Abhanga 2: Halawuni khunt/adhi karawa balakat (Firstly, confirm the foundations of your beliefs)

                         Abhanga

Halawuni  khunt/adhi karawa  balakat//1//

Mag  tayachya adhare/awaghe karane te  bare//2//

Sukh dukhha  sahe /harsha  marshi  bhanga  na  ye//3//

Tuka  mhane jiwe/adhi  maroni rahawe//4//

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Firstly, confirm  the foundations of your beliefs  ,see to it that they are not shaky,

And strengthen them, repeatedly, be  absolutely sure(1)

Firmly rooted, the faith   will become your  support ,

Then  your worship, your meditation  practice will be  proper, in right direction. (2)

Bear the happiness, bear  the pain, equanimously

If joy comes your way ,or pain and unhappiness visits you,

 you will not break down, will not break away from your  worship, your meditation (3)

Tuka  says  ,o resident of this body,

Be dead first, and then inhabit the body (4)

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Translation in any other language, or  replacing the original words, dilutes the beauty of the  original creation. But the message  being universal, carries the same fervor

Shri maharaj  uses most apt words .the word he has used in the original text in Marathi  for foundation is “khunt”.

 khunt  means ,the wood you hammer in to the ground for, tying  a cow, in to a manger., you drive it hard in to the ground and then confirm its firmness by shaking  it, if it moves , if  it  is wobbly, you drive hard in to ground aain, till it is firm enough to hold the straining, errant  cow.  This the the literal meaning   of the poem words, from first line.

It’s a simily . The cow  symbol here is our mind.it is  as unruly,as a cow. It will always try to break away from its ropes.but as a wandering cow in the jungle, has the fear,of being eaten by a tiger,so it is true, for a human mind, unrestrained it will come to unimaginable harm.so it  needs to be anchored to a belief,a firm ,strong unshakeble faith.which will hold ground no matter how hard,it is shaken.and these type of beliefs only come from messages of saints.

True seers, sages,from any religion, will have the same universal messages, same unshakeble principles for practicing spirituality.this is the anchor pillar, you must choose, and test it against any situation in your life. It must hold firm, then your practice will bear the proper fruit.this is the meaning of the first two lines.

Now shri maharaj  in third line,  is  describing the conditions ,which will ,impart  a  quality to the mind.it  must attain such a quality ,for the task of undertaking the spiritual journey.

Happy situation,and sad situation, these  two, are the; only realities of every day life.every one faces them.goes through them ,moment to  moment.

One becomes joyous in happy situation,and identifies oneself as a happy being.wants the happy situation to last .

Yearns for it.but everyone is aware that this does not happen, eighter,the situation or circumstance change,or the mind gets bored,tired of the same sensation, even if it is a pleasant sensation.

Nobody desires a sad situation,but it  does come. Then every one has to bear the pain, walk through ,work through the situation,waiting for it to change, mind says i, am unhappy, i am suffering, this is the most common situation, identifying with pain and suffering

Shri maharaj has this prescription. Create a distance in both the situations.bear it with equanimity.just observe,the pain or pleasure ,coming, staying and intensifying.,or  dwindling,and see what happens.

 the situation has not changed, but the observer has become less affected.he has a new quality .he  has developed patience .

Every one has lost someone dear, in the family, that person is never going to return, but given  time ,the memory becomes less and less painfull, the intensity wanes.

So it is same with happy memories, the intesity declines with every passing moment.if this the universal rule, then creating a distance would be the most obvious solution.

This practice of creating a distance, now gives you a further quality.your mind is  not torn,does not get pulled in opposing directions.

You are sad , you observe yourself ,be aware of it ,just remain with pain, but not identifying with it. This is the quality shri maharaj wants you to achieve.

Staying aware during sorrow or pain is easy, every one tries it, because no one likes  sorrow, but it is very difficult to be aware during a pleasant situation. We are overwhelmed by the plesant stimuli. But the mind has very limited capasity even for happy stimuli, it just gets numb. Nobody will agrre with this, but it is true.

When i first landed in maritius, i was overwhelmed, by its magnifiscent,natural beauty, as days are passing, i am noticing it less and less ,not having the same ecstatic  sensations.

 why do i need other stimuli,for happiness?, mauritius has remained the same?. Why i am choosing ,food, wine, or cigarrettes,for my happiness?.

Because i have not created the distance,not learned to be aware,has identified myself with  body, i am torn asunder .

Practicing  the discipline, maharaj gives,  mind will stop getting torn, stop getting pulled in opposites,it will be strong

Proving that  it has  now become stable, has stopped craving, stopped yearning, stopped rebelling against the necessary restrictions for  growth.

It will stay firm in faith, will not abandon the practice.

And now the last line, a climax.

Maharaj   is  giving a clue to achieve these  qualifications , a guidance, though a very succint one, but a master stroke all the same.

He is calling upon the  inhabitant  of the body.

 ask yourself this question, who inhabits  my body ?, and ,only one answer will come from every human being” i “inhabit  this body. If i ask you who are you, you will probably give me your name, saying so and so is identified with this body.

Now please  explain to  me, can this “ i”be found when the body is asleep?. Can it be traced, if the  body is unconcious??.

.under an anaesthetic drug,who sleeps, who is unconcious??.

 the answer is  ego. Individual ego, which says i am this body.shri maharaj is giving you this practice,

Be dead, and live,in the body.

That’s the final verdict by shri maharaj, he just stops,

 saying “be dead and live.”

My dear reader it is for you to find out, by practice, whether dieing and living, can be achieved. What will happen??.

All i will say is ,my belief in shri tukaram  maharaja,s words,is unshakeble.

With these words  i  bow to all of you.

(note-a translation and my own interpretation of the abhanga,or poem,from tukaram gatha, in marathi.

Halwuni khunt  / adhi karawa balakat .

Sundar te Dhyan (Beautiful, it is, the object of my meditation )

Sincere greetings, Namaskar to all .

At the outset, I pray to the readers, to please understand the

attitude, i am supposed to adopt, while trying to explain, the meanings, of this sublime creation.

you are my elder, my beneficiary, you are doing me a great service by reading this, I grow, I rejoice, by your kind attention. so I humbly request you to understand that, " all the deficiencies are mine and mine, alone. Please make it complete.

If I have written something extra, unsolicited, ignore it. Make my narration worthy of your attention, by your kind grace.

This creation is called as "Abhanga". It is by saint Tukaram, who lived in 16th century, in village, called Dehu, near Pune, in Maharashtra,India. It describes his feelings about the object of his worship, lord  Vitthala. It is the reigning deity of the pilgrim centre "Pandharpur" . This is one of the name given to lord Shri Krishna. Traditionally, the abhangas or poem, is  always rendered, at the beginning of every sermon, or worship congregation.  Hence this will be my first write up.

This is the translation of original Abhanga in Marathi language, known as " sundar te dhyan,ubhe witevari/kar katawari thevoniya". It is beautifully  rendered by lata mangeshkar,and is available on you tube/net).

The Abhanga (The Poem)

Beautiful, it is, the object of my meditation / standing on a brick, hands placed on waist.(1)

A garland of "tulasi" leaves adorns his neck / yellow silken cloth, wrapped around his waist. I adore this image, unceasingly.(2)

Crocodile shaped earrings, shine brilliantly by his ears / a pearl called "Kaustubha" regally adorns the necklace.(3)

Tuka says, this is my, only happiness / i will visualize ,the face of this image, with enthusiasm.(4)

My notes on the Abhanga:

There are many symbolic references in the Abhanga. Allow me to elaborate them.

The first line describes that the idol of Lord Krishna or as we call it in Marathi "Vitthala" is standing on a brick.

There lived a saint called as “Pundalika” in the city of Pandharpur, his way of worship was to serve his parents. Lord Shri Krishna went to visit him. At that particular moment, Pundalika was massaging his father’s feet, Lord Shri Krishna called from  doorsteps asking for permission to enter the house. Pundalika threw a brick towards the Lord Krishna and asked the lord to wait till he finishes his duty. Lord Shri Krishna  promised to wait. Pundalika never abandoned his duties towards the society, towards the elders and lord had to keep his promise. Till this date, the lord  stands on the brick, waiting for all his devotees, to come to him.

And this amazing story continues like this. Mother Rukmini ,Lord Shri Krishna’s wife (also a reincarnation of godess Laxmi) got worried, because Krishna did not  return to Dwaraka, his kingdom. So she followed him to Pandharpur There was no place for her on the brick, so she had to go stand behind the Lord, at a distance and she too graces the place by waiting along with her husband.

Why??.why no place on the brick? The godess of wealth does not bless all, with same kindness, therefore some are wealthy and some are poor, but Lord Krishna at Pandharpur is an incarnate compassion to all. no discrimination. Everyone can go and touch his feet, hug him , this cannot be said of Laxmi ,the godess of wealth, so she has to stand back, no place, near universal compassion. or, it can also be said that, wealth is not absolutely necessary for service and kindness, it always waits behind a true compassion.

The word used by Shri Tukaram Maharaj for brick in the language Marathi is "wit". I want to bring it to your notice that in English wit, means a  spontaneous, intuitive response, here also it is used in same connotation. The lord within you, is your intuition, he is at your doorstep, you enter your house and tend to forget the outside world, your duty towards the society by getting lost in pleasures and comforts the house provides  you. You lose your wits, instead, you  balance both your family life, your duties to elderly, and duties to outside world , your lord waits upon you., till eternity.

Tukaram Maharaj says further:

The hands of the lord are placed by his waist, it is an assurance, signaling, that the ocean of worldly miseries is only waist deep, for his devotees, if you serve your elders. If the work is your worship, the  "karma yoga"  or fulfilling the duties diligently, excellently, that life ,destiny bestows upon you, without any desire for fruits, is the central  theme for Geeta, Lord Krishna’s eternal message.

Lord Shri Krishna is a king, he is in his royal splendor at Pandharpur, but he is wearing a garland of "Tulasi" leaves. It symbolizes that he is totally detached towards the riches of royalty. Around his waist there is a silken cloth, a royal garment, but the colour is yellow, again a symbolic renouncement of power.

Shri maharaj is very fond of this image, which symbolizes riches coupled with philanthropy, power coupled with spirit of renunciation.

The crocodile earrings, is another reference to a story. There was an elephant, called "Gajendra". He was a great devotee of lord Vishnu, one day as he went to quench his thirst, he was caught by a crocodile, and dragged in to the waters, seeing his death imminent, he fervently, called on to his lord, who slayed the crocodile with a weapon called as "Sudarshan chakra". The  lord, freed his devotee from the fear of death,  but the crocodile also became immortal, because he adopted her shape as his earrings.

I am the symbolic elephant "Gajendra"! You my reader, could be also that elephant, vested with enormous power, but helpless in the waters of desires. Lust is the  crocodile grip which drags me in the waters towards the inevitable death. But if I pray fervently and the vision of lord frees me. That is "Sudarshana" meaning proper or true vision of lord.

This is the meaning of crocodile shaped earrings. and why earrings, because, you will close your eyes during meditation but ears cannot be shut, so be warned, lest the sound drags you away from your meditation practice. And, why such a place of honor, to a vice, a crocodile? simple, one can transform the lust for sensual  enjoyment in to devotion, by hearing about the names ,deeds and virtues of lord. and then it will no longer have a vice like grip, on you, it will become an ornament. An ideal householder is the most brilliant ornament of the society.

The pearl called as " kausthubha” is a mythological pearl, which secretes "gold" perpetually. And it is around the neck of the lord. The word used by Tukaram Maharaj is "Kanth", meaning the voice box, again a symbolic reference to words spoken by lord Shri Krishna, famously known as Geeta. His eternal message to humanity. A true gold secreting pearl.

In the concluding, last line , Shri Maharaj emphatically states that, this practice of meditation is the only happiness he knows and he will continue to see, meditate on this vision, which will enlighten him.

 That is the message of this poem to all of us too. O human being, with power and doggedness of an elephant ,don’t be a slave to your cravings, lest you are caught in a vice. Be detached towards worldly gains of wealth and power. Remeber the golden words spoken by lord Shri Krishna, in Geeta, see the truth in the light of meditation, practice all the virtues the idol symbolizes, inculcate the values in your life. this is the only true happiness, none else,  says, Tukaram Maharaj.