Abhanga 1735
Real love, like a mother's for her child, carries another's whole burden without expecting anything back, and the saints carry the bhakta the same way.
The verse
लेंकराचें हित । वाहे माउलीचें चित्त ॥१॥ ऐसी कळवळ्याची जाती । करी लाभेंविण प्रीती ॥ध्रु.॥ पोटीं भार वाहे । त्याचें सर्वस्व ही साहे ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे माझें । तैसे तुम्हां संतां ओझें ॥३॥
Literal translation
The child's hita — the mother's chitta bears. Such is kaḷavaḷā's nature — does prīti without lābha. Bears belly-burden — also bears all of his (existence). Tuka says: my burden — like that, the load on you saints.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| लेंकराचें हित | "the child's hita" |
| वाहे माउलीचें चित्त | "bears — mother's chitta" |
| ऐसी कळवळ्याची जाती | "such — kaḷavaḷā's nature" |
| करी लाभेंविण प्रीती | "does prīti — without lābha" |
| पोटीं भार वाहे | "belly-burden — bears" |
| त्याचें सर्वस्व ही साहे | "all of his (existence) — also bears" |
| तुका म्हणे माझें | "Tuka says — my burden" |
| तैसे तुम्हां संतां ओझें | "like that — to you saints — load" |
What it means
Mother-bears-child's-burden + saints-bear-bhakta's-burden abhang.
The opening: lēnkarācēm hita — vāhē mā'ulīcēm chitta — the child's hita — the mother's chitta bears. The mother's-chitta carries-the-child's-welfare-as-its-own.
The kaḷavaḷā-nature: aisī kaḷavaḷyācī jātī — karī lābhē-vīṇa prītī — such is kaḷavaḷā's nature — does prīti without lābha. Kaḷavaḷā = the surge of compassion-and-love; jātī = kind, nature. Such is the nature of compassionate-surge — it does love without expecting gain. (= unconditional-love is structurally-defined by no-return-expected.)
The double-burden: pōṭīm bhāra vāhē — tyācēm sarvasva hī sāhē — bears belly-burden — bears all of his (existence) too. Pōṭīm-bhāra = the burden in the belly (= the pregnancy-load); sarvasva sāhē = also-bears all-of-his-everything. Mother carries the pregnancy-load and then-after-birth carries all-of-the-child's-existence.
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē mājhēm — taisē tumhām samtām ōjhēm — Tuka says: my (burden) — like that — load on you saints. Like the mother's-bearing-of-the-child, the saints bear the bhakta's-load.
[T]
For someone today
For today: the child's good, the mother's chitta carries; such is the nature of compassionate-love — it does affection without any gain; she bears the belly-burden, and also bears all of his existence; Tuka says — my burden is like that — a load on you, saints.
Where this applies
- When you're a parent quietly carrying worry for your child's future without expecting any thanks for it
- When you wonder what unconditional love actually looks like in practice, not just in words
- When you realize a teacher or mentor has been carrying your struggles as their own concern
- When you feel too heavy a burden to carry alone and need to trust someone else to help hold it