Abhanga 1634
Grace already knows your unspoken pain the way a mother knows her child's needs, and real faith comes from lived experience, not mere words.
The verse
जैसें तैसें राहे देवाचें हें देणें । यत्न करितां तेणें काय नव्हे ॥१॥ दासां कृपासिंधु नुपेक्षी सर्वथा । अंतरींची व्यथा कळे त्यासी ॥ध्रु.॥ मागों नेणे परी माय जाणे वर्म । बाळा नेदी श्रम पावों कांहीं ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे मज अनुभव अंगें । वचन वाउगें मानेना हें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Deva's giving stays as it is — what doesn't happen with effort? The kṛpā-sindhu never neglects the dāsas — knows their inner pain. (The child) doesn't know how to ask, but the mother knows the varma — doesn't let any toil come to the child. Tuka says: my anubhava is bodily — vain words don't suffice for this.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| जैसें तैसें राहे देवाचें हें देणें | "as it is, so it stays — Deva's giving" |
| यत्न करितां तेणें काय नव्हे | "with effort — what doesn't happen?" |
| दासां कृपासिंधु नुपेक्षी सर्वथा | "to dāsas — kṛpā-sindhu — does not neglect — ever" |
| अंतरींची व्यथा कळे त्यासी | "inner pain — knows — to him" |
| मागों नेणे परी माय जाणे वर्म | "doesn't know how to ask — but — the mother — knows — the secret" |
| बाळा नेदी श्रम पावों कांहीं | "to (the) child — doesn't let — toil — come — any" |
| तुका म्हणे मज अनुभव अंगें | "Tuka says — to me — experience — bodily" |
| वचन वाउगें मानेना हें | "vain words — don't suffice — this" |
What it means
Mother-Hari + dāsa-doesn't-need-to-ask abhang.
The opening: jaisēm taisēm rāhē Devācēm hēm dēṇēm — yatna karitām tēṇē kāya navhē — Deva's giving stays as it is — what doesn't happen with effort? The double-claim: (a) what Deva gives stays-given (without one's effort); (b) anything happens with effort — but Deva's giving is independent of that.
The kṛpā-sindhu: dāsām kṛpā-sindhu nupēkṣī sarvathā — antarīñcī vyathā kaḷē tyāsī — to dāsas, the kṛpā-sindhu does not neglect, ever — knows the inner pain. Kṛpā-sindhu = ocean-of-grace. He knows the inner pain of his dāsas — they don't need to say it.
The mother-image: māgōm nēṇē parī māya jāṇē varma — bāḷā nēdī śrama pāvōm kāhīm — (the child) doesn't know how to ask, but the mother knows the varma — doesn't let any toil come to the child. Varma = the secret, the inner-need. The infant cannot articulate its need; the mother intuits it; ensures the child suffers no-toil. (Pattern P11: classical mother-Hari image.)
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē maja anubhava angē — vacana vāugēm mānēnā hēm — Tuka says: my anubhava is bodily — vain words don't suffice for this. Anubhava angē = experience through the body (= first-hand-experiential, not theoretical). Mere-words don't suffice (= only embodied-anubhava counts).
[T]
For someone today
For today: what Deva gives stays as it is — what doesn't happen by your effort?; the ocean-of-grace never neglects his dāsas — he knows their inner pain; the child doesn't know how to ask, but the mother knows the secret — and doesn't let any toil come to the child; Tuka says — my experience is through the body itself — vain words don't suffice for this.
Where this applies
- When you are struggling to put your pain into words and long for someone to simply understand without being told
- When you catch yourself trying to force or earn something that grace or love would have given anyway
- When you notice how a mother or caregiver anticipates a child's needs before the child can ask
- When you realize your faith comes from something you have actually lived through, not just ideas you have read or repeated