संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 1270 of 4582

Abhanga 1270

For today: Hari is mother-of-many, most-kṛpāḷa, bearing the kōlhāḷa and distributing bhātukēm to each bhāva — your effort isn't wasted.

When Hari is your māya bahutāncī — mother of many — distributing bhātukēm to each according to bhāva — you know the varma; the śrama doesn't go in vain

The verse

बोलिलें चि बोलें पडपडताळूनि । उपजत मनीं नाहीं शंका ॥१॥ बहुतांची माय बहुत कृपाळ । साहोनि कोल्हाळ बुझाविसी ॥ध्रु.॥ बहुतांच्या भावें वांटिसी भातुकें । बहु कवतुकें खेळविसी ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे ऐसें जाणतसों वर्म । करणें तो श्रम न वजे वांयां॥३॥ ॥१२॥

Literal translation

English: What was said is said — checked-and-rechecked — no śankā arises in the mind. Mother of many, most kṛpāḷa — bearing the kōlhāḷa, you assure (us). To many bhāvas you distribute the bhātukēm — by many kavatuka, you play (us). Tuka says: we know such varma — the śrama done doesn't go in vain.

मराठी: बोललेलें-च बोलें — पड-पडताळून (परत-परत तपासून) — मनांत शंका उपजत नाहीं. (तू) बहुतांची माय — बहु कृपाळ — कोल्हाळ (कलकल) सोसून — आम्हांला बुझावितोस. बहुतांच्या भावें — भातुकें (खेळणें-गोडें) वांटतोस — बहु कवतुकें — खेळवीतोस. Tukā म्हणे — हें वर्म जाणतों — केलेलें श्रम वायां जात नाहीं. ॥१२॥

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
बोलिलें चि बोलें पडपडताळूनि "what was said is said — paḍa-paḍatāḷūnī (checked-and-rechecked, weighed-and-tested)"
उपजत मनीं नाहीं शंका "no śankā (doubt) arises in the mind"
बहुतांची माय बहुत कृपाळ "(you are) bahutāncī māya (mother-of-many) — bahu kṛpāḷa (most-compassionate)"
साहोनि कोल्हाळ बुझाविसी "bearing the kōlhāḷa (clamor / fuss) — you bujhāvisī (assure / pacify)"
बहुतांच्या भावें वांटिसी भातुकें "to bahu's bhāva — you vāṇṭa (distribute) the bhātukēm"
बहु कवतुकें खेळविसी "by many kavatuka (spectacles) — you play (with us)"
ऐसें जाणतसों वर्म "we know such varma (secret)"
करणें तो श्रम न वजे वांयां "the śrama (effort) done — does not go vāyām (in vain)"
॥१२॥ "(closes 12 abhangs)"

What it means

Closes the ॥१२॥ 12-abhang sub-series — Hari as māya bahutāncī (mother of many).

The marker ॥१२॥ at the end seals a 12-abhang group beginning at 1259. The arc of the cluster: - 1259: wake-up alarm (cōra escapes when you sleep) - 1260: inner-deceit warning - 1261: dōhīncā-dēkhaṇā (cālī-duḥkha-pāvī) - 1262: bhāva-kriyā-aligned - 1263: anti-naṭa-vēśa (mātṛ-gamana grade) - 1264: bahukṣīda-kṣīṇa arrival (visāvā-visāvā) - 1265: hold-Hari (won't-let-ghaḍī-slip) - 1266: anti-kōraḍī-brahma-jñāna (āvaḍī darśanācī chī) - 1267: ask-only-for-what-is - 1268: cintē-cintā-vāḍhatē (set-aside) - 1269: holding-stand until bhēṭī - 1270: closes — Hari as māya bahutāncī

The closing image is exquisite: bahutāncī māya bahuta kṛpāḷa — sāhōnī kōlhāḷa bujhāvisī — bahutāncyā bhāvē vāṇṭisī bhātukēm. Bhātukēm (echoing 1211 kāḷācē bhātukēm) — the children's playset / meal-set — Hari hands out bhātukēm to each child-bhakta according to their bhāva. Sāhōnī kōlhāḷabearing the racket — the mother of many doesn't silence the clamor; she absorbs it. Bujhāvisī — pacifies, assures.

The closing — karaṇē tō śrama na vajē vāyāmthe śrama (effort) done does not go in vain — gives the 12-abhang cluster its motto. After all the wake-up alarms, holding, scolding, asking — the work isn't wasted. The mother of many keeps account.

[T]

For someone today

For today: Hari is mother-of-many, most-kṛpāḷa, bearing the kōlhāḷa and distributing bhātukēm to each bhāva — your effort isn't wasted.

Where this applies

Related verses