Abhanga 2444
Ask God for love as openly as a child asks a mother for milk, and be willing to drop your pretenses to get close.
The verse
पांडुरंगे पांडुरंगे । माझे गंगे माउलिये ॥१॥ पान्हां घाली प्रेमधारा । पूर क्षीरा लोटों दे ॥ध्रु.॥ अंगें अंग मेळउनी । करीं धणी फेडाया ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे घेइन उड्या । सांडिन कुड्या भावना ॥३॥
Literal translation
Pāṇḍurangē, Pāṇḍurangē — my Gangā, Mother. Feed milk, set the prema-flow — let the milk-flood pour. Limb-to-limb gathering — fulfill the fill. Tuka says: I'll jump — abandon distorted-feelings.
What it means
THE PĀṆḌURAṄGĒ-AS-MOTHER-GAṄGĀ FEEDING-PREMA-MILK ABHANG.
THE OPENING: Pāṇḍurangē Pāṇḍurangē — mājhē Gangē mā'uliyē — Pāṇḍurangē, Pāṇḍurangē — my Gangā, Mother. Pāṇḍurangē (feminine), Pāṇḍurangē — my-Gangā, my-Mother. The feminine-vocative + Gangā-equivalence + Mother-naming — three layered-femininizations of-the-Lord.
THE PREMA-MILK FEEDING: pānhām ghālī prēma-dhārā — pūra kṣīrā lōṭōm dē — feed milk, set the prema-flow — let the milk-flood pour. Pānhām = milk-let-down (the lactation-response in a nursing-mother). Feed-milk; set the-prema-flow; let-the-milk-flood pour. The infant-bhakta asking the Mother-God to-let-down-her-milk — the most-tender Mother-bhakti image.
The merge: angē anga mēḷa'uni — karīm dhaṇī phēḍāyā — limb-to-limb gathering — fulfill the fill. Limb-to-limb-gathering with-the-Mother; satiation-of-thirst.
[T]
For someone today
For today: Pāṇḍurangē, my Gangā-Mother; feed the prema-milk — let the milk-flood pour; limb-to-limb gather; I'll jump-and-abandon distorted-feelings.
Where this applies
- When you need to feel mothered and comforted, not just corrected or instructed
- When you are craving real closeness with God instead of distant, formal respect
- When you realize you are holding onto pretense or false feelings that keep you at arm's length
- When you want permission to ask for tenderness instead of always having to be strong