Abhanga 207

What the divine actually wants is not your achievements or polish but plain affection and steady, ordinary closeness over time, given without keeping score.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A post-rescue companionship abhang. Three claims about Krishna's companion-character:

1. न ठेवी आभार प्रेमाचा भुकेला — (he) does not retain debt; is prema-hungry. Two interlocking claims:
2. The deity does not retain abhāra — does not count up the bhakta's obligations to him. The debt-economy is rejected.

3. The deity is prema-hungry — not power-hungry, not honor-hungry, not service-hungry, but affection-hungry. The what-the-deity-actually-wants is prema.

4. बहु दिवस संग हा चि निर्धार त्याला — long-days companionship is his only nirdhāra (certainty). The single-stable-thing the deity holds-onto is long-days companionship. Not the intensity of any single moment, not the quality of ritual-performance — but the duration of co-habit.

5. आरुष गोपाळें त्यांची बहु देवा प्रीती — the simple cowherds — much prīti from the deva. The access-property is āruṣa — simple, unrefined, unpolished. The cowherds' non-refinement is what gets the deva's affection. (Compare 100's three classical low-status bhaktas — gopas, Vidura, Kubja.)

The closing turn: आतां जाऊं आपुलिया घरा — तोय वांचविलें ऐसें सांगों रे दातारा — now let's go to our houses — let's tell the dātāra how we were saved. Post-rescue, the bhakta's responsibility is to return home and tell the patrons (the dātāra — possibly the elders, the maintainers, the householders who funded the cowherding-trip) what happened. The witness-bearing is part of the rescue-cycle.

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For someone today

This abhang names what the real-presence actually wants from you:

1. Companionship to satisfaction — give what is yours, eat what he gives. Dhaṇī-varī sanga, deūni āpulēm to chi deīla tē khāvē. The reciprocal-economy: you give what is yours, you eat what he gives. Both directions are real. Don't be a one-way giver or a one-way receiver.

2. No-debt-retention. The deity does not keep score. Stop worrying about how much you owe. The debt-economy is rejected by the deity itself. (Compare 182: the saints' debt cannot be balanced; here: the deity does not even retain it.)

3. Prema-hungry, not power-hungry. What the real-presence wants is prema (affection-feeling). Not your achievements, not your discipline, not your conformity, not your offerings-in-themselves — prema. Notice when you have been offering everything except the affection-feeling.

4. Long-days companionship is the only certainty. The deity's nirdhāra (settled-conviction) is long-co-habit. Don't aim for one peak experience; aim for long-days companionship. Duration is the variable.

5. Simplicity is the access-property. Āruṣa gopāḷē tyānchī bahu devā prīti. The unrefined, unpolished, simple cowherds get much affection. Stop polishing yourself for the encounter; the āruṣa-state is what gets the prīti.

6. Bear witness afterward. Tela dātārā — how we were saved. After a real-rescue, return home and tell the patrons. The witness-bearing completes the rescue-cycle.

मराठी: ही ओवी खऱ्या उपस्थितीला तुमच्याकडून खरोखर काय हवं आहे ते सांगते.

1. तृप्तीपर्यंतची सोबत — जे तुमचं आहे ते द्या, तो जे देतो ते खा. देणं आणि घेणं दोन्ही दिशांनी खरं असतं. फक्त देणारे किंवा फक्त घेणारे होऊ नका.

2. देव हिशेब ठेवत नाही — किती ऋण आहे याची चिंता सोडून द्या. ऋणाचा हिशेब देवानेच नाकारला आहे.

3. देव प्रेमाचा भुकेला आहे, सत्तेचा नाही — खऱ्या उपस्थितीला हवं असतं फक्त प्रेम. तुमची कर्तृत्वं नाही, शिस्त नाही, अनुसरण नाही, नुसती अर्पणंही नाहीत — फक्त प्रेम. प्रेमाशिवाय बाकी सगळं अर्पण करत आहात का, हे तपासून पाहा.

4. दीर्घकाळाची सोबत हीच एकमेव खात्रीची गोष्ट आहे — देवाचा निर्धार आहे दीर्घकाळ एकत्र राहणं. एका उत्कट क्षणाचं ध्येय ठेवू नका; दीर्घकाळाच्या सोबतीचं ध्येय ठेवा. इथे कालावधीच महत्त्वाचा आहे.

5. साधेपणा हाच प्रवेशाचा गुण आहे — साधे, अनघड, अपरिष्कृत गोवळी यांनाच देवाचं भरपूर प्रेम मिळतं. भेटीसाठी स्वतःला घासून-पुसून तयार करणं थांबवा; हा साधेपणाच प्रेम मिळवून देतो.

6. नंतर साक्ष द्या — खरी सुटका झाल्यावर घरी परत जा आणि आपल्या माणसांना सांगा. ही साक्ष देणं हाच सुटकेच्या चक्राचा शेवटचा टप्पा आहे.

Where this applies

• Reciprocal give-and-eat. Dhaṇī-varī sanga.
• Deity is prema-hungry, not power-hungry. Offer affection.
• Long-days companionship is the certainty. Not peak experience.
• Simplicity is the access-property. Stop polishing.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2374 — Rather than scattering devotion among many lesser deities who demand offerings, Tukaram sa
• Abhanga 2377 — This detailed meditation on Vitthal standing on a brick at Pandharpur, out of love for his
• Abhanga 2387 — Accept whatever life brings with reverence, and place the burden on God rather than carryi
• Abhanga 2402 — For today: happily take rebirths — IF among the Paṇḍharī-Vārkarīs ; Hari-dāsas' company is