Abhanga 1933

Own everything you've said, ask forgiveness honestly, and trust that love already given will carry your hopes to fulfillment.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

Closes-the-36-abhang-letter-cluster + Pāṇḍurange-as-mother-forgive-and-fulfill abhang.

Historical-context: This abhang closes the 36-abhang "letter-sent-with-the-saints" cluster (1898-1933). The closing-marker ॥३६॥ at the end of the source-text confirms this is the 36th-and-final abhang of-the-cluster, per the colophon at 1897.

The opening: bōlilōm tē ātām — kāhīm jāṇatām nēṇatām — what I have spoken now — some knowing, some not-knowing. Acknowledgment: some-of-what-I've-said is-conscious, some-unconscious.

The forgive-offenses petition with mother-imagery: kṣamā karāvē anyāya — Pāṇḍurangē mājhē māya — forgive my offenses — Pāṇḍurange — my mother. The address-to-Pāṇḍuranga-as-mother: forgive my offenses, mother-Pāṇḍurange. (Echoes 1779's Pāṇḍurange-mother-bhakta-rescuer.)

The stuti-nindā line: stutī nindā kēlī — lāgē pāhijē sāhilī — stuti and nindā I have made — (it) needs to be borne. Stuti = praise; nindā = blame, criticism. Both praise-and-blame have-been-made in this letter; you-must-bear-them-both. (Echoes 1812's stuti taisī nindā — mānā sama chi Govindā.)

The closing-petition with lāḍa: Tukā mhaṇē lāḍa — dilā taisē puravā kōḍa — Tuka says: the lāḍa — given — fulfill the longing. Lāḍa = affectionate-pampering; kōḍa = longing, fond-desire. Fulfill-the-longing as-(parental)-pampering-given.

This abhang closes the 36-abhang letter-cluster with the mother-petition register — forgive-offenses, accept-praise-and-blame, fulfill-the-longing. Foundational closing-formula for the letter-sent-with-saints. The cluster ends in mother-bhakti-mood.

[T]

For someone today

For today: what I have spoken — now — some knowing, some not-knowing; forgive my offenses — Pāṇḍurange — my mother; stuti and nindā I have made — (it) needs to be borne; Tuka says — the lāḍa — given — fulfill the longing as such.

Where this applies

• When you look back at what you've said to someone and realize some of it was careless
• When you need to ask forgiveness from someone you love without over-explaining yourself
• When you've both praised and criticized someone in the same conversation and hope they take it all in stride
• When you're relying on someone's established affection to see a long-held hope through to completion

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 4273 — If your time, money, and attention flow easily to everything except God and genuine goodne
• Abhanga 2403 — For today: people change as one approaches the Lord; now beautiful are those feet, my Moth