Abhanga 3544
Sukha sukhā virajaṇa jāle — sukha on sukha became virajaṇa; te mathale navanīta — that was churned into navanīta.
The verse
सुख सुखा विरजण जालें । तें मथलें नवनीत ॥१॥
हाले डोले हरुषे काया । निवती बाह्या नयन ॥ध्रु.॥
प्रबल तो नारायण । गुणें गुण वाढला ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे भरली सीग । वरी मग वोसंडे ॥३॥
Literal translation
Sukha sukhā virajaṇa jāle — sukha on sukha became virajaṇa; te mathale navanīta — that was churned into navanīta. Hāle ḍōle haruṣe kāyā — the body sways-and-shakes with joy; nivatī bāhyā nayan — the arms and eyes cool. Prabaḷa tō Nārāyaṇa — powerful is Nārāyaṇa; guṇe guṇa vāḍhalā — guṇa grew by guṇa. Tukā mhaṇe bharalī sīga — Tukā says: the ridge filled; varī maga vōsamḍe — over (it), then it overflows.
What it means
A short 3-verse bhakti-ecstasy text by Tukārām. The image: sukha-on-sukha became-virajaṇa (the starter-culture-curd); that-was-churned-into-butter. The bodily-ecstasy: body-sways-and-shakes with-joy; arms-and-eyes cool-down. The cosmic-attribution: prabaḷa-Nārāyaṇa; guṇa-grew-by-guṇa. Closing image: the brim-filled, overflowed.
★ The churning-sukha-into-navanīta image is striking: bhakti-sukha is-not-just-felt-passively; it's-churned-actively into-the-butter-essence. The kāyā-bāhyā-nayan-cooling is the canonical-marker of-bhakti-rasa-arrival.
For someone today
Tukārām's bhakti-ecstasy. Sukha on sukha became starter-curd — that was churned into butter. The body sways-and-shakes with joy; the arms and eyes become cool. Powerful is Nārāyaṇa — guṇa grew by guṇa. The brim (has been) filled — and over-and-above, it then overflows. The verse permits the canonical bhakti-as-churned-sukha-becoming-butter image.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's bhakti-sukha-churned-into-butter ecstasy-image text
- Body-cooling, arms-and-eyes-cool canonical bhakti-marker