Abhanga 527

Approach the divine like a small child with a loving mother, unashamed to beg, fully trusting, and unafraid to cry and fuss because that tenderness will be met with care.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A bhakta-as-pampered-child-Viṭṭhalē-mother abhang. Continues the Viṭṭhalē-māye register from 0514 / 0525. Five claims:

1. पढियंतें आम्ही तुजपाशीं मागावें — जीवींचें सांगावें हितगुज — practiced — beg from You — speak heart's hita-guja. The opening-claim: we have practiced (paḍhīmta) begging from You; speak the heart'shita-guja(good-secret, secret-of-the-heart's-good). Practice-and-disclose.

2. पाळसील लळे दीन वो वत्सले — विठ्ठले कृपाळे जननिये — indulge laḷē — dīna-vatsaḷē — Viṭṭhalē kṛpāḷē jananī. The mother-indulgence-claim: You willpāḷasīla(indulge, accommodate) thelaḷē(childish-tantrums, fond-petulances); dīna-vatsaḷē (loving-the-lowly), Viṭṭhalē kṛpāḷē jananī (compassionate-mother-Viṭṭhal).Mother-indulges-tantrums.

3. जीव भाव तुझ्या ठेवियेला पायीं — तूं चि सर्वा ठायीं एक आम्हां — jīva-bhāva placed at Your feet — You alone everywhere — one for us. The exclusive-placement-claim: jīva-bhāva (life-stance) — placed at Your feet;You alone everywhere — one for us.Exclusive-foundation.

4. दुजियाचा संग लागों नेदीं वारा — नाहीं जात घरा आणिकांच्या — dujīyā-samga vāra — don't let touch — won't go to others' ghara. The exclusivity-claim: don't let thevāra(wind, breeze) ofdujīyā-samga(other-companionship) touch us; we don't go to others'ghara. No-other-home.

5. सर्वसत्ता एकी आहे तुजपाशीं — ठावें आहे देसी मागेन तें — म्हणउनि पुढें मांडियेली आळी — थिंकोनियां चोळी डोळे तुका — sarva-sattā one with You — known — You give what I beg — placing āḷī — sniffles rubs eyes Tuka. The closing-tantrum-image: sarva-sattā (all-power) — one — with You;known: You give what I beg;therefore I have māmḍiyēlī (set-up) the āḷī (childish-tantrum);Tuka thimkōnīyām (sniffling) cōḷī (rubs) the eyes.Bhakta-as-tantrumming-child-sniffling-and-rubbing-eyes.

[T]

For someone today

Tukaram pictures devotion as the bond between a small child and a tender mother. He says he has practiced asking openly and speaking whatever is really on his heart, because he trusts that you, like a loving mother, will indulge even his childish fussing. He has placed his whole trust and life at your feet, and he refuses to let any other company or comfort pull him elsewhere. Because he knows all power rests with you and that you will give him what he asks for, he can drop every pretense of composure, sniffling and rubbing his eyes like a child mid tantrum, sure that this tenderness will be met with more tenderness. The lesson is that real trust lets you stop performing strength and simply ask for what you need.

मराठी: तुकाराम भक्तीला लहान मुलाचे आणि प्रेमळ आईचे नाते म्हणून मांडतात. ते म्हणतात की त्यांनी उघडपणे मागायची आणि मनातलं खरं सांगायची सवय केली आहे, कारण त्यांना खात्री आहे की आई जशी लाडावलेल्या मुलाचे हट्ट पुरवते, तशीच तूही त्यांचा हट्ट पुरवशील. त्यांनी आपला संपूर्ण भाव आणि विश्वास तुझ्या पायाशी ठेवला आहे, आणि दुसऱ्या कोणत्याही सोबतीचा वारा त्यांना स्पर्श करू देत नाहीत. सगळी सत्ता तुझ्याकडेच आहे आणि तू मागेल ते देशील हे माहीत असल्यामुळे, ते कोणताही आव न आणता, मूल हट्ट करताना जसे रडते आणि डोळे चोळते तसे उघडपणे व्यक्त होतात. यातून हा धडा मिळतो की खरा विश्वास असला की माणूस बळकटपणाचा आव न आणता, जे हवं ते थेट मागू शकतो.

Where this applies

• Practiced-begging. Don't-be-shy.
• Mother indulges laḷē. Childish-stance.
• Exclusive-foundation. No-other-home.
• Āḷī-with-sniffles. Tantrum-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 3829 — Pundalika's total devotion to serving his parents was so powerful that God himself stood w
• Abhanga 4080 — True trust removes fear of death and of others' opinions, turns hard effort into joyful pl