Abhanga 969

Tukaram protests that even a mother lets go of her child only when its life leaves the body, so God's moment by moment neglect, and the bitterness that follows, deserves to be spoken honestly rather than hidden.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A mother-gives-up-only-when-life-goes-out-You're-not-weak-or-deaf-what-lack-has-come-to-Nārāyaṇa-no-moment-by-moment-care-no-taste-to-vacana-fruit-comes-bitter abhang. Mother-gives-up-only-at-death-fruit-bitter register. Three claims:

1. माता-सांडी-जीव-जाय-वरी — आश्चर्यता-बाळ. Mother-gives-up-only-at-death-claim. Themātāgives-up only whenjīvagoes-out; that's theāścaryatāof thebāḷaka. Mother-doesn't-let-go-of-living-child. (Implication: You-Hari are letting-go-of-the-bhakta who-is-still-alive — that's worse than even the most-extreme-mother.)

2. दुर्बळ-नाहीं — कान-न-ऐकत-नाहीं — Nārāyaṇा-न्यून — क्षण-क्षण-सांभाळ-नाहीं. What-lack-has-come-claim. You're notdurbaḷa, not kānī-deaf;what nyūna has come?;no kṣaṇa-kṣaṇā sāmbhāḷa.

3. Tuka: वचन-रुचि-नाहीं — फल-कटवें. Fruit-bitter-claim. Tuka says: norucitovacana; fruit is justkaṭavē.

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For someone today

When you feel abandoned even though you have kept faith, Tukaram gives you words for that pain instead of asking you to swallow it. He points out that even an ordinary mother only lets go of her child when life itself leaves the body; she never gives up on a living child. So why does divine care seem to show up only in emergencies rather than moment by moment? He insists this is not because he is weak or unworthy, and not because God has run short of anything, it is simply that when trust loses its taste, everything that follows turns bitter. The verse treats an honest complaint to God as real devotion, not a failure of it.

मराठी: तुम्ही श्रद्धा ठेवूनही एकटे पडल्यासारखे वाटत असेल, तर तुकाराम त्या दुःखाला शब्द देतात, ते गिळून टाकायला सांगत नाहीत. ते सांगतात की सामान्य आईसुद्धा मूल जिवंत असेपर्यंत त्याला सोडत नाही, ती फक्त जीव गेल्यावरच हात सोडते. मग देवाची काळजी क्षणाक्षणाला का जाणवत नाही, फक्त संकटातच का जाणवते? तुकाराम स्पष्ट सांगतात की हे त्यांच्या दुर्बलतेमुळे नाही, देवाकडे काही उणे आहे म्हणूनही नाही, तर विश्वासाची गोडी संपली की पुढे सगळे कडू लागते. ही ओवी देवाकडे थेट तक्रार करणे हीदेखील खरी भक्ती मानते, भक्तीचा अभाव नव्हे.

Where this applies

• Mother-extreme. Even-mother.
• No-excuse. Why-far?
• Bitter-fruit. Result.

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