Abhanga 499

Once you trust that you are truly protected, every fear shrinks to the size of a mosquito and you can finally set your worry down.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A deva-took-me-up-now-on-elephant-head abhang. Triumphal-fearlessness register. The hastīvarī māthā (on the elephant's head) is the iconic Maharashtra-image of being-elevated-above-all-troubles (the elephant-rider is above all reach). Four claims:

1. केला अंगीकार पंढरीच्या देवें — आतां काय करिती काळ मशक मानवें — Pandharī-deva did angīkāra — now what can kāḷa-maśaka-mānava do? The opening-claim: thePandharī-deva(Viṭṭhal) haskēlā angīkāra(taken-me-up, embraced); now what cankāḷa(Time, Death),maśaka(mosquito = trifling-troubles),mānava(human-enemies) do? Three-categories-of-troubles-rendered-impotent. Note the kāḷa-maśaka belittlement: equating Time/Death with a mosquito.

2. घातलीं बाहेर तीं भय होतें ज्यानें — बैसला आपण तेथें घालुनियां ठाणें — threw out those of whom there was bhaya — He himself sat there planting ṭhāṇa. The substitution-claim: those of whom there wasbhaya(fear) — He hasghātalīm bāhēra(thrown out); He Himself hasbaisalā(sat)tēthēm(there) —ghālunīyām ṭhāṇa(planting His position / encampment). The deva ousted the fear-causers and took their place.

3. लागों नेदी वारा दुजियाचा अंगासी — हा पुरता निर्धार कळों आला आम्हांसी — doesn't let the vāra of dujīyā touch the anga — this firm nirdhāra has come to us. The protection-claim: He doesn't let thevāra(wind, breeze, influence) ofdujīyā(another, an other) touch theanga(body); thispuratā nirdhāra(firm / complete certitude) haskaḷōm ālā(come-to-be-known) to us. Even-the-wind-of-another-cannot-touch.

4. म्हणे तुकयाबंधु न लगे करावी चिंता — कोणेविशीं आतां बैसलों हस्तीवरी माथां — Tukyā-bamdhu says: no need to do cintā — I have sat on the elephant's head. The closing-image: no need to docintā(worry) about anything; I have sat on thehastī-māthā(elephant's head). Elephant-rider-above-all-trouble. The cintā has been left below; the bhakta is elevated.

[T]

For someone today

Once you truly know you are held and protected, even time, death, and human threats lose their power to frighten you, they shrink down to the size of a mosquito. Wherever fear used to live, that same protection now stands guard in its place, so nothing else can touch you or throw you off course. This certainty is not a fragile hope but a settled, firm conviction. Like someone riding high on an elephant's head, you can set your worry down completely and move through life above the reach of everyday trouble.

मराठी: एकदा तुम्हाला खरोखर कळले की तुम्ही सांभाळले आणि रक्षिले जात आहात, की काळ, मृत्यू आणि माणसांची भीती सुद्धा तुम्हाला घाबरवू शकत नाही, ती डासाइतकी क्षुल्लक होऊन जाते. जिथे आधी भीती वस्ती करून होती, तिथे आता तेच रक्षण उभे राहते, त्यामुळे दुसरे काहीही तुम्हाला स्पर्श करू शकत नाही किंवा तुमचा मार्ग बदलू शकत नाही. ही खात्री कच्ची आशा नसून एक स्थिर, ठाम विश्वास आहे. हत्तीच्या डोक्यावर बसलेल्या माणसाप्रमाणे तुम्ही आपली चिंता पूर्णपणे खाली सोडून रोजच्या त्रासांच्या पोहोचेपलीकडे जगू शकता.

Where this applies

• Angīkāra—kāḷa-maśaka-mānava trivial. Belittlement.
• Deva substitutes for fear-causers. Ṭhāṇa-substitution.
• No vāra of dujīyā. Total-protection.
• Elephant-head — no cintā. Triumphal-image.

Related verses

• 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
• Abhanga 2497 — For today: no travel-expense, body-mocked; daily Rāma Rāma — all say ; mouth without Rāma