Abhanga 533
The one who gives or carries something good does not always know its sweetness the way the one who receives it, in love, comes to know it.
The verse
कमोदिनी काय जाणे तो परिमळ । भ्रमर सकळ भोगीतसे ॥१॥ तैसें तुज ठावें नाहीं तुझें नाम । आम्ही च तें प्रेमसुख जाणों ॥ध्रु.॥ माते तृण बाळा दुधाची ते गोडी । ज्याची नये जोडी त्यासी कामा ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे मुक्ताफळ शिंपीपोटीं । नाहीं त्याची भेटी भोग तिये ॥३॥
Literal translation
Kamōdinī — does it know parimaḷa? — bhramara enjoys all. Thus — You don't know — Your nāma — we alone — know — prema-sukha. Mother — grass; child — milk's gōḍī. Joḍī not — not kāmā. Tuka says: muktāphaḷa in śimpī's belly — no bhēṭa — no bhōga.
मराठी: कमोदिनी काय जाणे तो परिमळ — भ्रमर सकळ भोगीतसे. तैसें तुज ठावें नाहीं तुझें नाम — आम्ही च तें प्रेमसुख जाणों. माते तृण बाळा दुधाची ते गोडी — ज्याची नये जोडी त्यासी कामा. तुकाराम म्हणतां — मुक्ताफळ शिंपीपोटीं — नाहीं त्याची भेटी भोग तिये.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| कमोदिनी काय जाणे तो परिमळ | "kamōdinī — knows parimaḷa?" |
| भ्रमर सकळ भोगीतसे | "bhramara — enjoys all" |
| तैसें तुज ठावें नाहीं तुझें नाम | "thus — You — don't know — Your nāma" |
| आम्ही च तें प्रेमसुख जाणों | "we alone — know — prema-sukha" |
| माते तृण बाळा दुधाची ते गोडी | "mother — grass; child — milk's gōḍī" |
| ज्याची नये जोडी त्यासी कामा | "joḍī not — not kāmā" |
| मुक्ताफळ शिंपीपोटीं | "muktāphaḷa — śimpī's belly" |
| नाहीं त्याची भेटी भोग तिये | "no bhēṭa — no bhōga" |
What it means
A famous lotus-doesn't-know-its-fragrance-only-bhakta-knows-the-deva's-nāma abhang. One of the most-celebrated Tukaram-images. Three claims with four matching analogies:
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कमोदिनी काय जाणे तो परिमळ — भ्रमर सकळ भोगीतसे — kamōdinī — knows parimaḷa? — bhramara enjoys all. The opening-image: thekamōdinī(lotus) — does it know its ownparimaḷa(fragrance)? (No.) Thebhramara(bee) enjoys all (the fragrance). Source-doesn't-know-its-own-quality; receiver-enjoys.
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तैसें तुज ठावें नाहीं तुझें नाम — आम्ही च तें प्रेमसुख जाणों — thus — You don't know Your nāma — we alone know prema-sukha. The theological-claim: thus — You don'tṭhāvē(know, are-aware-of) Your ownnāma; we alone (āmhī-cī) know thatprema-sukha(love-joy of the nāma). The deva-doesn't-experience-the-prema-sukha-of-His-own-nāma; the bhakta does. Bhakta-knows-better-than-deva-about-the-nāma's-effect. (This is one of the boldest claims in bhakti-theology: the source-of-the-name doesn't-know what the name-does to the bhakta.)
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माते तृण बाळा दुधाची ते गोडी — ज्याची नये जोडी त्यासी कामा — तुका म्हणे मुक्ताफळ शिंपीपोटीं — नाहीं त्याची भेटी भोग तिये — mother grass — child milk-gōḍī — joḍī not — not kāmā — pearl in oyster's belly — no bhēṭa no bhōga. The triple-analogy-closing: to the mother (cow) — grass; to the child (calf or human-child) — the milk'sgōḍī(sweetness); to the one who can't get thejoḍī(pairing, encounter, joining), it is notkāmā(of-use); Tuka says: themuktāphaḷa(pearl) in theśimpī's (oyster's) belly — has nobhēṭa(meeting) with it — nobhōga(enjoyment). Three-fold pattern: source-doesn't-enjoy-what-receiver-enjoys (mother-cow doesn't taste milk; oyster doesn't enjoy pearl; deva doesn't know His own nāma's prema-sukha). Asymmetric-relationship-of-source-and-receiver.
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For someone today
Tukaram uses a simple image: the lotus does not know its own fragrance, it is the bee who enjoys it fully. In the same way, he says, God does not experience the sweetness his own name carries; it is the devotee who tastes that joy through love. A mother's body makes the milk, but it is the child who knows its sweetness, and the oyster carries a pearl inside it without ever meeting or enjoying it. Sometimes the one who receives something knows its worth better than the one who made or gave it.
मराठी: तुकाराम एक साधी उपमा देतात, कमळाला स्वतःच्या सुगंधाची जाणीव नसते, तो सुगंध भ्रमरच पुरेपूर उपभोगतो. त्याचप्रमाणे देवालाही आपल्याच नामाची गोडी कळत नाही, ती गोडी भक्तच प्रेमाने अनुभवतो. गाईच्या दुधाची खरी गोडी वासराला किंवा बाळाला कळते, आईला नाही, आणि शिंपल्यात मोती असूनही शिंपल्याला त्याचा उपभोग घेता येत नाही. कधीकधी एखादी गोष्ट देणाऱ्यापेक्षा ती घेणाऱ्यालाच तिचं खरं मोल अधिक कळतं.
Where this applies
- Lotus doesn't know fragrance. Source-blind.
- You don't know Your nāma. Bhakta-better-knows.
- Cow-grass; child-milk. Source-receiver-asymmetric.
- Pearl-in-oyster — no bhēṭa. Three-fold-pattern.