Abhanga 3799
I-tell-you — sing-Viṭṭhal — else-janma-vāyā.
The verse
सांगतों तरि तुम्ही भजा रे विठ्ठला । नाहीं तरि गेला जन्म वांयां ॥१॥
करितां भरोवरी दुरावसी दुरी । भवाचिये पुरीं वाहावसी ॥२॥
कांहीं न लगे एक भाव चि कारण । तुका म्हणे आण विठ्ठलाची ॥३॥
Literal translation
I-tell-you — sing-Viṭṭhal — else-janma-vāyā. Bharōvarī (rivalry) — distance-grows — bhava-purī-carries-away. Nothing-needed-only-bhāva-is-cause — Tukā: by-Viṭṭhal's-āṇa.
What it means
A 3-verse exhortation-under-oath. I am telling you — sing Viṭṭhal — else this birth has gone in vain. (If you compete with others / contest) you grow far in distance; you'll be swept away in the flood of becoming. Nothing else is needed — only bhāva is the cause. I swear by Viṭṭhal's oath. The closing āṇa-Viṭṭhalāchī (Viṭṭhal's-oath / by-Viṭṭhal-I-swear) is Tukārām's strongest oath-form — used when he wants to attest urgency or seriousness.
For someone today
Tukārām: sing-Viṭṭhal-else-this-birth-is-wasted — only-bhāva-is-the-cause — I-swear-by-Viṭṭhal.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's sing-Viṭṭhal-else-janma-vāyā; only-bhāva-is-cause canonical
- āṇa-Viṭṭhalāchī (Viṭṭhal's-oath) usage