Abhanga 513

When abundance arrives, set aside a share for God first; once you are truly satisfied, the restless clamor of wanting more falls silent.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A harvest-ripe-final-dāna-Nārāyaṇa-shared-stomach-filled abhang. Agricultural-bhakti register. The pīka-pikalē and bhāga-ālā Nārāyaṇa images come from the rural-Maharashtra harvest-cycle: when the harvest ripens, the deva claims His share. Four claims:

1. कळस वाहियेला शिरीं — सहस्रनामें पूजा करीं — kalaśa lifted on head — pūjā with sahasra-nāma. The opening-claim: thekalaśa(water-pot, the spire-of-the-temple, the highest-point) is lifted (vāhiyēlā) on the head; I dopūjāwithsahasra-nāma(the thousand-names recital). Crowned-pūjā-with-thousand-names.

2. पीक पिकलें पिकलें — घन दाटोनियां आलें — pīka ripe-ripe — ghana gathered came. The harvest-ready-claim: thepīka(harvest, crop) ispikalē-pikalē(ripe-ripe, doubly-ripe); theghana(clouds, dense-mass) havedāṭōnīyām(crowded, gathered) and come. Ripe-harvest-with-clouds-coming. Both the harvest and the rain-clouds have arrived together.

3. शेवटीचें दान — भागा आला नारायण — the final dāna — Nārāyaṇa came to bhāga. The deva-shares-the-harvest-claim: theśevaṭīcē dāna(final gift, the last-share-after-the-harvest); Nārāyaṇa has come tobhāga(His share, His portion). The agricultural-rule: when the harvest is in, the deva comes for His share. Deva-as-shareholder-of-the-harvest.

4. तुका म्हणे पोट — भरलें वारले बोभाट — Tuka says: stomach — filled — bōbhāṭa ceased. The closing-satiation-claim: Tuka says: thepōṭa(stomach) isbharalē(filled); thebōbhāṭa(commotion, clamor, hue-and-cry) isvāralē(ceased). Belly-full-noise-stopped. When-the-belly-is-full-the-noise-ceases.

[T]

For someone today

Tukaram draws on the rhythm of harvest time: the crop has ripened fully and the rain clouds have gathered too, a moment of abundance arriving all at once. He lifts the sacred pot in worship, reciting God's thousand names, and then sets aside the final share of the harvest for Nārāyaṇa, the way a farmer always keeps something back for the divine before claiming the rest. Once that share is given and the stomach is truly full, the noise and complaint stop, because real contentment quiets the clamor that hunger and want create. When life brings you abundance, give some of it back before you claim it all for yourself, and let actual fulfillment, not just having more, be what settles you.

मराठी: तुकाराम शेतीच्या हंगामाची लय वापरतात: पीक पूर्ण पिकलं आहे आणि पावसाचे ढगही दाटून आले आहेत — विपुलतेचा एक क्षण एकाच वेळी येतो. ते डोक्यावर कळस घेऊन पूजा करतात, सहस्रनामांचा जप करतात, आणि मग हंगामाचा शेवटचा वाटा नारायणासाठी बाजूला ठेवतात — जसा शेतकरी नेहमी स्वतःसाठी घेण्याआधी देवासाठी काहीतरी राखून ठेवतो. तो वाटा दिल्यानंतर आणि पोट खरोखर भरल्यावर, तक्रार आणि गोंगाट थांबतो — कारण खरं समाधान भूक आणि हावेतून येणारा कोलाहल शांत करतं. जेव्हा आयुष्य तुम्हाला विपुलता देतं, तेव्हा सगळं स्वतःसाठी ठेवण्याआधी त्यातला काही भाग परत द्या, आणि नुसतं जास्त मिळणं नव्हे तर खरं समाधानच तुम्हाला स्थिर करू द्या.

Where this applies

• Kalaśa+sahasra-nāma. Crowning-pūjā.
• Pīka+ghana together. Confluence.
• Bhāga for Nārāyaṇa. Don't-withhold.
• Belly-full → noise-ceased. Satiation.

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