Abhanga 372
Tukaram says that when God becomes your friend, the whole world starts to feel kind toward you, because the world is where that friendship shows itself. But he is honest that even knowing this, the heart still gets restless and struggles, and knowing the rule does not automatically calm you down. He adds that whoever God protects cannot be harmed even by fire, and he points to the old story of Prahlada, whom Hari personally protected when he was thrown into the flames, as proof that this protection is real and God will make the effort himself.
The verse
देव सखा जरी । जग अवघें कृपा करी ॥१॥ ऐसा असोनि अनुभव । कासाविस होती जीव ॥ध्रु.॥ देवाची जतन । तया बाधूं न शके अग्न ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे हरी । प्र्हादासि यत्न करी ॥३॥
Literal translation
If deva is sakhā — the whole jaga shows kṛpā. Even with such anubhava — the jīva still struggles. The deva's jatana — the agni cannot harm. Tuka says: Hari — did the yatna — for Prahlāda.
मराठी: देव सखा जरी — जग अवघें कृपा करी. ऐसा असोनि अनुभव — कासाविस होती जीव. देवाची जतन — तया बाधूं न शके अग्न. तुकाराम म्हणतां — हरी — प्र्हादासि यत्न करी.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| देव सखा जरी | "if deva is sakhā" |
| जग अवघें कृपा करी | "the whole jaga shows kṛpā" |
| ऐसा असोनि अनुभव | "even with such anubhava" |
| कासाविस होती जीव | "the jīva — struggles / is in kāsāvīsa" |
| देवाची जतन | "the deva's jatana (keeping)" |
| तया बाधूं न शके अग्न | "the agni — cannot harm (such-one)" |
| हरी प्र्हादासि यत्न करी | "Hari — did yatna — for Prahlāda" |
What it means
A short deva-sakhā-then-world-is-kindly abhang. Three claims:
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देव सखा जरी — जग अवघें कृपा करी — if deva is sakhā — the whole jaga shows kṛpā. The opening-rule: if the deva becomes your sakhā (friend), the whole world shows kṛpā. The world's-kindness flows from the deva-as-sakhā relation; not from your direct-relation-to-the-world. (The world is thekṛpā-medium of the deva.)
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ऐसा असोनि अनुभव — कासाविस होती जीव — even with such anubhava — the jīva (still) struggles. The honest-fact: despite this anubhava (experience-of-the-rule), the jīva still struggles. Knowing the rule does not stop the struggling. (Kāsāvīsa — agitation, struggling, restless-anxiety.) The jīva-struggles-despite-anubhava — this is honest-realism.
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देवाची जतन — तया बाधूं न शके अग्न — deva's keeping — agni cannot harm (such-one). The protection-claim: one whom the deva keeps — fire cannot harm. The deva-kept-one is fire-proof.
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तुका म्हणे हरी — प्र्हादासि यत्न करी — Tuka says: Hari — did yatna — for Prahlāda. The Prahlāda-precedent: Hari himself did the yatna (effort) for Prahlāda. (Prahlāda was thrown into fire by Hiraṇyakaśipu; Hari protected him.) The Prahlāda-fire-protection precedent anchors the abstract claim.
[T]
For someone today
Tukaram says that when God becomes your friend, the whole world starts to feel kind toward you, because the world is where that friendship shows itself. But he is honest that even knowing this, the heart still gets restless and struggles, and knowing the rule does not automatically calm you down. He adds that whoever God protects cannot be harmed even by fire, and he points to the old story of Prahlada, whom Hari personally protected when he was thrown into the flames, as proof that this protection is real and God will make the effort himself.
मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की देव जर तुमचा सखा झाला, तर सगळं जग तुमच्याशी दयाळूपणे वागतं, कारण त्या मैत्रीचा परिणाम जगातूनच दिसतो. पण ते प्रामाणिकपणे कबूल करतात की हे माहीत असूनही मन अस्वस्थ होतंच, आणि केवळ हा नियम माहीत असणं मनाला शांत करत नाही. पुढे ते सांगतात की देव ज्याला जपतो त्याला आगसुद्धा इजा करू शकत नाही, आणि प्रल्हादाची जुनी कथा सांगून, ज्याला हरीने स्वतः आगीपासून वाचवले, हे सिद्ध करतात की हे संरक्षण खरे आहे आणि देव स्वतः त्यासाठी प्रयत्न करतो.
Where this applies
- Deva-sakhā makes the world kindly. Flow-rule.
- Anubhava doesn't dissolve struggle. Honest-realism.
- Fire cannot harm the deva-kept. Protection-claim.
- Prahlāda — Hari did yatna. Classical-precedent.