Abhanga 279
Asking for help sincerely and directly does not deplete the giver's abundance, so name your need honestly and trust in grace rather than demanding a specific result.
The verse
तान्हेल्याची धणी । फिटे गंगा नव्हे उणी ॥१॥ माझे मनोरथ सिद्धी । पाववावे कृपानिधी ॥ध्रु.॥ तूं तों उदाराचा राणा । माझी अल्प चि वासना ॥२॥ कृपादृष्टीं पाहें । तुका म्हणे होईं साहे ॥३॥
Literal translation
The thirsty's full-drinking — the Ganga is not made lesser. Fulfill my desires, kṛpā-nidhi. You are the udārā-rāṇā; my vāsanā is small. Look with kṛpā-dṛṣṭi. Tuka says: be the sāhe.
मराठी: तान्हेल्याची धणी — फिटे गंगा नव्हे उणी. माझे मनोरथ सिद्धी पाववावे कृपानिधी. तूं तों उदाराचा राणा — माझी अल्प चि वासना. कृपादृष्टीं पाहें — तुकाराम म्हणतात — होईं साहे.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| तान्हेल्याची धणी | "the tānhalī (thirsty)'s dhaṇī (full-drinking)" |
| फिटे गंगा नव्हे उणी | "fits (= happens / is met) — the Ganga is not madeuṇī(lesser)" |
| माझे मनोरथ सिद्धी पाववावे कृपानिधी | "fulfill mymanōratha — kṛpā-nidhi (treasure-of-grace)" |
| तूं तों उदाराचा राणा | "you are theudārā-rāṇā(king-of-the-generous)" |
| माझी अल्प चि वासना | "my vāsanā is small" |
| कृपादृष्टीं पाहें | "look withkṛpā-dṛṣṭi(grace-glance)" |
| तुका म्हणे होईं साहे | "Tuka says: be thesāhe(help / supporter)" |
What it means
A short prayer abhang. Three claims:
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तान्हेल्याची धणी — फिटे गंगा नव्हे उणी — the thirsty's full-drinking — the Ganga is not lessened. The abundance-frame. The thirsty's complete-satisfaction (= dhaṇī phitē — full-drinking fulfilled) does not lessen the Ganga. The Source-supply is unaffected by the bhakta's drinking-full. (Compare 157's cosmic-cow whose milk doesn't fit in three worlds.)
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माझे मनोरथ सिद्धी पाववावे कृपानिधी — fulfill my desires, kṛpā-nidhi. Direct petition to the kṛpā-nidhi (treasure-of-grace).
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तूं तों उदाराचा राणा — माझी अल्प चि वासना — you are the king-of-the-generous; my desire is small. The asymmetry-claim. You are vast in generosity; my desire is small. The small-vāsanā can be fulfilled by the king-of-generosity without strain.
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कृपादृष्टीं पाहें — तुका म्हणे होईं साहे — look with kṛpā-dṛṣṭi; Tuka says: be (my) help. The closing-petition. Look (= attend to me) with grace-glance; be the sāhe (help / supporter / sustainer). The bhakta does not specify the form of help; just asks the deity to be the sāhe.
[T]
For someone today
Tukaram opens with a reassuring image: a thirsty person drinking their fill from the Ganga doesn't make the river any smaller — asking for what you need doesn't drain the one who gives. So he asks directly and by name, without hedging or dressing up the request as something else: fulfill my heart's longing, treasure of grace. He's honest about the imbalance too — God is the king of generosity, vast beyond measure, while what he himself wants is small; there's no need to inflate his own desire or shrink God's abundance to make them match. In the end he doesn't ask for any specific outcome, just for a glance of grace and for God to simply be his support — trusting that whatever help looks like, it will be enough.
मराठी: तुकाराम एका दिलासादायक प्रतिमेने सुरुवात करतात — तहानलेला माणूस गंगेतून मनसोक्त पाणी पितो तरी गंगा लहान होत नाही — तुम्ही मागितलेत म्हणून देणाऱ्याचे काही कमी होत नाही. म्हणून ते थेट, नाव घेऊन मागतात, गुळमुळीत न बोलता किंवा विनंतीला वेगळे रूप न देता — माझी मनोकामना पूर्ण कर, कृपानिधी. ते या असमानतेबद्दलही प्रामाणिक आहेत — देव उदारतेचा राजा आहे, अमर्याद; आणि आपली इच्छा फार लहान आहे; स्वतःची इच्छा वाढवून किंवा देवाची विशालता कमी करून दोघांना समान करण्याची गरज नाही. शेवटी ते कोणतेही विशिष्ट फळ मागत नाहीत, फक्त कृपादृष्टी आणि देवाने आपला आधार व्हावे इतकेच मागतात — मदत कशा रूपात येईल याची चिंता न करता, ती पुरेशी असेल असा विश्वास ठेवून.
Where this applies
- Recognize abundance — your asking doesn't deplete. Ganga not lessened.
- Direct petition with naming. Don't disguise.
- Honest asymmetry: large generosity, small desire.
- Ask for the grace-glance. Not specific outcomes.
- Ask for the sāhe-role. Deity figures the form.