Abhanga 512

You do not need polish or perfection to be close to God; honest, unashamed devotion and simple caretaking matter more than performance, and like a mother with a child, lateness or worry is never held against you.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A bhakta-band-as-noisy-children-with-Gopāḷa abhang. The bāḷē-Gopāḷa-sanga image: the bhaktas as the cowherd-children of Vṛndāvana playing with Kṛṣṇa. Four claims:

1. केली कटकट गाऊं नाचों नेणतां — लाज नाहीं भय आम्हां पोटाची चिंता — made kaṭa-kaṭa — singing-dancing without knowing — no lajjā — no bhaya — pōṭa-cintā. The opening-confession: we madekaṭa-kaṭa(chatter, commotion) — singing-dancing without knowing; nolajjā(shame) — nobhaya(fear) — ourpōṭa-cintā(belly-worry). No-skill-no-shame-no-fear-but-we-have-belly-worry. The candid-bhakta-confession: not pretending sainthood; the bhaktas are noisy-children with belly-worries.

2. बैसा सिणलेती पाय रगडूं दातारा — जाणवूं द्या वारा उब जाली शरीरा — sit — siṇalētī — feet ragaḍūm — dātāra — let me feel vāyu — uba jālī śarīra. The intimate-service-claim: sit (baisā) — You are tired (siṇalētī); let meragaḍūm(massage, knead) the feet,dātāra(giver); let me feel (jāṇavūm dyā) thevāyu(breeze, breath); the body hasuba jālī(warmed). Foot-massage-and-cooling-the-warm-body. The bhakta-as-attendant-after-the-deva's-tiredness.

3. उशिरा उशीर किती काय म्हणावा — जननिये बाळका कोप कांहीं न धरावा — how late is late — what to say — jananī-bāḷaka — don't hold kōpa. The jananī-bāḷaka-claim: how late is late, what to say? — betweenjananī(mother) andbāḷaka(child) —kōpa(anger) shouldn't be held. Mother-child-relationship-doesn't-hold-anger-over-lateness. The deva-as-mother-doesn't-resent-the-late-child.

4. तुझिये संगतीं येऊं करूं कोल्हाळ — तुका म्हणे बाळें अवघीं मिळोन गोपाळ — Your samgati — kollāḷa — Tuka says: all bāḷē together — Gopāḷa. The closing-companionship-claim: let us come in Yoursamgati(companionship) — makekollāḷa(playful-uproar, noise-of-children-at-play); Tuka says: allbāḷē(children) —miḷōna(gathered); Gopāḷa. All-the-bhakta-children-gathered-with-Kṛṣṇa-the-cowherd.

[T]

For someone today

Tukaram admits that he and his fellow devotees are not skilled singers or dancers, and he isn't ashamed to say so, or to admit their worship is tangled up with ordinary worries like feeding their families. He doesn't pretend to be a perfect saint; instead he offers to sit God down, massage tired feet, and let the breeze cool a body that has grown warm, treating devotion as intimate, everyday care rather than a performance. He compares the bond between devotee and God to that of mother and child, where a mother never holds anger against a child who arrives late. In the end he pictures all the devotees as children gathered around Gopal, making their joyful, noisy racket together in his company.

मराठी: तुकाराम कबूल करतात की ते आणि त्यांचे सोबती काही कुशल गाणारे किंवा नाचणारे नाहीत, आणि याची त्यांना लाज वाटत नाही — पोटाची चिंता बाळगणारी सामान्य माणसंच आहेत ते. परिपूर्ण संत असल्याचा आव न आणता, ते देवाला बसवून थकलेले पाय चेपण्याची आणि गरम झालेल्या शरीराला वारा घालण्याची तयारी दाखवतात — भक्ती म्हणजे देखावा नव्हे, तर जवळची, रोजची काळजी असते. आई आणि मुलाच्या नात्याप्रमाणे ते देव आणि भक्ताचं नातं मांडतात — उशीर झाला तरी आई मुलावर रागावत नाही. शेवटी सर्व भक्त गोपाळाभोवती जमलेल्या मुलांसारखे एकत्र मिळून आनंदाने गोंगाट करतात, असं चित्र ते रंगवतात.

Where this applies

• When you feel unqualified or embarrassed because your effort or prayer isn't polished.
• When you arrive late or distracted and worry it will damage a close relationship.
• When you want to care for someone tired through something small and hands-on, like a foot massage.
• When you're part of a group and want closeness to feel playful and warm rather than formal.

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