Abhanga 1693

For today: according to our longing, he himself took on this form — and after that, his name became infinite. The paths have been made so easy that everyone can find them — even the far, inaccessible sky stands witness to it. Just as a mother feeds her child with her own hand while also gently taking back a bite from the child's mouth, so does this divine mother care for us. Tuka says: my meditation rests on the brick — and that very lovely form appears before me.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

Lord-makes-show-by-our-longing + māulī-feeds-child-from-her-own-mouth abhang.

The opening: āvaḍī-sārikhēm sampādilēm sōnga — ananta hēm maga jālēm nāma — according to (our) longing, (he) made the show — infinite became the name thereafter. Sōnga = role / disguise / show. The Lord takes on the form according-to-the-bhakta's-longing; thereafter, his name becomes-infinite. (Compare 1607's dhariyēlīm sōṇgēm — yēṇē avaghīm Pāṇḍurangēm.)

The accessible-paths: kaḷē aisā vāṭā racilyā sulabhā — durgama yā nabhācā hī sākṣī — paths made easy so all-can-know — durgama sky is witness. Even the inaccessible-sky is witness (= the cosmic-witness confirms the paths-made-easy).

The striking mother-image: hātē jēvī ēka mukhīm māgē ghāmsa — mā'ulī jayāsa taisī bāḷā — one (mother) eats with hand while in (her own) mouth asking the morsel — māulī to whom (= the child she feeds) thus. The folk-image of mother-and-child eating: a mother eats one morsel with her hand but also takes the morsel from (the child's) mouth (= sometimes a mother playfully takes a bite from the morsel-already-in-the-child's-mouth). That very-mode is how the māulī-Lord behaves with the child-bhakta. (The mother-and-child sharing-from-the-same-mouth image — mutuality of feeding.)

The closing: Tukā mhaṇē mājhēm dhyāna viṭē-varī — taisī chi gōjirī disē mūrti — Tuka says: my dhyāna at the brick — that-very lovely mūrti appears. My dhyāna is at the brick (= Viṭṭhal-on-the-brick at Paṇḍharī); just-that-form (lovely) appears in dhyāna.

[T]

For someone today

For today: according to our longing, he himself took on this form — and after that, his name became infinite. The paths have been made so easy that everyone can find them — even the far, inaccessible sky stands witness to it. Just as a mother feeds her child with her own hand while also gently taking back a bite from the child's mouth, so does this divine mother care for us. Tuka says: my meditation rests on the brick — and that very lovely form appears before me.

मराठी: आजसाठी: आमच्या आवडीनुसार त्याने हे रूप धारण केले — आणि त्यानंतर त्याचे नाव अनंत झाले. वाटा इतक्या सुलभ करून ठेवल्या आहेत की सर्वांना कळाव्यात — दुर्गम आकाशसुद्धा त्याचा साक्षीदार आहे. जशी एक आई आपल्या हाताने खाऊ घालते आणि मुलाच्या तोंडातला घास परत घेते, तशीच ही माउली आपली काळजी घेते. तुका म्हणतो: माझे ध्यान विटेवर आहे — आणि तीच सुंदर मूर्ती समोर दिसते.

Where this applies

• When you wonder why God seems to appear differently for different devotees
• When you feel the spiritual path is too hard or distant to reach
• When you need comfort from a mother's easy, unthinking tenderness
• When you sit down to meditate and want a simple, familiar image to hold onto

Related verses

• Abhanga 4481 — Tukaram promises that sincerely calling on the Lord's name, knowingly or unknowingly, with
• Abhanga 4482 — Tukaram teaches that no ritual equals sincerely speaking the Lord's name, that self-center
• Abhanga 4497 — Tukaram describes a life so soaked in devotion that Krishna's presence fills every ordinar
• Abhanga 2401 — When liberation already feels secure, the only thing left to want is the sweetness of lovi