Abhanga 1228
For today: don't plan your bhakti — Hari-as-mother is drawn by svabhāva; while you play, she watches with the heart of lāhī jumping in the pan, forgets her own deha, lets no blow touch you.
The verse
न लगे मायेसी बाळें निरवावें । आपुल्या स्वभावें ओढे त्यासी ॥१॥ मज कां लागला करणें विचार । ज्याचा जार भार त्याचे मायां ॥ध्रु.॥ गोड धड त्यासी ठेवी न मगतां । समाधान खातां नेदी मना ॥२॥ खेळतां गुंतलें उमगूनी आणी । बैसोनियां स्तनीं लावी बळें ॥३॥ त्याच्या दुःखेंपणें आपण खापरीं । लाही तळीं वरी होय जैसी ॥४॥ तुका म्हणे देह विसरे आपुला । आघात तो त्याला लागों नेदी ॥५॥
Literal translation
English: No need to entrust the child to the mother — by her own svabhāva she is drawn to it. Why should I plan? — whose load (is) on whose mother? She keeps the sweet-strong food for him without his asking; doesn't let her own mind eat in samādhāna. When entangled in play, she finds and brings him; sitting, places him at the breast forcefully. From his sorrow she becomes (like) the popping-pan: as the lāhī jumps from bottom to top — so (her heart). Tuka says: she forgets her own deha — doesn't let the blow touch him.
मराठी: मायेकडे बाळ निरविणें-न-लागें — स्वतःच्या स्वभावानेंच ती ओढली जाते. मला कशाला विचार करावा लागावा? — ज्याचा जारभार त्याच्या मायेवर. गोड-धड (पदार्थ) त्याच्यासाठीं — मागितल्याशिवाय — ती ठेवते. (स्वतः) समाधानें मन खाऊं देत नाहीं. खेळांत गुंतलेला असतांना — उमगून आणून — बैसून — स्तनीं बळें-च लावते. त्याच्या दुःखानें ती आपण खापरीं (खापरी = खापराचा भांडें — लाह्या भाजायचें) — जिथें लाही तळीं-वरीं उडते — तसें (तिचें मन) होतें. Tukā म्हणे — ती आपला देह विसरते — त्याला आघात लागून देत नाहीं.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| न लगे मायेसी बाळें निरवावें | "no need to entrust (niravāvē) the child to the mother" |
| आपुल्या स्वभावें ओढे त्यासी | "by her own svabhāva she is drawn (ōḍhē) to it" |
| ज्याचा जार भार त्याचे मायां | "whose load (jāra-bhāra) is on whose mother" |
| गोड धड त्यासी ठेवी न मगतां | "she keeps the gōḍa-dhaḍa (sweet-strong food) for him without his asking" |
| समाधान खातां नेदी मना | "doesn't let the (her own) mind eat in samādhāna (selfish satisfaction)" |
| खेळतां गुंतलें उमगूनी आणी | "(when child) is entangled in play, she finds (umagūnī) and brings (him)" |
| बैसोनियां स्तनीं लावी बळें | "sitting, she places (him) at the breast (stanīm) forcefully (baḷē)" |
| त्याच्या दुःखेंपणें आपण खापरीं | "from his sorrow she (becomes) khāparīm (the cone-shaped pot for popping grain)" |
| लाही तळीं वरी होय जैसी | "as the lāhī (popped grain) jumps from bottom (taḷīm) to top (varī)" |
| देह विसरे आपुला | "she forgets her own deha" |
| आघात तो त्याला लागों नेदी | "doesn't let the āghāta (blow) touch him" |
What it means
Mother-and-child analogy with the unforgettable lāhī image — the bhakti-tradition's tenderest portrait of Hari-as-mother.
The whole abhang argues: don't plan your bhakti like one who entrusts a child to a stranger — Hari is your mother, drawn to you by svabhāva. Then five mother-images:
- Gōḍa-dhaḍa ṭhēvī na magatām — keeps the good food for him without being asked.
- Samādhānā nēdī manā — doesn't let her mind eat in selfish satisfaction (her own meal waits till his is done).
- Khēḷatām guntalēm baisōniyām stanīm lāvī baḷē — when he's lost in play, she finds him, sits him down, places him at the breast forcefully — Hari-feeding even when the bhakta is too distracted to notice.
- The lāhī image — taḷīm varī hōya jaisī: the cone-shaped earthenware pan (khāparī) on the fire pops grain (lāhī) — the popped kernels jump from bottom to top, top to bottom, restless. So the mother's heart in her child's pain — leaping up and down. This is among Tukaram's most exquisite household-image-as-spiritual-image.
- Deha visarē āpulā — she forgets her own body — and āghāta tyālā lāgōm nēdī — doesn't let any blow touch him.
After the Hari-tāḍ cluster (1220-1226), this is the inverse: there Tuka was the litigant; here he's the child. Both are valid bhakti-postures.
[T]
For someone today
For today: don't plan your bhakti — Hari-as-mother is drawn by svabhāva; while you play, she watches with the heart of lāhī jumping in the pan, forgets her own deha, lets no blow touch you.
Where this applies
- Mother-by-svabhāva.* Āpulyā-svabhāvē-ōḍhē.
- Sweet-food-without-asking.* Gōḍa-dhaḍa-na-magatām.
- Brings-from-play-to-breast.* Stanīm-lāvī-baḷē.
- Lāhī-jumping-in-pot.* Lāhī-taḷīm-varī-hōya.
- Forgets-own-deha.* Deha-visarē-āpulā.