Abhanga 825

Just as a mother's milk flows the instant her child clings to her, grace responds the moment you reach out in need, and whatever heavy burden you carry ultimately rests on that same loving care, not on you alone.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A child-mouth-clings-mother-makes-pānhā-flow-mutual-affection-fondness-anga-meets-anga-prema-rang-grows-jaḍa-bhāra-on-mother's-head abhang. Jananī-stana-pānhā-mother-bears-all register. Three claims:

1. मुख-स्तनां-लागल्यावर — माउली-पान्हा-घाली. Child-clings-mother-flows-pānhā-claim. When the (child's)mukhaclings to thestana; themāulī(mother) lets-down-the-pānhā(the milk-let-down — the involuntary-flow of milk when the baby suckles). Child-clings-and-mother-automatically-flows. (Universally-recognized image: the mere clinging-to-the-breast triggers the milk-let-down; this is the pānhā — the spontaneous, gracious flowing-from-the-mother in response to the child's clinging-need.)

2. उभयतां-आवडी-लाडें — कोडें-कोड-पुरतसे — अंग-अंग-मेळवितां — प्रेमें-रंग-वाढतो. Mutual-affection-and-anga-meeting-prema-rang-grows-claim. Inubhayatām(in-both) —āvaḍī(affection) andlāḍa(fondness, indulgence) —kōḍē (coyly, with-child-like-coyness) the kōḍa (loving-mischief, sweet-puzzle) is puratasē (fulfilled, satisfied);when anga meets anga (body-meets-body, child's-body-on-mother's-body)—with prēma, the ranga (color, hue, intensity-of-affection) increases.Both have affection; both find the coy-mischief sweet; anga-on-anga the prema-rang grows. (The mother is not a one-way-giver; she also enjoys it —ubhayatām(in-both) — theprema-ranga grows because the relationship is mutual.)

3. Tuka: जड-भारी-कितीही — अवघें-शिरीं-जननीचे. All-on-mother's-head-claim. Tuka says: howeverjaḍa-bhārī(heavy-and-hard) (the load may be); (it is) all on theśiras(head — the very-self) of thejananī(mother). Mother-bears-all-the-jaḍa-bhāra. (Closing application: the bhakta is the child; whatever-heavy-burden the child has, it is all-on-the-mother's-head — i.e., on the head of Hari-jananī / Pāṇḍuranga-māulī.)

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For someone today

This verse paints devotion through the image of a nursing child and its mother. The moment the baby's mouth clings to the breast, the mother's milk begins to flow on its own, a picture of how grace responds spontaneously the instant you reach out in need. The affection here isn't one sided: both mother and child delight in the closeness, and that shared tenderness only deepens the more they hold each other. And whatever weight or burden you carry, however heavy, ultimately rests on the mother's own head, not on yours alone, meaning your struggles are already held by a love greater than your own strength.

मराठी: ही ओवी आई आणि तिच्या दुधावर असलेल्या बाळाच्या प्रतिमेतून भक्ती उलगडते. बाळाचे तोंड स्तनाला लागताच आईचा पान्हा आपोआप वाहू लागतो, हे दाखवते की गरजेपोटी तुम्ही हात पुढे करताच कृपा उत्स्फूर्तपणे प्रतिसाद देते. इथले प्रेम एकतर्फी नाही, आई आणि बाळ दोघांनाही ह्या जवळिकीचा आनंद असतो, आणि जितकी मिठी घट्ट तितका जिव्हाळा अधिकच गडद होतो. तुम्ही कितीही जड ओझे वाहत असाल, तरी शेवटी ते आईच्याच शिरावर असते, फक्त तुमच्या एकट्याच्या खांद्यावर नाही — म्हणजे तुमचे संकट तुमच्या स्वतःच्या शक्तीपेक्षा मोठ्या प्रेमाने आधीच पेललेले आहे.

Where this applies

• Child clings → mother flows. Pānhā.
• Mutual affection. Two-sided.
• Angameetsanga. Closeness.
• Mother-bears-all. Surrender.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2425 — Surrender every part of your life completely to what you trust most, and let go of the res
• Abhanga 2477 — Like a child too absorbed in play to notice how tired he is, let go and trust the parent c
• Abhanga 2484 — Real devotion can include anger and demand, not just sweetness, because a devotee who trul
• Abhanga 2540 — Even the smallest, most helpless creature that cries out to God in danger is sheltered and