Abhanga 970

Tukaram tells God that real trust and sweetness cannot grow without love's actual taste, and asks him directly, as one thinking being to another, to consider why his heartfelt calls go unanswered.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A I-have-become-not-a-dāsa-by-anubhava-speak-before-svāmi-why-no-counter-word-I'm-spending-myself-in-insistent-striving-no-rasa-of-prīti-no-gōḍī-no-viśvāsa-O-jewel-of-the-clever-consider-Kēśīrāja abhang. Consider-please-Kēśīrāja register. Three claims:

1. दास-नव्हे-ऐसा — अनुभवें-स्वामी-पुढे-बोलों — प्रति-उत्तर-नाहीं — माझ्या-वेचें-अट्टाहास. Bold-speech-before-svāmi-claim. I have become not-a-dāsa; byanubhavaI speak before thesvāmī; noprati-uttara; I'm spending inaṭṭāhāsa.

2. गोडी-विश्वास — प्रीती-रस-वांचून. Without-prīti-no-gōḍī-claim. Withoutrasaofprīti,gōḍī, viśvāsadon't arise.

3. Tuka: चतुरा-शिरो-मणी — विचारावें — Kēśīrāja. Consider-Kēśīrāja-claim. Tuka says: Ocaturā śirō-maṇī; pleasevicārāvē, Kēśīrāja.

[T]

For someone today

Tukaram says he has stopped speaking as a mere servant; he speaks to his Lord from direct experience, as one thinking being to another. He asks why there's no answer at all to his calls, even as he keeps wearing himself out with insistent pleading. He points out that trust and sweetness cannot grow without actually tasting love — you can't build faith on silence alone. So he appeals to Keshiraja, the wisest of the wise, asking him to simply think this through and consider why his heartfelt calls go unanswered.

मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की ते आता केवळ दास म्हणून बोलत नाहीत; ते आपल्या प्रत्यक्ष अनुभवातून, जणू एक विचारी व्यक्ती दुसऱ्या विचारी व्यक्तीशी बोलावी तसे, स्वामीशी बोलतात. ते विचारतात की त्यांच्या हाकेला काहीच उत्तर का येत नाही, तरीही ते आग्रहाने पुकारत राहून स्वतःला झिजवत आहेत. ते सांगतात की प्रेमाचा प्रत्यक्ष रसास्वाद घेतल्याशिवाय विश्वास आणि गोडी निर्माणच होऊ शकत नाही - केवळ शांततेवर श्रद्धा उभी राहू शकत नाही. म्हणून ते केशीराजाला, सर्वात चतुर अशा त्याला, विनवतात की त्याने याचा विचार करावा आणि आपल्या मनापासूनच्या हाकेला उत्तर का मिळत नाही हे पडताळून पहावे.

Where this applies

• Bold-speech. Not-just-dāsa.
• No-reply. Spending-self.
• Need-prīti-rasa. Foundation.
• Consider. Reasoning.

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