संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 376 of 4582

Abhanga 376

After a real meeting with the divine, turn that feeling into steady service, let love push worldly worry aside, and treat the sweetness of the moment as something that will never come again.

When the bhēṭa with Govinda has happened — and you have to recognize this register
When no laukika-smaraṇa, only love-and-rasa — and you accept this absorption
When this day does not return — and you receive this irrevocability

The verse

व्हावी भेटी ते जाली गोविंदासीं । आतां सेवा करीन निश्चयेसीं वो ॥१॥ येथें आड मज न साहावे वारा । देऊनि कपाट आलें तें दुसरें वारा वो ॥ध्रु.॥ नाहीं लौकिक स्मरला आवडी । आता येणें काळें या वो लोभें वेडी वो ॥२॥ धरिये गोडी बहुत आला रस । तुका म्हणे हा मागुता न ये दिवस वो ॥३॥

Literal translation

The bhēṭa with Govinda has happened — now I will do sevā with niścaya. Here in the āḍa — I cannot bear the vāra — gave the kapāṭa, another wind came. No laukika-smaraṇa — only āvaḍī — at this kāḷavēḍī with lōbha. Held gōḍī — much rasa came. Tuka says: this divasa — does not come back.

मराठी: व्हावी भेटी ते जाली गोविंदासीं — आतां सेवा करीन निश्चयेसीं. येथें आड मज न साहावे वारा — देऊनि कपाट आलें तें दुसरें वारा. नाहीं लौकिक स्मरला आवडी — आता येणें काळें या लोभें वेडी. धरिये गोडी बहुत आला रस. तुकाराम म्हणतां — हा मागुता न ये दिवस.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
व्हावी भेटी ते जाली गोविंदासीं "the bhēṭa — with Govinda — has happened"
आतां सेवा करीन निश्चयेसीं वो "now I will do sevā — with niścaya"
येथें आड मज न साहावे वारा "here — in the āḍa — I cannot bear the vāra (wind)"
देऊनि कपाट आलें तें दुसरें वारा वो "gave the kapāṭa (door / shelter) — another wind came"
नाहीं लौकिक स्मरला आवडी "no laukika-smaraṇa — only āvaḍī"
आता येणें काळें या वो लोभें वेडी वो "at this kāḷa (time) — vēḍī (mad) — for lōbha (love)"
धरिये गोडी बहुत आला रस "held gōḍī — much rasa came"
हा मागुता न ये दिवस वो "this divasa — does not come back"

What it means

A post-bhēṭa with Govinda abhang. Likely continuation of the bridal-mystic register (cf. 375). Four claims:

  1. व्हावी भेटी ते जाली गोविंदासीं — आतां सेवा करीन निश्चयेसींthe bhēṭa with Govinda has happened — now I will do sevā with niścaya. The opening-claim: the bhēṭa (meeting / encounter) with Govinda has happened;now I will do sevā with niścaya (resolved-firmness).Post-bhēṭa, the resolved-sevā.

  2. येथें आड मज न साहावे वारा — देऊनि कपाट आलें तें दुसरें वाराhere in the āḍa — I cannot bear the wind — gave the kapāṭa, another wind came. The wind-image — somewhat-obscure but suggestive: in the obstruction (āḍa), I can't bear the (one) wind; gave the kapāṭa (door / shelter); another wind came. (One reading: the deva became theāḍa(= 354deva āḍa jālā);the worldly-wind I can't bear; the deva sheltered me; another (different, deva-sent) wind comes.)

  3. नाहीं लौकिक स्मरला आवडी — आता येणें काळें या लोभें वेडीno laukika-smaraṇa, only āvaḍī — at this kāḷa, vēḍī with lōbha. The love-absorption claim: no remembrance of laukika (worldly things)onlyāvaḍī(preference / love) for the deva; at this time,vēḍī(mad) withlōbha(intense-love / longing). The worldly-displacement by love.

  4. धरिये गोडी बहुत आला रस — तुका म्हणे हा मागुता न ये दिवसheld gōḍī — much rasa came — Tuka says: this day doesn't come back. The closing-irrevocability claim: much rasa came; held gōḍī (sweetness); this day does not return. The moment-of-bhēṭa-and-rasa is once-only-irrevocable; don't waste it.

[T]

For someone today

Tukaram describes what comes right after a deep meeting with God: he does not want to simply savor the memory, he wants it to turn into steady, resolved service. He speaks of being sheltered from a hard wind, worldly pressure and distraction, as though a door had been given to him, and even when a different gust comes afterward, he trusts it as something sent with grace rather than harm. In that state he says ordinary, everyday concerns no longer come to mind at all; he is swept up, almost mad, with love and sweetness. He closes with a plain warning: this particular day of closeness will never come again, so do not waste it on small things.

मराठी: देवाशी झालेल्या खोल भेटीनंतर काय घडतं, ते तुकाराम इथे सांगतात. ती भेट फक्त आठवण म्हणून जपण्याऐवजी, ते तिचं रूपांतर ठाम आणि निश्चयी सेवेत करू इच्छितात. एका कठीण वाऱ्यापासून आपल्याला आसरा मिळाल्याचं, जणू कुणी दार देऊन सांभाळल्याचं ते सांगतात, आणि नंतर वेगळा वारा आला तरी तो कृपेनेच आलेला आहे असा विश्वास ते ठेवतात. त्या अवस्थेत रोजची, सांसारिक काळजी मनातही येत नाही असं ते म्हणतात; प्रेमाच्या आणि गोडीच्या भरात ते जणू वेडे होऊन जातात. शेवटी एक साधा इशारा देतात, हा जवळिकीचा दिवस पुन्हा येणार नाही, म्हणून तो लहानसहान गोष्टींत वाया घालवू नका.

Where this applies

Related verses