Abhanga 525
Genuine devotion lets you openly lament feeling forgotten while still asking, in vulnerable trust, for whatever blocks the connection to be removed.
The verse
भक्तिप्रतिपाळे दीन वो वत्सळे । विठ्ठले कृपाळे होसी माये ॥१॥ पडिला विसर माझा काय गुणें । कपाळ हें उणें काय करूं ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे माझें जाळूनि संचित । करीं वो उचित भेट देई ॥३॥
Literal translation
Bhakti-pratipāḷē, dīna-vatsaḷē — Viṭṭhalē kṛpāḷē — You are māye. Visara of me — by what guṇa? — uṇē kapāḷa — what to do? Tuka says: burn my samcita — make ucita — give bhēṭa.
मराठी: भक्तिप्रतिपाळे दीन वो वत्सळे — विठ्ठले कृपाळे होसी माये. पडिला विसर माझा काय गुणें — कपाळ हें उणें काय करूं?. तुकाराम म्हणतां — जाळूनि संचित — करीं वो उचित भेट देई.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| भक्तिप्रतिपाळे दीन वो वत्सळे | "bhakti-pratipāḷē — dīna-vatsaḷē" |
| विठ्ठले कृपाळे होसी माये | "Viṭṭhalē — kṛpāḷē — māye" |
| पडिला विसर माझा काय गुणें | "visara — by what guṇa?" |
| कपाळ हें उणें काय करूं | "uṇē kapāḷa — what to do?" |
| माझें जाळूनि संचित | "burn — my samcita" |
| करीं वो उचित भेट देई | "make ucita — give bhēṭa" |
What it means
A short forgotten-by-Viṭṭhalē-mother-burn-samcita-give-bhēṭa abhang. Continues the Viṭhā-bāī / Viṭṭhalē feminine-recoding (cf. 0514). Three claims:
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भक्तिप्रतिपाळे दीन वो वत्सळे — विठ्ठले कृपाळे होसी माये — bhakti-pratipāḷē — dīna-vatsaḷē — Viṭṭhalē kṛpāḷē — māye. The opening-invocation: bhakti-pratipāḷē (sustainer-of-devotion);dīna-vatsaḷē(loving-the-lowly); Viṭṭhalē—kṛpāḷē(compassionate-mother-Viṭṭhal); You aremāye(mother). Viṭṭhal-as-feminine-mother-protector. Continued from 0514'sViṭhā-bāī.
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पडिला विसर माझा काय गुणें — कपाळ हें उणें काय करूं — visara — by what guṇa? — uṇē kapāḷa — what to do? The forgotten-complaint: thevisara(forgetting) of me haspaḍilā(fallen, occurred); by whatguṇa(cause, quality)? kapāḷa (forehead = fate, destiny)isuṇē(deficient, lacking); what to do? I-have-been-forgotten-by-You-and-I-don't-know-why; my-fate-is-deficient. Lament-of-being-forgotten.
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तुका म्हणे माझें जाळूनि संचित — करीं वो उचित भेट देई — Tuka says: burn my samcita — make ucita — give bhēṭa. The closing-petition: Tuka says: burn (jāḷūnī) mysamcita(accumulated-karma); makeucita(fitting, appropriate); givebhēṭa(meeting, encounter). Burn-the-samcita-and-meet-me. Thesamcitais what blocks-the-meeting; let-it-be-burned. (Compare 0380's sañcita-āṇiyēlē-tēṇē: there, the sañcita brought the bhakta to the deva; here, the samcita is what-blocks-the-meeting and must be burned.)
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For someone today
When you feel forgotten, this verse gives you permission to say so honestly rather than pretend everything is fine. Tukaram addresses Vitthal not as a distant king but as a loving, compassionate mother, and then openly asks why he has been forgotten, blaming his own deficient fortune rather than accusing God of neglect. His closing request is simple and vulnerable, asking that whatever accumulated burden stands between them be burned away so a real meeting can happen. It shows that devotion can hold both lament and trust at the same time, without needing to resolve into certainty first.
मराठी: आपल्याला विसरल्यासारखं वाटतं, तेव्हा ही ओवी मनातलं दुःख प्रामाणिकपणे मांडायची परवानगी देते, सगळं ठीक आहे असं भासवण्याऐवजी. तुकाराम विठ्ठलाला दूरच्या राजासारखं नाही, तर प्रेमळ आणि करुणामयी आईसारखं संबोधतात, आणि मग स्पष्टपणे विचारतात की आपण का विसरले गेलो, यासाठी देवाला दोष न देता स्वतःच्या उणिवेला जबाबदार धरतात. त्यांची शेवटची मागणी साधी आणि हळवी आहे — आपल्यामधला साचलेला अडथळा जाळून टाक, म्हणजे खरी भेट घडेल. यातून दिसतं की भक्तीमध्ये गार्हाणं आणि विश्वास दोन्ही एकाच वेळी असू शकतात, आधी सगळं स्पष्ट व्हायची गरज नसते.
Where this applies
- Viṭṭhalē māye. Mother-recoding.
- Why-the-visara? Honest-lament.
- Uṇē kapāḷa. Karmic-deficiency.
- Burn samcita — give bhēṭa. Deva-burns.