Abhanga 3860
The verse
जुंझायाच्या गोष्टी ऐकतां चि सुख । करितां हें दुःख थोर आहे ॥१॥
तैसी हरिभक्ति सुळावरील पोळी । निवडे तो बळी विरळा शूर ॥ध्रु.॥
पिंड पोसिलियां विषयांचा पाइक । वैकुंठनायक कैंचा तेथें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे व्हावें देहासी उदार । रकुमादेवीवर जोडावया ॥३॥
Literal translation
War-stories-pleasant — doing-them-thōra-duḥkha. Hari-bhakti-suḷāvarī-pōḷī — only-rare-bali-shūra-survives. Piṇḍa-pāika-of-viṣayas — no-Vaikuṇṭha-nāyaka. Tukā: become-udāra-toward-deha — to-meet-Rakumādevīvara.
What it means
★ A 3-verse hard-bhakti text. Battle-stories are pleasant to hear — but doing battle is great suffering. Likewise hari-bhakti is a cake on a spike — only the rare sacrificing-hero comes through. If the body is fed and made servant of the senses — from where will the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha be there? Become generous (free, sacrificial) toward the body — to meet Rukmādēvīvara. The image suḷāvarīla pōḷī (a cake-on-a-spike — i.e., a sweet that can only be reached by impaling oneself on a spike) is Tukārām's most-famous image for the cost of bhakti — the bhakta must sacrifice the body to reach the divine-sweetness.
For someone today
Tukārām: hari-bhakti-is-a-cake-on-a-spike — only-the-rare-sacrificing-hero-survives; be-generous-toward-the-body.
Where this applies
- ★ Tukārām's THE canonical suḷāvarīla pōḷī image — bhakti is cake-on-a-spike
- become-udāra-toward-deha to-meet-Rukmādēvīvara
- Pair with 3743 (Name-is-everything), 3795 (jaḷō-burn-everything-else)