Abhanga 3740
The joy you are searching for is already close at hand, so stop delaying out of laziness and go claim it while there is still time.
The verse
वैकुंठींचें सुख पंढरिये आलें । अवघें पुंडलिकें सांटविलें ॥१॥
घ्या रे घ्या रे माझे बाप । जिव्हा घेउनि खरें माप । करा एक खेप । मग करणें न लगे ॥ध्रु.॥
विषय गुंडोनी ठेवीं पसारा । मग धांव घ्या पंढरपुरा ॥२॥
जंव आहे आयुष्याचा लेश । तंव करीं पंढरीचा वास ॥३॥
अळस न करीं लाभाचा । तुका विनवी कुणबियाचा ॥४॥
Literal translation
Vaikuṇṭhīmñce sukha Paṇḍhariye āle — the sukha of Vaikuṇṭha came to Paṇḍharī; avaghe Puṇḍalikē sāmṭavile — Puṇḍalika stored everything. Ghyā-rē-ghyā-rē mājhe bāpa — take, take, my bāpa; jihvā gheunī khare māpa — with (your) tongue, take the true measure; karā eka khepa — make one trip; maga karaṇe na lage — then no need to make (one) again. Viṣaya gumḍōnī ṭhevīm pasarā — bundle up the viṣaya-pasarā; maga dhāva ghyā Paṇḍharpurā — then run to Paṇḍharpura. Jamva āhe āyuṣyāñcā leśa — while there is yet a trace of āyuṣya; tamva karīm Paṇḍharīñcā vāsa — make the dwelling at Paṇḍharī. Aḷasa na karīm lābhāñcā — don't be slothful about the lābha; Tukā vinavī kuṇbiyāñcā — Tukā the kuṇbi petitions.
What it means
A canonical 4-verse Paṇḍharī-call by Tukārām with his distinctive kuṇbi (farmer) self-identification.
The call: Vaikuṇṭha-sukha came-to-Paṇḍharī; Puṇḍalika stored-all. Take, take, my-bāpa — measure-with-tongue. One-trip — no-more-needed. Bundle-viṣaya, run-to-Paṇḍharpura. While-āyuṣya-remains, dwell-at-Paṇḍharī. Don't-be-slothful. Tukā-the-kuṇbi petitions.
The closing-line Tukā vinavī kuṇbiyāñcā — Tukā the kuṇbi petitions — is a distinctive self-identification. The kuṇbi (Marathi-farmer-caste) was Tukārām's-own background; he calls-out as-a-fellow-farmer.
Companion-texts: 3034 (Vārkarī-mokṣa-adhikārī), 3036 (Paṇḍharī-jā-rē-samsāra), 3065 (vāḷavamṭa > Vaikuṇṭha).
For someone today
Tukārām's Paṇḍharī-kuṇbi-call. The sukha of Vaikuṇṭha has come to Paṇḍharī — Puṇḍalika has stored everything. Take it, take it, my father — take a true measure with (your) tongue. Make one trip — then no need to make (one) again. Bundle up the sensory-spread — then run to Paṇḍharpura. While there is yet a trace of life — make the dwelling at Paṇḍharī. Do not be slothful about the gain. Tukā, the kuṇbi, petitions. The verse permits the canonical Paṇḍharī-call with farmer-self-identification.
Where this applies
- Canonical Paṇḍharī-call text
- Tukā vinavī kuṇbiyāñcā signature self-identification
- Companion to 3034, 3036, 3065