Abhanga 1625

The Lord does not wait to be sought; he stays close and even leaps toward the name himself, in every posture of the devotee's day.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

Govinda-himself-follows-the-bhakta abhang. The Lord shadows the bhakta in every state.

The four-fold-attendance:

State 1 (sleeping): nijalyānē gātām ubhā Nārāyaṇa — while sleeping-and-singing, Nārāyaṇa stands. (= while the bhakta lies sleeping but with the nāma still on his lips, Nārāyaṇa stands beside him.)

State 2 (sitting): baisalyā kīrtana karitām ḍōlē — while sitting-doing-kīrtana, he sways. (= the Lord himself sways with the kīrtana-rhythm.)

State 3 (standing): ubhā rāhōniyām mukhīm nāma vadē — nācē nānā chandē Govinda hā — standing-up, in mouth speaks the nāma; dances in many fascinations — this Govinda. (= while the bhakta stands singing nāma, Govinda dances in many enchantments.)

State 4 (walking): mārga cālatām mukhīm nāma vāṇī — ubhā Cakra-pāṇi māgē-puḍhē — walking on the path, nāma in mouth; Cakra-pāṇi stands behind-and-ahead. (= as the bhakta walks the path, Cakra-pāṇi (= Viṣṇu, holder-of-the-discus) stands behind-and-ahead, escorting on both sides.)

The reason: Tukā mhaṇē yāsī kīrtanācī gōḍī — prēmē ghālī uḍī nāmā-sāṭīm — Tuka says: to him, kīrtana-sweetness — with prema, he leaps for the nāma's sake. Yāsī = to-him = to the Lord. The Lord himself has kīrtana-sweetness; he leaps with prema at the nāma's sake. (Striking-formulation: not the bhakta leaps for nāma, but the Lord leaps for nāma — the role-reversal of bhakti — the Lord is the bhakta-of-the-nāma.)

This abhang inverts the standard bhakta-pursues-Lord image into Lord-pursues-bhakta-and-nāma: in every-state — sleeping, sitting, standing, walking — the Lord is adjacent, swaying, dancing, escorting. The nāma is the magnet; the Lord is drawn-to-it irresistibly.

[T]

For someone today

For today: while sleeping-and-singing, Nārāyaṇa stands beside; while sitting and doing kīrtana, he sways with you; while standing and speaking the nāma in your mouth, Govinda himself dances in many fascinations; while walking on the path with the nāma, Cakra-pāṇi stands behind-and-ahead of you; Tuka says — to him, kīrtana is sweet — and with love he leaps for the very sake of the nāma.

मराठी: आजसाठी: तू झोपून नाम गात असतोस तेव्हाही नारायण शेजारी उभा असतो; तू बसून कीर्तन करत असतोस तेव्हा तो तुझ्याबरोबर डोलतो; तू उभं राहून तोंडाने नाम घेत असतोस तेव्हा गोविंद स्वतः नाना छंदांनी नाचतो; तू वाटेने चालताना नाम घेत असतोस तेव्हा चक्रपाणी तुझ्यामागे-पुढे उभा असतो; तुका म्हणतो — त्याला कीर्तनाची गोडी लागते — आणि प्रेमाने तो नामासाठी उडी घालतो.

Where this applies

• When you fall asleep with a prayer or name still half-formed on your lips
• When you are sitting in a group singing or chanting and feel your body start to sway with it
• When you are standing and speaking words of devotion and want to know someone is listening
• When you are walking somewhere ordinary, like to work or the market, and want to feel less alone

Related verses

• Abhanga 2448 — The easiest path to God is repeating divine names with love at home, right where you are,
• Abhanga 2467 — What looks like your whole world, like a fig to the insect living inside it, is only a tin
• 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