Abhanga 3127
Whatever you hold close to your mind stays lit within you always, and the fine thread of love between devotee and God, once kept unbroken inside, never comes undone.
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
- When you want to know what to hold onto so it never fades from your mind
- When your connection to what matters most feels fragile and you fear it breaking
- When you're searching outward for peace that was always available within you
- When you doubt whether love and devotion can really last without wearing thin