Abhanga 528

Do not wait for an auspicious moment to ask for comfort; ask urgently, refuse to be dismissed as unworthy, and hold on like a child gripping a mother's sari so you are not left alone.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A don't-wait-for-tīrtha-tug-the-padara abhang. Continues the Viṭṭhalē-mother / pampered-child register from 0527. Five claims:

1. कोण पर्वकाळ पहासील तीथ — होतें माझें चित्त कासावीस — what parva-kāḷa-tīrtha will You wait for? — citta is kāsāvīsa. The opening-impatience: whatparva-kāḷa(auspicious-time) ortīrtha(sacred-place / occasion) will You wait for?; mycittaiskāsāvīsa(anguished, in agony). Don't-wait-for-the-right-occasion; the-bhakta-is-suffering-now.

2. पाठवीं भातुकें प्रेरीं झडकरी — नको राखों उरी पांडुरंगा — send bhātukēm — prērī jhaḍakarī — don't keep urī Pāṇḍuranga. The send-the-snack-claim: send thebhātukēm(love-snack); prērī jhaḍakarī (press-it-through-quickly, dispatch-it-fast);don't keep urī (reserve, holding-back), Pāṇḍuranga. Send-quick-no-reserve.

3. न धरावा कोप मजवरी कांहीं — अवगुणी अन्यायी म्हणोनियां — don't hold kōpa on me — saying avaguṇī, anyāyī. The don't-label-me-claim: don't holdkōpa(anger) on me; saying I amavaguṇī(faulty),anyāyī(unjust / wrongdoer). Don't-label-me-and-withhold.

4. काय रडवीसी नेणतियां पोरां — जाणतियां थोरां याचिपरी — काय उभी कर ठेवुनियां कटीं — बुझावीं धाकुटीं लडिवाळें — why make unknowing children cry — knowing thōrā same way — why standing — hand on kaṭi — soothe small laḍivāḷa. The complain-to-the-mother-claim: why do You make the unknowing children (= the small bhaktas) cry?; the knowingthōrā(big-bhaktas) are the same way (= they cry too); why are You standing with hand-on-the-waist (the iconic Pandharī-pose, but here re-read as a-mother-not-picking-up-the-child)?; soothe the smalllaḍivāḷa(pampered-children). Re-read-the-Pandharī-pose: hand-on-waist becomes negligence.

5. तुका म्हणे आतां पदरासी पिळा — घालीन निराळा नव्हे मग — Tuka says: now I'll pull the padara — won't be nirāḷā then. The closing-childish-firmness: Tuka says: now I'llpiḷā(pull, pinch, twist) thepadara(sari-corner-end); won't benirāḷā(separated, apart) then. Pulling-the-padara-prevents-separation. The child-image: a child clings to the mother's-sari-corner so she can't move-away. Don't-let-You-move-away-by-tugging-the-padara.

[T]

For someone today

Tukaram runs out of patience with waiting for some auspicious moment or sacred occasion to feel close to the divine, because his heart is already in anguish right now. He asks for comfort to be sent quickly, with nothing held back, and pushes back against being written off as flawed or blamed and then denied for it. He notices that both simple, unknowing devotees and the wise elders suffer the same way when left unattended, so he asks the divine to stop merely standing there and come soothe the ones who are hurting. In the end he pictures himself as a small child grabbing the corner of his mother's sari so she cannot walk away, refusing to let the distance grow. The lesson is that real need does not wait politely for the right time, and that holding on honestly to what sustains you, refusing to be brushed off, is itself an act of devotion.

मराठी: तुकाराम इथे योग्य पर्वकाळ किंवा तीर्थाची वाट पाहण्याचा धीर संपवतात, कारण त्यांचे मन आत्ताच व्याकुळ झाले आहे. ते मागतात की सांत्वन लगेच पाठवावे, काहीही राखून न ठेवता, आणि आपल्याला चुकीचे किंवा अपराधी ठरवून दुर्लक्ष केले जाण्यास नकार देतात. त्यांना दिसते की अजाण मुलेही आणि जाणते मोठे भक्तही, दोघेही दुर्लक्षित राहिल्यावर सारखेच रडतात, म्हणून ते विनवतात की नुसते उभे न राहता प्रत्यक्ष येऊन दुखावलेल्यांना सांभाळावे. शेवटी ते स्वतःला एका लहान मुलासारखे कल्पितात, जे आईच्या पदराचा कोपरा घट्ट धरून ठेवते जेणेकरून ती दूर जाऊ शकणार नाही. यातून हा धडा मिळतो की खरी गरज योग्य वेळेची वाट पाहत नाही, आणि जे आपल्याला तारते त्याला घट्ट धरून ठेवणे, दुर्लक्ष होऊ न देणे, हीच खरी भक्ती आहे.

Where this applies

• Don't wait for tīrtha. Urgent.
• Send bhātukēm fast, no urī. No-delay.
• Refuse avaguṇī label. Don't-withhold.
• Pull the padara. Childish-firmness.

Related verses

• Abhanga 4482 — Tukaram teaches that no ritual equals sincerely speaking the Lord's name, that self-center
• Abhanga 4273 — If your time, money, and attention flow easily to everything except God and genuine goodne
• Abhanga 4486 — Tukaram shows that when God truly enters a place, worry flees and deep understanding can a
• Abhanga 2348 — Sitting in true, wholehearted kathā where God, devotee, and Name meet is itself the highes