Abhanga 847

True gratitude recognizes that we are known and cared for even before we ask, and that release and protection come through grace, not through our own effort alone.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A You-knew-my-inner-yearning-no-release-from-this-Vaikuṇṭha-nāyaka-not-protected-without-Your-assurance-O-kṛpāḷu-well-You-made-the-rescue-running abhang. Rescue-thanksgiving register. Three claims:

1. तुम्हां-ठावा-होता-देवा — अंतरींचा-हेवा. You-knew-my-inner-yearning-claim. You knew,Dēva, my antarīñcā hēvā (= the hēvā of my antara — the inner-most yearning / the jealous-longing of the heart for-You).You-knew-the-inner-yearning. (The opening: God knew thedeepest longing — even before it could be expressed.)

2. होती-कशानं-सुटका — Vaikuṇṭha-नायका — नसतें-सांभाळिलं — आश्वासिलं-नसतं. No-release-without-Your-assurance-claim. How wouldsuṭakā (release, liberation-from-samsāra) have been (achieved) — O Vaikuṇṭha-nāyaka?(I) would not have been sāmbhāḷilē (protected) — if You had not āśvāsilē (assured, given-the-promise).No-release-and-no-protection-without-Your-assurance. (Two-counterfactuals: without-You, no release; without-Your-assurance, no-protection.)

3. Tuka: कृपाळुवा — बरवा-केला-सावधावा. Well-You-made-the-rescue-running-claim. Tuka says: Okṛpāḷu — You did baravā (well, beautifully) the sāva-dhāvā (the rescue-running, the running-of-the-help).Beautifully-You-made-the-rescue-running. (Closing-thanksgiving: thesāva-dhāvā(thehelp-running— the running-down-to-the-bhakta-with-help) wasbaravā— beautifully-done. Same family as 0831'sPāṇḍuranga jumped: the divinerunning-to-rescue.)

[T]

For someone today

This abhang names the rescue-thanksgiving pattern:

1. You knew my deepest, innermost yearning. You already knew.

2. There would have been no release, no protection, without Your assurance. Nothing without You.

3. O merciful one, how beautifully You ran to my rescue. A beautiful rescue.

For today: You knew, God, the deepest yearning within me; there would have been no release from this world without You; there would have been no protection without Your assurance; O merciful one, how beautifully You came running to my rescue.

This abhang is one of Tukaram's most tender acknowledgements after being rescued. Compare 0831, where the same protection of a father and Panduranga leaping to help appears — the same rescue from the far shore of trouble — but here it is worked out through the idea that God already knew the innermost yearning, and the beautiful running to the rescue. "How beautifully You ran to my rescue" is the precise thanksgiving offered after being saved.

मराठी: ही ओवी सुटकेबद्दलच्या कृतज्ञतेचा नमुना सांगते:

1. माझ्या अंतरातील खोल इच्छा तुला आधीच माहीत होती. तुला आधीच माहीत होते.

2. तुझ्या आश्वासनाशिवाय सुटका झाली नसती, सांभाळही झाला नसता. तुझ्याशिवाय काहीच नाही.

3. हे कृपाळू, तू किती सुंदरपणे धावत येऊन माझी सुटका केलीस. एक सुंदर सुटका.

आजसाठी: देवा, माझ्या अंतरातील खोल इच्छा तुला आधीच माहीत होती; तुझ्याशिवाय या संसारातून सुटका झाली नसती; तुझ्या आश्वासनाशिवाय सांभाळही झाला नसता; हे कृपाळू, तू किती सुंदरपणे धावत येऊन माझी सुटका केलीस.

सुटका झाल्यानंतरच्या तुकारामांच्या सर्वात हळुवार कृतज्ञता-विधानांपैकी ही एक ओवी आहे. ओवी क्र. ०८३१ शी तुलना करता येईल — तिथेही पित्यासारखे रक्षण आणि पांडुरंगाने धावत मदतीला येणे दिसते — तेच संकटाच्या पैलतीरावरून झालेले सुटकेचे चित्रण — पण इथे ते देवाला आधीच अंतरीची इच्छा माहीत असणे आणि सुंदरपणे धावत येऊन सुटका करणे यांतून मांडले आहे. "तू किती सुंदरपणे धावत येऊन माझी सुटका केलीस" हीच सुटकेनंतरची नेमकी कृतज्ञता आहे.

Where this applies

• You-knew-yearning. Pre-known.
• Without-You-nothing. Dependence.
• Beautifully-rescued. Thanksgiving.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2374 — Rather than scattering devotion among many lesser deities who demand offerings, Tukaram sa
• Abhanga 2377 — This detailed meditation on Vitthal standing on a brick at Pandharpur, out of love for his
• Abhanga 2387 — Accept whatever life brings with reverence, and place the burden on God rather than carryi
• Abhanga 2402 — For today: happily take rebirths — IF among the Paṇḍharī-Vārkarīs ; Hari-dāsas' company is