Abhanga 4527
Nija-dāsa ubhā tātkāḷa pāyāpe — svāmī dekhe sarpe veṣṭiyelā — nija-dāsa instantly stands at (his) feet; (Garuḍa) sees svāmī wrapped by sarpa.
The verse
निजदास उभा तात्काळ पायापें । स्वामी देखे सर्पें वेष्टियेला ॥१॥
लहानथोरें होतीं मिळालीं अपारें । त्याच्या धुदकारें निवारिलीं ॥२॥
निघतां आपटी धरूनि धांवामधीं । एकाचें चि वधी माथें पायें ॥३॥
एकीं जीव दिले येतां च त्या धाकें । येतील तीं एकें काकूलती ॥४॥
यथेष्ट भक्षिलीं पोट धाये वरी । तंव म्हणे हरि पुरे आतां ॥५॥
आतां करूं काम आलों जयासाटीं । हरी घाली मिठी काळयासि ॥६॥
यासि नाथूनियां नाकीं दिली दोरी । चेंडू भार शिरीं कमळांचा ॥७॥
चालविला वरी बैसे नारायण । गरुडा आळंगुन बहुडविलें ॥८॥
विसरु न पडे संवगड्या गाईं । यमुनेच्या डोहीं लक्ष त्यांचें ॥९॥
त्याच्या गोष्टी कांठीं बैसोनि सांगती । बुडाला दाविती येथें हरि ॥१०॥
हरीचें चिंतन करितां आठव । तुका म्हणे देव आला वरी ॥११॥
Literal translation
Nija-dāsa ubhā tātkāḷa pāyāpe — svāmī dekhe sarpe veṣṭiyelā — nija-dāsa instantly stands at (his) feet; (Garuḍa) sees svāmī wrapped by sarpa. Lahānathōre hōtīm miḷālīm apāre — tyācyā dhudakāre nivārilīm — small and great gathered, apāra; by his dhudakāra (he) drove-(them)-off. Nighatām āpaṭī dharūni dhāmvāmadhīm — ekāce ci vadhī māṭhe pāye — coming out (he) strikes; running, kills with-one-stroke head-and-foot. Ekīm jīva dile yetām ca tyā dhāke — yetīla tīm eke kākulatī — some give jīva at the dhāka; some come pleading. Yatheṣṭa bhakṣilīm pōṭa dhāye varī — tamva mhaṇe Hari pure ātām — (Garuḍa) ate to fill, belly filled above; then Hari says — enough now. Ātām karūm kāma ālōm jayāsāṭīm — Harī ghālī miṭhī kāḷayāsi — now we'll do the work I came for — Hari throws miṭhī on Kāḷiyā. Yāsi nāthūniyām nākīm dilī dōrī — cheṇḍū bhāra śirīm kamaḷāñcā — bringing to rein, the cord in (his) nose; the ball, the burden on (his) head — of kamaḷa. Chālavilā varī baise Nārāyaṇa — Garuḍā āḷanguna bahuḍavilēm — making (Kāḷiyā) walk-above (rise), Nārāyaṇa sits; embracing Garuḍa, sends-him-back. Visaru na paḍe samvagaḍyā gāīm — Yamunecyā ḍōhīm lakṣa tyāñce — (he) doesn't forget the companion-cows; his lakṣa is on them in Yamunā's ḍoha. Tyācyā gōṣṭī kāṇṭhīm baisōni sāngatī — buḍālā dāvitī yethēm Hari — on the bank, sitting, they tell his stories; show \"here Hari drowned\". Harīce chintana karitām āṭhava — Tukā mhaṇe Deva ālā varī — doing Hari-chintana, smaraṇa — Tukā says: Deva came up.
What it means
The climax of the Kāḷiyā-mardana cluster. Garuḍa-arrives-instantly-on-Hari-thinking-of-him; drives-off-and-eats-Nāgas; Hari then says enough — let's do my real-work; embraces Kāḷiyā, puts cord in his nose, mounts him with a load-of-lotuses-on-head (the famous Kāḷiyā-dance image), rises-up to the surface; embraces Garuḍa and sends him back. He doesn't-forget the companion-cows. And — Tukārām's signature theological-close: while-the-bhaktas-on-the-bank were-doing-Hari-chintana-and-smaraṇa, Deva came-up. The Lord's-rising-up is itself by-the-smaraṇa of-the-bhakta.
For someone today
Tukārām claims: constant-smaraṇa of-the-Lord brings-him-up from-any-depth. Bhakta's-chintana is the cord that-lifts-the-Lord-back.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's Kāḷiyā-mardana climax
- Canonical Hari-rises-by-smaraṇa-of-bhakta
- Companion to 2540 (Kurukṣetra-sparrows: Lord-protects-by-bhakta's-remembrance)