Abhanga 3127
Chittāñce bāmdhale javaḷī te vase — what's bound close to chitta dwells (there); prakāśīm prakāśe sarvakāḷa — in the prakāśa, illuminates always.
The verse
चत्तिाचें बांधलें जवळी तें वसे । प्रकाशीं प्रकाशे सर्वकाळ ॥१॥
अंतरीं वसावी उत्तम ते भेटी । होऊं कांहीं तुटी न सके चि ॥ध्रु.॥
ब्रम्हांड कवळे आठवणेसाटीं । धरावा तो पोटीं वाव बरा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे लाभ घरिचिया घरीं । प्रेमतंतु दोरी न सुटतां॥३॥
Literal translation
Chittāñce bāmdhale javaḷī te vase — what's bound close to chitta dwells (there); prakāśīm prakāśe sarvakāḷa — in the prakāśa, illuminates always. Antarīm vasāvī uttama te bheṭī — in the antar, let dwell the uttama bheṭī; hōūm kāmhī tuṭī na sake chi — no tuṭi (break) be allowed. Brahmāṇḍa kavaḷe āṭhavaṇesāṭīm — the brahmāṇḍa is a kavaḷa for āṭhavaṇa; dharāvā tō pōṭīm vāva barā — hold (it) in pōṭa — the good vāva. Tukā mhaṇe lābha gharichiyā gharīm — Tukā says: the lābha is at-home-in-home; prematamtu dōrī na suṭatām — the prema-tantu-dōrī doesn't break.
What it means
★ A canonical 3-verse prema-tantu-dōrī text by Tukārām.
The imagery: Whatever-is-bound-close-to-chitta dwells-there, illuminates-in-the-light always. In-the-antar, let-the-uttama-bheṭī (excellent-meeting) dwell; no-tuṭi (break) be-allowed. The brahmāṇḍa is-a-kavaḷa (mouthful) for-āṭhavaṇa (remembrance); hold-it-in-the-belly as-the-good-vāva (rest). The gain is at-home-in-home; the prema-tantu-dōrī (love-thread-rope) doesn't-break.
★ The prema-tantu-dōrī (love-thread-as-rope) is the canonical-Tukārām image-for-the-bhakta-Lord-connection. Tantu (thread) implies-fine-tenuous-yet-strong; dōrī (rope) implies-binding-and-anchoring. Together: love-as-a-fine-yet-binding-thread-rope.
The brahmāṇḍa-as-a-kavaḷa-(mouthful) image is striking — the cosmos is-just-a-mouthful for-the-(bhakta's)-āṭhavaṇa (remembrance) of-the-Lord. The remembrance is-larger-than-cosmos.
For someone today
Tukārām's prema-tantu-dōrī text. What's bound close to the chitta dwells (there); in (the) light, (it) illuminates always. In the antar, let the excellent meeting dwell — let no break be allowed. The cosmos is a mouthful for the sake of remembrance; hold (it) in (the) belly — the good rest. The gain is at home in home; the love-thread-rope doesn't break. The verse permits the canonical bhakti-confidence: prema-tantu-dōrī-doesn't-break.
Where this applies
- ★ Canonical prema-tantu-dōrī (love-thread-rope) text
- Brahmāṇḍa-as-kavaḷa-for-āṭhavaṇa striking-image