you) compassionate-Śrīpati. Such heroic-deeds are many; even one with thousand-mouths is tired (counting them). The verse permits the Kūrma-meditation as-bhakti-chintā-for-all.
Where this applies
- Kūrma-avatāra entry in Daśāvatāra cluster
- Sahasra-mukha-Śeṣa siṇalā-counting — countless-pavāḍas image