Abhanga 157
We have a milking cow at home; her milk doesn't fit in the three worlds. Color: dark; name: Śrīdhara; she grazes the fourteen worlds. Calf-less, she goes with anyone; whoever strokes her is filled with bhāva. Tuka says: my hunger here is nothing — the mother feeds the three worlds.
The verse
आम्हां घरीं एक गाय दुभता हे । पान्हा न समाये त्रिभुवनीं ॥१॥ वान ते सांवळी नांव ते श्रीधरा । चरे वसुंधरा चौदा भुवनें ॥ध्रु.॥ वत्स नाहीं माय भलत्या सवें जाय । कुर्वाळी तो लाहे भावभरणा ॥२॥ चहूं धारीं क्षीर वोळली अमुप । धाले सनकादिक सिद्ध मुनी ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे माझी भूक तेथें काय । जोगाविते माय तिन्ही लोकां ॥४॥
Literal translation
English: At our house there is one milking cow — her milk-flow does not fit in the three worlds. Her color is dark; her name is Śrīdhara; she grazes the earth, the fourteen worlds. She has no calf — the mother goes with anyone; whoever strokes her gets bhāva-filling. From four streams milk poured ample — Sanaka and the perfected sages were satisfied. Tuka says: my hunger — what is that there? The mother feeds the three worlds.
मराठी: आमच्या घरी एक दुभती गाय आहे — तिचा पान्हा त्रिभुवनात मावत नाही. वान सावळी, नाव श्रीधरा; ती चरते वसुंधरा-चौदा भुवनं. वत्स नाही — माय भलत्यासंगे जाते; जो कुरवाळतो त्याला भाव-भरण मिळतं. चार धारांनी क्षीर अमर्याद वोळलं — सनकादिक सिद्ध-मुनी तृप्त. तुकाराम म्हणतात — माझी भूक तिथे काय? माय तिन्ही लोकांना खाऊ-पिऊ घालते.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| आम्हां घरीं एक गाय दुभता हे | "at our house there is one milking cow" |
| पान्हा न समाये त्रिभुवनीं | "(her) milk-flow does not fit in the three worlds" |
| वान ते सांवळी | "(her) color is sāvalī (dark)" |
| नांव ते श्रीधरा | "(her) name is Śrīdhara" (= Vishnu / Krishna) |
| चरे वसुंधरा चौदा भुवनें | "(she) grazes the earth, the fourteen worlds" |
| वत्स नाहीं | "(she has) no calf" |
| माय भलत्या सवें जाय | "the mother goes with anyone" |
| कुर्वाळी तो लाहे भावभरणा | "whoever strokes her gets bhāva-filling (filled with feeling)" |
| चहूं धारीं क्षीर वोळली अमुप | "from four streams the milk poured ample" |
| धाले सनकादिक सिद्ध मुनी | "Sanaka and the (others), the perfected sages, were satisfied" |
| माझी भूक तेथें काय | "my hunger — what is that there?" |
| जोगाविते माय तिन्ही लोकां | "the mother feeds the three worlds" |
What it means
A cosmic-cow abhang — the deity (specifically Krishna / Viṭhobā as Śrīdhara = bearer-of-Śrī, Vishnu) figured as the family milch-cow whose milk overflows the three worlds. The image is dense with paradox:
- Color sāvalī — dark — is Krishna's color and the cow's color.
- No calf — yet she is māy (mother). The cow does not need her own offspring; she mothers anyone who strokes her.
- चहूं धारीं क्षीर वोळली — the four streams (the four udders / four directions / four Vedas) pour ample.
- Sanakādika — the four mind-born sons of Brahmā — and siddha-muni are satisfied at her udder.
The folk-image of the family cow as the source of abundance is recoded: this cow is the deity in domestic register, the everyday mother whose milk cannot be exhausted. Tukaram's closing move: my hunger here is nothing — given that the mother feeds the three worlds, the bhakta's small hunger is automatically met. [T]
For someone today
This abhang names the abundance-frame that bhakti starts from. The deity is not a scarce resource that the bhakta must compete to access; it is the milking cow whose flow does not fit in three worlds. Three implications:
- Stop competing. If the source overflows three worlds, no one is taking your portion. Other bhaktas are not your rivals.
- Stop qualifying. The cow has no calf — she goes with anyone. कुर्वाळी तो लाहे भावभरणा — whoever strokes her gets the filling. The eligibility is the touch, not the resume.
- Stop hiding the small hunger. Tukaram's last move is honest — my hunger — not abolished, just contextualized. The personal hunger is small, but it is real, and the mother feeds the three worlds, so it gets met along with everything else.
मराठी: ही ओवी bhakti च्या abundance-frame चं नाव सांगते. देव दुर्मिळ संसाधन नाही जिथे bhakta स्पर्धा करतो; ती दुभती गाय आहे जिचा पान्हा त्रिभुवनात मावत नाही. तीन implications:
- स्पर्धा थांबवा. स्रोत त्रिभुवनात ओसंडतो — तुमचा वाटा कुणी घेत नाहीये. इतर bhakta प्रतिस्पर्धी नाहीत.
- Qualify करायला थांबा. गायीला वत्स नाही — कुणासोबतही जाते. कुरवाळणं हीच पात्रता; resume नाही.
- लहान भूक लपवायला थांबा. तुकारामांची शेवटची हालचाल प्रामाणिक — माझी भूक — नाहीशी नाही, फक्त contextualized. वैयक्तिक भूक छोटी पण खरी; माय तिन्ही लोकांना खाऊ घालते — ही पण मिळते.
Where this applies
- Treating the deity / source as scarce. पान्हा न समाये त्रिभुवनीं.
- Waiting to qualify for affection. कुर्वाळी तो लाहे.
- Embarrassed by small hunger. जोगाविते माय तिन्ही लोकां.