Abhanga 34
When you meet someone who is awake to their own benefit, the right move is gratitude toward the parents who raised them — and the desire to serve them.
The verse
आपुलिया हिता जो असे जागता । धन्य माता पिता तयाचिया ॥१॥ कुळीं कन्यापुत्र होतीं जीं सात्त्विक । तयाचा हरिख वाटे देवा ॥ध्रु.॥ गीता भागवत करिती श्रवण । आणीक चिंतन विठोबाचें ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे मज घडो त्याची सेवा । तरी माझ्या दैवा पार नाहीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: Blessed are the mother and father of one who is awake to his own benefit. The lineage in which sāttvika sons and daughters appear — that joy delights God. They listen to the Gītā and Bhāgavata, and contemplate Vithoba. Tuka says: may the service of such a one fall to me — then there will be no limit to my fortune.
मराठी: आपल्या हिताला जो जागृत आहे — त्याची माता-पिता धन्य. ज्या कुळात सात्त्विक मुलं-मुली होतात, त्याचा हरिख देवालाच वाटतो. ते गीता-भागवत श्रवण करतात आणि विठोबाचं चिंतन. तुकाराम म्हणतात — मला त्यांची सेवा घडो; तर माझ्या दैवाचा अंत नाही.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| आपुलिया हिता जो असे जागता | "the one who is awake to his own benefit" (हित = benefit, well-being) |
| धन्य माता पिता तयाचिया | "blessed are his mother and father" |
| कुळीं कन्यापुत्र होतीं जीं सात्त्विक | "in (whose) lineage daughters and sons are sāttvika" (sāttvika = of pure / luminous quality) |
| तयाचा हरिख वाटे देवा | "the joy of that gives delight to God" (हरिख = joy, delight) |
| गीता भागवत करिती श्रवण | "(who) listen to the Gītā and the Bhāgavata" |
| चिंतन विठोबाचें | "contemplation of Vithoba" |
| मज घडो त्याची सेवा | "may the service of such a one fall to me / happen for me" |
| माझ्या दैवा पार नाहीं | "there is no limit to my fortune (then)" |
What it means
This abhang is blessing directed not at the awake person themselves but at the family that produced them. धन्य माता पिता तयाचिया — blessed are his mother and father. The recognition is that an awake person doesn't appear from nowhere; they emerge from a lineage that was already oriented sāttvika. The credit goes upstream. [T]
The closing — मज घडो त्याची सेवा — may the service of such a one fall to me — is the bhakta's request: to be allowed to serve the awake person, treating their presence as an opportunity to serve. The wanting-to-serve is not subordination; it is recognition that proximity-to-the-awake is itself a fortune. [T]
For someone today
English: This abhang is for the moment when you encounter someone who is genuinely awake to their own life — clear-eyed, sāttvika in posture, not asleep to their own benefit. The temptation in modern culture is to praise them. Tukaram redirects: praise the parents, the lineage, the people who did the slow upstream work that produced this person. The awake person is downstream of others' care.
The second move is the harder one. मज घडो त्याची सेवा — may their service fall to me. The right response to encountering an awake person is not admiration but the desire to serve. The serving is your fortune; their being-awake is the gift you stumbled into. Tukaram is teaching the right relation to people who have something you do not yet have: serve them, not as subordinate, but as one who recognizes that proximity itself is the gift.
मराठी: ही ओवी अशा क्षणासाठी आहे जेव्हा तुम्हाला कोणी आपल्या जीवनाला खरंच जागृत असलेली व्यक्ती भेटते — स्पष्ट डोळे, सात्त्विक posture, स्वतःच्या हिताला झोपलेली नाही. आधुनिक संस्कृतीचा मोह त्यांची प्रशंसा करायचा. तुकाराम पुनर्निर्देश करतात: आई-बाबांची प्रशंसा करा, lineage ची, ज्या लोकांनी हळू upstream काम केलं ज्यामुळे ही व्यक्ती तयार झाली. जागृत व्यक्ती इतरांच्या काळजीची downstream आहे.
दुसरी हालचाल कठीण: मज घडो त्याची सेवा. जागृत व्यक्तीला भेटण्याचा योग्य प्रतिसाद कौतुक नाही — सेवा करण्याची इच्छा. सेवा हीच तुमची भाग्य; त्यांचं जागृत असणं तुम्ही ठेच लागून शोधलेलं वरदान. तुकाराम योग्य नातं शिकवत आहेत — जिच्याकडे तुमच्याकडे अजून नसलेलं काही आहे त्या व्यक्तीशी: सेवा करा, गुलाम म्हणून नाही, सान्निध्यच भेट आहे हे ओळखणारा म्हणून.
Where this applies
- When you meet someone genuinely awake. Praise their parents. The lineage did the upstream work.
- When you are tempted to take credit for your own awakening. Don't. Remember whose work made yours possible.
- When you want to serve someone whose presence has changed you. Trust the wanting. मज घडो त्याची सेवा.