Abhanga 385

Openly naming your own faults, rather than hiding them, is what opens the door for the divine presence to become real to you.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A dōṣa-uccāra-makes-deva-manifest abhang. Four claims:

1. मागें सांडोनि सकळ बोभाट — वंदीं पदांबुजें ठेवुनि ललाट — leaving behind all bōbhāṭa — vande the padāmbuja with lalāṭa. The opening-act: leave behind all clamor (bōbhāṭa); salute (vande) the lotus-feet, placing the forehead. Bow with the lalāṭa-on-padāmbuja.

2. कोठें आड आली हे देहबुद्धी — धांवा आळवीं करुणा कृपानिधी — where did this dehabuddhi obstruct? — call karuṇā, kṛpā-nidhi. The obstacle-claim: somewhere,dehabuddhi(body-thinking) obstructs; (therefore) call outkaruṇā—kṛpā-nidhi(treasury-of-grace). Dehabuddhi is the obstacle; the call is for grace to dissolve it.

3. पहिलें पाहातां तें हरपलें अंग — खुंटली वाट नाहींसें जालें जग — first looking — the anga lost — path closed — the jaga disappeared. The experience-of-bhakti-deepening: upon the first looking, the body is lost; the path is closed; the world disappears. (Compare 379 what was to happen, happened; same world-disappearance register.)

4. केला उच्चार रे घडल्या दोषांचा — जाला प्रगट स्वामी तुकयाचा — uttered the dōṣas committed — made pragaṭa Tuka's svāmī. The closing-mechanism: uttered (publicly / aloud) the dōṣas (faults) committed; (thereupon) Tuka's svāmī was madepragaṭa(manifest). Dōṣa-uccāra is the trigger for deva-pragaṭa.

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For someone today

This verse says that God becomes present through honest confession, not hidden guilt. Tukaram describes bowing quietly, setting aside noise and self-importance, and recognizing that clinging to the body and its concerns is what blocks him from feeling the divine. When that block truly dissolves, the experience can feel disorienting, almost like losing your ordinary sense of self and watching the world fall away, but that is not something to fear; it is a sign of real depth. The turning point comes when he openly names his own faults out loud, because it is the act of speaking them, not hiding them, that lets the divine presence become visible.

मराठी: ही ओवी सांगते की देव लपवलेल्या अपराधीपणातून नव्हे, तर मनापासून केलेल्या प्रामाणिक कबुलीतून प्रकट होतो. तुकाराम सांगतात की सगळा गोंधळ आणि अहंकार मागे टाकून नम्रपणे लीन व्हावे, आणि देहाशी असलेली आसक्तीच देवाचा अनुभव अडवते हे ओळखावे. ही आसक्ती खरोखर विरघळते तेव्हा कधी कधी स्वतःचे भानच हरवल्यासारखे आणि जग नाहीसे झाल्यासारखे वाटते, पण त्याला घाबरण्याचे कारण नाही, ती खोल भक्तीची खूण आहे. खरा वळणबिंदू तेव्हा येतो जेव्हा माणूस आपले दोष उघडपणे, मोठ्याने कबूल करतो, कारण ते लपवण्याने नाही तर बोलून दाखवण्यानेच देव प्रकट होतो.

Where this applies

• Bow with lalāṭa-on-padāmbuja. Entry-act.
• Dehabuddhi obstructs. Call grace.
• Angalost,jaga disappears. Bhakti-depth.
• Dōṣa-uccāramakes thesvāmīpragaṭa. Confession-mechanism.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2467 — What looks like your whole world, like a fig to the insect living inside it, is only a tin
• Abhanga 4481 — Tukaram promises that sincerely calling on the Lord's name, knowingly or unknowingly, with
• Abhanga 4482 — Tukaram teaches that no ritual equals sincerely speaking the Lord's name, that self-center
• Abhanga 4497 — Tukaram describes a life so soaked in devotion that Krishna's presence fills every ordinar