Abhanga 3098
Tukaram makes Vitthal every relationship at once, mother, father, teacher, friend, and boat across the river of life, showing that devotion can become the single ground beneath all of a person's bonds and finally their place of rest.
The verse
विठ्ठल माझा जीव विठ्ठल माझा भाव । कुळधर्म देव विठ्ठल माझा ॥१॥
विठ्ठल माझा गुरु विठ्ठल माझा तारूं । उतरील पारु भवनदीचा ॥ध्रु.॥
विठ्ठल माझी माता विठ्ठल माझा पिता । विठ्ठल चुलता बहिणी बंधु ॥२॥
विठ्ठल हे जन विठ्ठल माझें मन । सोयरा सज्जन विठ्ठल माझा ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे माझा विठ्ठल विसावा । नश्वरित गांवा जाइन त्याच्या ॥४॥
Literal translation
Viṭhṭhala mājhā jīva Viṭhṭhala mājhā bhāva — Viṭhṭhala (is) my jīva, Viṭhṭhala (is) my bhāva; kuḷa-dharma deva Viṭhṭhala mājhā — the kuḷa-dharma deva is my Viṭhṭhala. Viṭhṭhala mājhā guru Viṭhṭhala mājhā tārum — Viṭhṭhala (is) my guru, Viṭhṭhala (is) my tāru; utarīla pāru bhavanadīñcā — (he) will take (me) across the bhavanadī. Viṭhṭhala mājhī mātā Viṭhṭhala mājhā pitā — Viṭhṭhala (is) my mātā, Viṭhṭhala (is) my pitā; Viṭhṭhala chulatā bahiṇī bandhu — Viṭhṭhala (is) chulatā, bahiṇī, bandhu. Viṭhṭhala he jana Viṭhṭhala mājhe mana — Viṭhṭhala (is) the jana, Viṭhṭhala (is) my mana; sōyarā sajjana Viṭhṭhala mājhā — Viṭhṭhala (is) my sōyarā-sajjana. Tukā mhaṇe mājhā Viṭhṭhala viśavā — Tukā says: my Viṭhṭhala (is) viśavā; naśvarita gāvā jāina tyāñcyā — I will go to his naśvarita gāva.
What it means
A MAJOR canonical Vārkarī foundational text — among-the-most-daily-recited Tukārām abhangs.
The full-relational-list: jīva, bhāva, kuḷa-dharma-deva, guru, tāru, mātā, pitā, chulatā, bahiṇī, bandhu, jana, mana, sōyarā, sajjana, viśavā — all-15-relationships are-Viṭhṭhal.
Comparable to 2425's tūm-chi-mājhā śaraṇāgati (you-alone-are-my-Deva-jīva-bhāva-Pāṇḍurangā), but-distinctive in-its-family-relations emphasis (mother-father-uncle-sister-brother).
Closing-eschatology: naśvarita-gāva (the-eternal-village, = Vaikuṇṭha or Paṇḍharī-eternalized).
For someone today
Tukārām's foundational Vārkarī devotion. Viṭhṭhala is my jīva, Viṭhṭhala is my bhāva; the family deity, my kuḷa-dharma deva, is my Viṭhṭhala. Viṭhṭhala is my guru, my boat — he will carry me across the river of worldly existence. Viṭhṭhala is my mother, my father — my uncle, my sister, my brother. Viṭhṭhala is the people around me, Viṭhṭhala is my very mind — my kinsman and my good friend, my Viṭhṭhal. My Viṭhṭhala is my rest; I will go to his eternal village. The verse allows this comprehensive devotional claim: every relationship, without exception, is Viṭhṭhal.
मराठी: तुकारामांची ही वारकरी भक्तीची मूलभूत रचना आहे. विठ्ठल माझा जीव, विठ्ठल माझा भाव; कुळधर्माचा देव तोच माझा विठ्ठल. विठ्ठल माझा गुरू, माझी नाव — तो मला भवनदीच्या पैलतीरी नेईल. विठ्ठल माझी माता, माझा पिता — काका, बहीण, भाऊ. विठ्ठल हे माझे जन, विठ्ठल माझे मन — माझा सोयरा आणि सज्जन, माझा विठ्ठल. माझा विठ्ठल माझा विसावा आहे; मी त्याच्या अविनाशी गावी जाईन. हा अभंग एक व्यापक भक्तिभाव मान्य करतो: प्रत्येक नाते, अपवाद न करता, विठ्ठलच आहे.
Where this applies
- MAJOR canonical Vārkarī foundational text — daily-recited
- Companion to 2425, 2597
- Naśvarita-gāva eternal-village eschatology