Abhanga 375

Going alone to be close with the divine is not shameful, it is union, and devotee and God complete each other without needing anyone's approval or explanation.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A sakhī-bhāva / bridal-mystic abhang. Tukaram speaks as the bride-bhakta who goes alone with Rāṇā-Govinda — the deva imagined as the groom. This is the Vārkarī's relatively-rare bridal-mystic register (more common in Mīrābāī, Ānṭāḷ, and the Northern Vaiṣṇava traditions; here in Tukaram's voice). Six claims:

1. एकली राणागोविंदा सवें — गेलें ठावें तें जालें — alone with Rāṇā-Govinda — what was to happen, happened. The bridal-going-alone: I went alone with the deva-as-Rāṇā-Govinda; what was to happen, happened. The consummation-claim, in indirect form.

2. मज न म्हणा न म्हणा शिंदळी — नाहीं विषम जवळीं आतळलें — don't call me śimḍaḷi — no viṣama came near. The defense-against-misreading: don't call me adulteress; no viṣama (improper) thing came near. The aloneness-with-deva is not adulterous; it is union, not transgression. (Worldly-frame would call this aloneness-with-the-other adulterous; Tukaram defends — deva is the husband.)

3. नव्हती देखिली म्यां वाट — म्हणोनि हा धीट संग केला — I had not seen the path — therefore made this dhīṭa sanga. The boldness-defense: the path I had not seen — therefore I made bold company. The boldness was from path-unfamiliarity, not from impropriety.

4. भेणें मिठी दिधली गळां — सेजे जवळ दडालें — from fear — embrace at the throat — hid near the bed. The fear-embrace claim: embrace given out of fear — hid near the bed. The proximity is from fear-of-the-unfamiliar-path, not desire-only.

5. सलगी धरी पयोधर — साहाती करमुर सवें — payōdhara salagī — karamuru sustained. The intimate-touches sustained. (Salagī — intimate-touch / familiar-touch; karamuru — gentle handling.) The intimate-physical-mode is named, not concealed.

6. आहेव मी गर्भीणपणें — हें सांगणें कां लागे — तुका म्हणे सेवटा नेलें — संपादिलें उभयतां — I am āhēva in garbhīṇa-paṇa — why be told — Tuka says: brought to destination — fulfilled by both together. The closing-claim: I amāhēva(married-with-husband-alive) — in pregnant-state; why need this be told? (= the relationship is established and bearing-fruit; no need to explain.) Brought (me) to the destination; fulfilled byubhayatā(both together). Mutual-completion — both deva and bhakta complete each other.

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For someone today

In this rare bridal-voice abhang, Tukaram speaks as a bride going alone to meet God as her beloved, and insists there is nothing shameful in it: going alone to be close with the divine is not adultery, it is union. Don't apologize for solitary devotion, or for wanting to be close to God with your whole heart. The boldness came from not knowing the way — holding the divine tightly was simply what the unfamiliar path required, not something improper. The closeness itself, the embrace, the intimacy, is spoken of openly here, not hidden away in shame. And in the end neither side stands alone: devotee and God complete each other, each fulfilled through the other, needing no one's permission or explanation.

मराठी: या दुर्मिळ वधू-भावाच्या अभंगात तुकाराम स्वतःला देवाला भेटायला एकटी जाणारी वधू म्हणून वर्णन करतात, आणि ठामपणे सांगतात की यात काहीही लज्जास्पद नाही — देवाजवळ एकटीने जाणे हे व्यभिचार नसून मीलन आहे. एकांतातील भक्तीबद्दल किंवा देवाशी मनापासून जवळीक साधण्याबद्दल क्षमा मागण्याची गरज नाही. हे धाडस वाट माहीत नसल्यामुळे आले — अनोळखी वाटेवर देवाला घट्ट धरून ठेवणे ही गरज होती, अयोग्यता नव्हे. इथे जवळीक — आलिंगन, आत्मीयता — उघडपणे सांगितली आहे, लपवलेली किंवा लाजिरवाणी नाही. आणि शेवटी दोघेही एकमेकांवाचून अपूर्ण नाहीत — भक्त आणि देव एकमेकांना पूर्ण करतात, कोणाच्याही परवानगीची किंवा स्पष्टीकरणाची गरज न पडता.

Where this applies

• Aloneness with deva is not adulterous. Bridal-mystic defense.
• Boldness from path-unfamiliarity. Navigational-necessity.
• Intimacy named openly. No concealment.
• Mutual-completion. Bilateral-fulfillment.

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