Abhanga 801
Longing for the divine can be as tender as a child watching for its mother, and true devotion ends not in passive waiting but in arms spread open to receive and welcome.
The verse
वाटुली पाहातां सिणले डोळुले । दाविसी पाउलें कइं वो डोळां ॥१॥ तूं माय माउली कृपेची साउली । विठ्ठले पाहिली वास तुझी ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे माझ्या असांवल्या बाह्या । तुज क्षेम द्याया पांडुरंगा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Vāṭulī — watching — ḍōḷulē — siṇalē — show — pāulē — when — ḍōḷām. You — māya-māulī — kṛpā — sāulī — Viṭṭhalē — watched — vāsa — Your. Tuka says: my — asāmvalyā — bāhyā — You — kṣēma — give — Pāṇḍuranga.
मराठी: वाटुली पाहातां सिणले डोळुले — दाविसी पाउलें कइं वो डोळां?. तूं माय-माउली, कृपेची साउली — Viṭṭhalē, पाहिली वास तुझी. Tuka म्हणे: माझ्या असांवल्या बाह्या — तुज क्षेम द्याया, पांडुरंगा.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| वाटुली पाहातां सिणले डोळुले | "vāṭulī — watching — ḍōḷulē — siṇalē" |
| दाविसी पाउलें कइं वो डोळां | "show — pāulē — when — ḍōḷām" |
| तूं माय माउली कृपेची साउली | "You — māya-māulī — kṛpā — sāulī" |
| विठ्ठले पाहिली वास तुझी | "Viṭṭhalē — watched — vāsa — Your" |
| माझ्या असांवल्या बाह्या | "my — asāmvalyā — bāhyā" |
| तुज क्षेम द्याया पांडुरंगा | "You — kṣēma — give — Pāṇḍuranga" |
What it means
A eyes-tired-watching-path-show-feet-You-mother-māuli-kṛpā-shadow-arms-spread-to-embrace-Pāṇḍuranga abhang. Mother-image-and-arms-spread-to-embrace register. Three claims:
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Vāṭulī-पाहातां — डोळुले-सिणले — दाविसि-पाउलें-कइं-डोळां. Eyes-tired-watching-path-when-show-feet-claim. Watching thevāṭulī(path), the ḍōḷulē (little-eyes — diminutive form, tender) are siṇalē (tired);when will You show (Your) pāulē (feet) to my ḍōḷām?.Eyes-tired-watching-when-show-feet.
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तूं-माय-माउली — कृपेची-साउली — Viṭṭhalē-पाहिली-वास-तुझी. You-mother-kṛpā-shadow-watched-for-scent-claim. You aremāya-māulī (mother — diminutive, tender);kṛpā'ssāulī (shadow — the cooling-shadow of compassion);Viṭṭhalē (feminine-vocative — Viṭṭhalā with -ē suffix, addressing-as-mother);I have-watched (pāhilī) for Your vāsa (scent / arrival / news).You-mother-Viṭhṭhalē-and-I-watched-for-Your-arrival.
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Tuka: माझ्या-असांवल्या-बाह्या — तुज-क्षेम-द्याया-Pāṇḍuranga. Arms-spread-to-embrace-Pāṇḍuranga-claim. Tuka says: mybāhyā(arms) areasāmvalyā(spread, opened-wide); to give Youkṣēma(an embrace, the well-being-embrace, the warm-greeting),Pāṇḍuranga. Arms-spread-for-embrace. (Note the inversion: the bhakta opens-his-arms to embrace-Pāṇḍuranga — not the other-way-round. The bhakta is the mother-figure receiving-the-child as much as the child-receiving-the-mother.)
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For someone today
This is one of Tukaram's most tender verses of longing. His eyes are tired from watching the road, waiting for a glimpse of Vitthal's feet, and he addresses God not as a distant lord but as a mother, the soft shade of compassion he has been watching for like a child waiting for a parent to come home. What's striking is the final image: it isn't God's arms opening to receive Tukaram, it's Tukaram's own arms spread wide, ready to embrace and welcome Vitthal in. Longing here isn't passive; it ends in an open, ready embrace.
मराठी: ही तुकारामांच्या सर्वात हळुवार विरहओव्यांपैकी एक आहे. वाट पाहून पाहून त्यांचे डोळे थकले आहेत, विठ्ठलाच्या पावलांची एक झलक दिसावी म्हणून ते वाट पाहत आहेत, आणि ते देवाला दूरचा स्वामी न मानता आई मानतात, कृपेची मायेची सावली, जिची वाट एखादे लहान मूल आई घरी येण्याची पाहते तशी ते पाहत आहेत. सर्वात हृदयस्पर्शी गोष्ट शेवटच्या प्रतिमेत आहे, देवाचे हात तुकारामांना कवेत घेण्यासाठी उघडत नाहीत, तर तुकारामांचेच हात विठ्ठलाला मिठीत घेण्यासाठी, स्वागत करण्यासाठी पसरलेले आहेत. इथली आस निष्क्रिय नाही, ती एका खुल्या, सज्ज मिठीत संपते.
Where this applies
- Eyes tired. Waiting.
- Māya-māulī. Mother-Viṭṭhalē.
- Bāhyā spread. Embrace.