Abhanga 100
This abhang offers permission to anyone who feels disqualified from devotion by external circumstances. The three examples are precise: peasant-cowherd, low-caste-Vidura, deformed-maid-Kubja — none could have been admitted to a high temple by the rules of their time. Yet the deity loves them specifically. The variable is chand (passion-fixation). If you have chand, you are eligible regardless of qualification. If you don't, all qualifications cannot make you so.
The verse
गौळीयाची ताकपिरें । कोण पोरें चांगलीं ॥१॥ येवढा त्यांचा छंद देवा । काय सेवा भक्ती ते ॥ध्रु.॥ काय उपास पडिले होते । कण्याभोंवते विदुराच्या ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे कुब्जा दासी । रूपरासी हीनकळा ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: The cowherds' buttermilk-pots — what excellent boys were they? Such was their chand (passion) for the deity — what (other) service or bhakti did they have? Had any famine fallen? — (Krishna ate) around Vidura's broken-grain. Tuka says: Kubja, the deformed maid — pile of low-quality looks (yet dear to Krishna).
मराठी: गौळ्यांच्या ताक-पिरांच्या (पोरांच्या) — कोण पोरं चांगली होती (उच्च-कुळातली नव्हती)? तेवढा त्यांचा छंद (आसक्ती-भक्ती) देवाला; (दुसरी) कुठली सेवा-भक्ती होती त्यांच्याकडे? कुठला उपास पडला होता? — विदुराच्या कण्याभोवती (कृष्ण फिरत होता). तुकाराम म्हणतात — कुब्जा दासी — रूपराशी हीन कळा (पण कृष्णाला प्रिय).
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| गौळीयाची ताकपिरें | "the cowherds' buttermilk-pots" |
| कोण पोरें चांगलीं | "what excellent boys (were they)?" (rhetorical — they were not high-status) |
| येवढा त्यांचा छंद देवा | "such was their chand (passionate-devotion) for the deity" |
| काय सेवा भक्ती ते | "what (other formal) service-or-bhakti did they have?" |
| काय उपास पडिले होते | "had any famine fallen?" |
| कण्याभोंवते विदुराच्या | "around Vidura's broken-grain" (= Krishna ate Vidura's coarse grain when Vidura had little — out of love, not necessity) |
| कुब्जा दासी | "Kubja, the (deformed) maid-servant" |
| रूपरासी हीनकळा | "(her) appearance — heap of low-quality" |
What it means
Three classic Krishna-bhakti examples in three verses:
- The cowherds (gopas) of Vrindavan — peasants, untaught, no formal practice; they shared their takpire (buttermilk-pots, lit. butter-cooks) with Krishna. Their चंद — passion-fixation — was the practice.
- Vidura — Krishna's uncle of low-caste origin; Krishna ate Vidura's coarse kanya (broken-grain) by preference, refusing the elaborate feasts of the Kauravas.
- Kubja — the bent-backed palace maid Krishna straightened by stepping on her foot; her रूपराशी हीनकळा — appearance heaped with low-quality — yet she became dear to him.
The structural claim across the three: the deity's love does not track high-status markers. Chand (passionate-fixation) is the access-key, not external qualifications. [T] [Tradition]
For someone today
This abhang offers permission to anyone who feels disqualified from devotion by external circumstances. The three examples are precise: peasant-cowherd, low-caste-Vidura, deformed-maid-Kubja — none could have been admitted to a high temple by the rules of their time. Yet the deity loves them specifically. The variable is chand (passion-fixation). If you have chand, you are eligible regardless of qualification. If you don't, all qualifications cannot make you so.
मराठी: ही ओवी कुणालाही जो बाह्य परिस्थितीमुळे भक्तीतून अपात्र वाटतो — परवानगी देते. तीन उदाहरणं अचूक: peasant-गौळी, lower-caste-विदुर, deformed-कुब्जा — त्यांच्या काळात कुणीही उच्च मंदिरात प्रवेश घेऊ शकलं नसतं नियमानुसार. तरी देवाला विशेषतः त्यांची प्रिती. variable छंद (आसक्ती-स्थिरता). छंद असेल — पात्र, qualifications काहीही असले तरी. नसेल — सगळी qualifications तुम्हाला पात्र करू शकत नाहीत.
Where this applies
- Measuring eligibility by externals. The three examples.
- Feeling disqualified by circumstance. Kubja was रूपराशी हीनकळा.
- Chand is the variable. Not status.