Abhanga 652

God serves his devotees so completely, even taking on humble roles like a servant, that Tukaram asks why anyone would hesitate to love such a devoted God.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A deva-does-dāsya-of-dāsa-image-list abhang. Five-verse list-of-deva's-services-to-bhaktas register. Five claims:

1. दास्य करी दासांचें — opening-dāsya: dāsya of dāsa; won't tolerate uṇē; served-place; bhāna runs (= drops the plate to come). Deva-runs-throwing-plate-to-help-dāsa.

2. ऐसा कृपेचा सागर — Pandharī-iconography: kṛpā-sāgara; viṭā-kaṭi-kara; sarva-sva-udāra; bhakta-prakaṭa. Manifest-for-bhakta.

3. हृदयीं श्रीवत्सलांछन — Bhṛgu's-kick-image: hṛdaya śrī-vatsa-lāmcchana; wears bhakta-bhūṣaṇa; no-siṇa for Him; held sukha of the lāta (= Bhṛgu-rishi's-kick on Viṣṇu's chest, the mark of Śrīvatsa). Bears-saint's-kick-as-jewelry.

4. सत्यभामा दान करी — Satyabhāmā-pādukā-Bali-Arjuna: Satyabhāmā does dāna (the deva-weighing-against-tulasī episode); no ujura; sevaka's pādukā on śira (deva-bears-pādukā); Bali's door-keeper (Vāmana-Bali story); Arjuna-rathī (Mahābhārata charioteer); sevaka's-true-ankita. Multiple-servant-roles.

5. भिडा नो बोलवें पुंडलिकाशीं — closing-Puṇḍalika-and-māuli: doesn't-speak-by-bhīḍa to Puṇḍalika; stands by-maryādā behind; Tuka says: such — why not bhajan, māuli? Why-not-bhajan-mother-deva.

[T]

For someone today

Tukaram paints God not as a distant lord but as a devoted servant of his devotees, someone who drops what he is doing and runs the moment a devotee needs him. He even wears the mark of a sage's angry kick on his chest as if it were a badge of honor. He has taken on humble roles throughout history: accepting a gift from Satyabhama without complaint, carrying a servant's sandals on his own head, guarding the door for Bali, and becoming Arjuna's charioteer. If God is willing to serve so completely and without any ego, Tukaram asks, why would anyone hesitate to turn toward him in devotion?

मराठी: तुकाराम देवाचे चित्रण एका दूरस्थ स्वामीसारखे नाही, तर आपल्या भक्तांचा खरा सेवक म्हणून करतात, जो भक्ताला गरज पडताच हातातले काम टाकून धावत येतो. एका ऋषींनी रागाच्या भरात लाथ मारली, तरी देव ती खूण आपल्या छातीवर अभिमानाने मिरवतो. सत्यभामेचे दान कोणताही आक्षेप न घेता स्वीकारतो, सेवकाच्या पादुका स्वतःच्या मस्तकावर वाहतो, बळीच्या दाराशी पहारा देतो आणि अर्जुनाचा सारथी बनतो. एवढ्या नम्रतेने आणि निरहंकारीपणे सेवा करणाऱ्या अशा देवाची भक्ती करण्यास कोणी का कचरावे, असा प्रश्न तुकाराम विचारतात.

Where this applies

• Dāsyaofdāsa. Servant-of-servants.
• Lāta — jewelry. Bhṛgu-kick.
• Multiple-roles. Servant-list.
• Why not bhajan māuli? Final.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2467 — What looks like your whole world, like a fig to the insect living inside it, is only a tin
• 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