Abhanga 389

An obstacle can turn out to be a real meeting, and what arrives today is the fruit of everything that came before it, so it isn't worth regretting.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A Krishna-as-gate-blocker-demanding-dāna abhang. Five claims:

1. जाला पानसरा मिठी घातली पदरा — आधीं दान माझें सारा मग चाला पंथें — became pansarā — embraced the padara — first give dāna, then go pamtha. The opening-scene: Krishna becomes a gate-blocker (pansarā); grabs the corner of the gōpī's pallu (padara); demands dāna (gift / toll) before letting her pass. (The dāna-līlā — Krishna-as-toll-collector trope.)

2. सर जाऊं दे परता — मुळीं भेटलासी आतां — नाट लागलें संचिता — खेपा खुंटलिया — let me pass — at the root you have met — nāṭa on sañcita, khēpā closed. The gōpī's reply: let me pass aside; (yet) at the very root (mūḷī) You have now met me; thenāṭa(drama) is fixed in thesañcita;the khēpā (regular rounds, repetitive cycles) have closed.The meeting was sañcita-fixed.

3. आलों गेलों बहु वेळां नेणों गोरा कीं सांवळा — सर परता गोवळा काय बोलतोसी — came-went many times — didn't know fair or dark — pass aside, gōvaḷā, what are you saying? The protest: we have come-gone many times without recognizing the fair or dark; pass aside, cowherd, what are you saying?

4. बोलिल्या हांसुनी आम्ही सासुरवासिनी — कां रे झोंबसी दुरूनी करी मात कांहीं — we sāsurvāsanyā joke as said — why grasp from far — say something. The married-women's-banter: wesāsurvāsanyā(women living in their husband's house) joke as it is said; why are You grasping from afar? — talk something out loud.

5. जडला जिव्हारीं फांकों नेदी तया नारी — जेथें वर्म तें धरी जाऊं पाहे तियेचें — stuck in the heart-core — gives no flutter to that woman — where the varma — that woman holds — going where pleases. The deeper-claim: Krishna isstuck in the jīvhāra (heart-core)of (one) woman — gives no fluttering; where thevarma(secret-essence) is — that woman holds — and goes where she pleases. The deepest gōpī holds the varma; she is the actual sovereign of the meeting.

6. तुका म्हणे खंती वांयां न धरावी चित्तीं — होतें तुमच्या संचितीं वोडवलें आजि — Tuka says: don't keep khamtī in citta — was in your sañcita, arose today. The closing-consolation: don't keep regret in the citta in vain; (this meeting / encounter) was in your sañcita and arose today. The encounter is sañcita-fruit, not chance.

[T]

For someone today

Tukaram pictures Krishna blocking the path like a toll collector, demanding a gift before he will let a woman pass, and she banters back without fear, teasing him in return. Even in that push and pull, she recognizes that being stopped is itself a kind of meeting, not just an obstacle to get past. The verse suggests that the deepest bond belongs to whoever truly holds the relationship's real secret, not everyone in the crowd, just the one whose attachment is genuine. And the closing line offers real comfort: don't sit with regret over an encounter or a turn of events, because whatever comes to you today has been building in you all along; it isn't random.

मराठी: तुकाराम इथे कृष्णाला जकातदारासारखे वाटेत उभे राहून, पुढे जाऊ देण्याआधी काहीतरी अर्पण मागणारा दाखवतात, आणि स्त्री न घाबरता, खोचकपणे उलट उत्तर देते. या हास्यविनोदातही ती हे ओळखते की अडवले जाणे हीच एक प्रकारची भेट आहे, नुसता अडथळा नाही. ओवी असेही सुचवते की खरा जिव्हाळा त्या एकाच व्यक्तीचा असतो जिच्याकडे नात्याचे खरे रहस्य असते, गर्दीतल्या प्रत्येकाचा नाही, ज्याची ओढ खरीखुरी आहे तिचाच. आणि शेवटची ओळ खरा दिलासा देते: कुठल्याही भेटीचा किंवा घडलेल्या गोष्टीचा पश्चात्ताप करत बसू नका, कारण आज जे तुमच्याकडे येते ते आधीपासून तुमच्यात साचत आलेले आहे, ते काही योगायोगाने घडलेले नाही.

Where this applies

• When something unexpected blocks your path and you're tempted to see it only as an annoyance
• When an obstacle in your life actually turns into a meaningful encounter
• When you regret how something happened instead of trusting it was building for a long time
• When you're the only one in a group who truly understands the depth of a relationship or moment

Related verses

• Abhanga 2481 — Pandharpur surpasses even the greatest pilgrimage cities because people there set aside pr
• 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 4483 — Tukaram tells of the gopis whose all-consuming secret longing for Krishna, hidden beneath