Abhanga 3931
Tukaram's whole mind is fixed on one longing: to go to Pandharpur and meet his mother, Vitthai. He says no festival or pleasure means anything to him without her — instead he feels an actual burning, like a flame, from the separation. But he promises that the moment he sees her feet, all his suffering disappears. This is a lesson about the intensity of real longing, and about trusting that reaching the source of your devotion, even briefly, can dissolve pain that nothing else touches.
The verse
पंढरीसी जावें ऐसें माझें मनीं । विठाई जननी भेटे केव्हां ॥१॥
न लगे त्याविण सुखाचा सोहळा । लागे मज ज्वाळा अग्निचिया ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे त्याचे पाहिलिया पाय । मग दुःख जाय सर्व माझें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Go-to-Paṇḍharī — my-mind. Viṭhā'ī-jananī-when-meets? Without-it-no-sukha-sōhaḷa — agni-jvālā-burns-me. Tukā: seeing-feet — all-duḥkha-goes.
What it means
A 3-verse pilgrimage-yearning text. Go to Paṇḍharī — that's all my mind. When will my Viṭhā'ī-mother meet me? Without her, no festival of joy is needed — a fire-flame burns me. Just after seeing his feet, all my suffering goes away. The agni-jvālā burns me is the viraha (separation)-imagery — the bhakta's yearning is felt as physical burning.
For someone today
Tukaram's whole mind is fixed on one longing: to go to Pandharpur and meet his mother, Vitthai. He says no festival or pleasure means anything to him without her — instead he feels an actual burning, like a flame, from the separation. But he promises that the moment he sees her feet, all his suffering disappears. This is a lesson about the intensity of real longing, and about trusting that reaching the source of your devotion, even briefly, can dissolve pain that nothing else touches.
मराठी: तुकाराम यांचे संपूर्ण मन एका ओढीने भरलेले आहे: पंढरपूरला जाऊन आपल्या विठाई मातेला भेटणे. ते म्हणतात की तिच्याशिवाय कोणताही सोहळा किंवा सुख त्यांना काहीच वाटत नाही — उलट विरहामुळे त्यांना अग्नीसारखी खरी जळजळ जाणवते. पण ते वचन देतात की तिचे पाय दिसताच सगळे दुःख नाहीसे होते. यातून खऱ्या ओढीच्या तीव्रतेचा धडा मिळतो, आणि हा विश्वासही मिळतो की आपल्या भक्तीच्या मूळ स्रोतापर्यंत पोहोचणे, अगदी क्षणभरासाठी का होईना, इतर कशानेही न मिटणारे दुःख विरघळवू शकते.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's Paṇḍharī-yearning agni-jvālā-burns canonical
- Pair with 2811 (bhēṭīlāgī-yearning), 3884 (Pāvalōm-Paṇḍharī)