Abhanga 576

God responds the instant you call, like a mother's milk letting down for her calf, taking on every form and every hardship to shield you and carry you through.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A famous avatāra-for-us-deva-shields-and-fights abhang. Beautiful list-of-divine-actions register. Five claims:

1. आम्हासाठीं अवतार — मत्स्यकूर्मादि सूकर — for us — avatāra — matsya-kūrma-ādi sūkara. The opening-avatāra-claim: for us —avatāra(incarnations) happen; matsya (fish), kūrma (tortoise), and so on (ādi), sūkara (boar).The avatāra-list is for-us; the deva-becomes-fish-tortoise-boar for the bhakta's-sake.Avatāra-for-bhakta. (Compare 0544bhakti-as-cause-of-avatāra; same theological-claim but here from the action-list angle.)

2. मोहें धांवे घाली पान्हा — नांव घेतां पंढरीराणा — mōhā — runs — pānhā — nāma taken — Pandharī-rāṇā. The runs-with-mother-love-claim: withmōhā(love-affection, motherly-love) — He runs;pānhā ghālī(gives the milk-flow, the cow-letting-down-her-milk-for-the-calf); when thenāmais taken —Pandharī-rāṇā (Pandharī-king).The deva-runs-like-a-mother-cow when the nāma is taken. (Thepānhā image: the cow's-milk-let-down at-her-calf's-call is the perfect-image of immediate-loving-response.)

3. कोठें न दिसे पाहतां — उडी घाली अवचिता — nowhere seen — uḍī ghālī avacita. The suddenly-leaps-in-claim: He cannot be seen anywhere (nowhere seen on looking); (yet) Heuḍī ghālī avacita(suddenly leaps in, springs-in-unexpectedly). Invisible-but-suddenly-appearing.

4. सुख ठेवी आम्हासाठीं — दुःख आपणची घोंटी — आम्हां घाली पाठीकडे — पुढें कळिकाळाशीं भिडे — sukha — keeps — duḥkha — drinks Himself — puts us behind back — fights — kalikāḷa — in front. The exchange-and-shield-claim: He keeps thesukhafor us; drinks theduḥkhaHimself; puts us behind Hispāṭhī(back); fightskalikāḷa(the dark-age) in front.Sukha-for-us, duḥkha-for-Him; bhakta-behind-shielded, deva-fights-in-front.Mother-and-warrior together.

5. तुका म्हणे कृपानीधी — आम्हां उतरीं नांवेमधीं — Tuka says: kṛpā-nidhī — cross us — in nāva. The closing-petition-and-image: Tuka says:kṛpā-nidhī(compassion-treasure); cross us — in Hisnāva(boat). Cross-us-in-Your-boat-of-compassion. Boat-of-deliverance.

[T]

For someone today

Tukaram paints God as a mother who comes running the moment her calf calls, the way a cow's milk lets down instantly at her calf's cry. You cannot find this God by searching for Him with your eyes, yet He leaps in unexpectedly exactly when needed, taking every incarnation, from fish to tortoise to boar, for your sake. He keeps the sweetness for you and swallows the bitterness Himself, standing in front of you to face the hard age while you stay sheltered behind His back. The verse ends as a plea: carry us across in the boat of your compassion.

मराठी: तुकाराम देवाला अशा आईसारखं रंगवतात जी आपल्या वासराच्या हाकेला त्वरित धावून येते, जशी गाईचं दूध वासराच्या हाकेनं लगेच वाहू लागतं. डोळ्यांनी शोधून हा देव सापडत नाही, पण गरज असेल तेव्हा तो अनपेक्षितपणे झेप घेऊन येतो, आणि तुमच्यासाठी मासा, कासव, डुक्कर असे अनेक अवतार घेतो. तो सुख आपल्यासाठी ठेवतो आणि दुःख स्वतः पिऊन टाकतो, कठीण काळाशी पुढे उभं राहून झुंजतो आणि आपल्याला त्याच्या पाठीमागे सुरक्षित ठेवतो. शेवटी विनवणी आहे: आपल्या करुणेच्या नावेतून आम्हाला पैलतीरी न्या.

Where this applies

• Avatāra for us. Bhakta-purpose.
• Pānhāwithmōhā. Mother-cow immediacy.
• Sukha-duḥkha exchange. Mother-and-warrior.
• Cross us in nāva. Boat-petition.

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 4497 — Tukaram describes a life so soaked in devotion that Krishna's presence fills every ordinar
• Abhanga 2497 — For today: no travel-expense, body-mocked; daily Rāma Rāma — all say ; mouth without Rāma