Abhanga 1254

We, your weak and trusting one, followed you completely — don't be devious with us, Hari, and don't let us be diminished. Fearing this life away from home, my heart is drawn toward you; now guard my dignity in both places, here and there. The bond was formed almost without my knowing, simply in the course of everyday life, and only afterward did all this longing and worry grow. Tuka says: whatever is, being as it is, is good — I have poured my words into this feeling and given myself over to it completely.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

Closes the Sāsuravāsa ॥८॥ sub-series. This last abhang names the register most explicitly: abaḷā — weak (one) / woman — is how Tuka has been speaking throughout. The whole 8-abhang sequence is the abaḷā-bhakta-bride's voice from the sāsurī, longing for the māhera.

The closing requests: 1. Don't keep kaḷā in your anga — Hari, don't be devious — straightforward dealing. 2. Don't make us hīna — don't diminish us; the bride's status depends on the māhera-side's recognition. 3. Dōhī-viśīm lajjā rākhē āmucī — save our lajjā in both spaces — both in the māhera (your māhera) and the sāsurī (samsāra). 4. Asatām jaisēm taisēm baravēm — being as it is is good — finally, acceptance.

The closing — vacana yā bhāvē vēcuniyām vinaṭalōm — I have invested (= become entangled,vinaṭalōm) by spending vacana with this bhāva — is the bhakta-bride's seal: I have invested all my speech in this one bhāva; whatever comes, comes.

The marker ॥८॥ closes the sub-series. Eight abhangs: 1. (1247) Lost-child-in-vana 2. (1248) Waiting-for-mūḷa from māhera 3. (1249) Hari-tāḍ within the bride's mode 4. (1250) Burn-my-karma; Hari-pets-the-laḷā at last 5. (1251) Why-have-you-made-me-sāsura-vāsī (most explicit) 6. (1252) Burn-the-obstacles; let-aruci-come; your-load-on-your-head 7. (1253) You-know-without-telling but the longing is anāvara 8. (1254) We abaḷā followed; save our lajjā in both spaces

The arc: from helplessness (1) through complaint (2-3) and self-recrimination (4) to explicit naming (5), release-letter (6), longing-as-sevā (7), and final acceptance with the abaḷā-name (8).

[T]

For someone today

We, your weak and trusting one, followed you completely — don't be devious with us, Hari, and don't let us be diminished. Fearing this life away from home, my heart is drawn toward you; now guard my dignity in both places, here and there. The bond was formed almost without my knowing, simply in the course of everyday life, and only afterward did all this longing and worry grow. Tuka says: whatever is, being as it is, is good — I have poured my words into this feeling and given myself over to it completely.

मराठी: आम्ही, तुझी दुर्बळ पण विश्वासू भक्त, तुझ्या मागे पूर्णपणे आलो — हरी, आमच्याशी कावेबाजी करू नकोस, आम्हांला कमी लेखू नकोस. या परघरवासाची भीती वाटते, जीव तुझ्याकडे ओढला जातो; आता माझी लाज दोन्ही ठिकाणी — माहेरी आणि सासरी — राख. न कळत, सहज खेळता खेळता हा संबंध जुळला, आणि नंतरच ही काळजी, ही ओढ वाढत गेली. तुका म्हणतात, जे आहे तसेच बरे आहे — या भावाने मी माझे शब्द वेचून, स्वतःला पूर्णपणे गुंतवून टाकले आहे.

Where this applies

• When you have followed someone trustingly and now simply ask them to be honest and not diminish you
• When you feel caught between two homes or two loyalties and want your dignity honored in both
• When you realize a deep commitment began almost by accident and only later grew into real longing and worry
• When you are ready to stop protesting and simply accept a relationship as it is, having already given it your whole heart

Related verses

• Abhanga 2464 — For today: Pāṇḍuranga is sukha-rūpa ; no wandering, no shaving, no sādhana-pressure ; Chan
• Abhanga 2490 — The divine is most reachable through the living presence of a true saint, not through a di
• Abhanga 2494 — Living in devotion turns an ordinary day into a festival and removes the fear of birth and
• Abhanga 4481 — Tukaram promises that sincerely calling on the Lord's name, knowingly or unknowingly, with