Abhanga 2470
Since the infinite cannot be seen by human eyes, it is wiser and more honest to ask the divine to appear small and close enough to actually hold.
The verse
आम्हीं जाणावें तें काईं तुझें वर्म कोणे ठायीं । अंतपार नाहीं ऐसें श्रुति बोलती ॥१॥ होई मज तैसा मज तैसा साना सकुमार रुषीकेशा । पुरवीं माझी आशा भुजा चारी दाखवीं ॥ध्रु.॥ खालता सप्त ही पाताळा वरता स्वर्गाहूनि ढिसाळा । तो मी मस्यक डोळां कैसा पाहों आपला ॥२॥ मज असे हा भरवसा पढीयें वोसी तयां तैसा । पंढरीनिवासा तुका म्हणे गा विठोबा ॥३॥
Literal translation
How can we know your secret — Śruti say "no end, no shore". Become for me like that — small and tender Ruṣīkēśa — fulfill my desire — show four arms. Seven pātāḷas below, sky above — how can I see you small with my eyes. I have this trust — appear like that — Paṇḍharī-dweller, Tuka says, Viṭhōbā.
What it means
THE SHOW-FOUR-ARMS-AS-SMALL ABHANG.
The bhakta's request: hō'ī maja taisā maja taisā sānā sakumāra Ruṣīkēśā — puravīm mājhī āśā bhujā chārī dākhavīm — become for me small and tender Ruṣīkēśa — fulfill my desire — show four arms. Become for-me small-and-tender (sānā sakumāra) Ruṣīkēśa; fulfill-my-desire — show-the-four-arms. The bhakta wants the personal-Viṣṇu-form (four-arms = Viṣṇu's-iconic-pose), not the cosmic-Virāṭ-rūpa.
The cosmic-form-rejected: seven-pātāḷas-below, sky-above — how-can-I-see your-cosmic-head with-my-tiny-eyes. The infinite-cosmic-form is-unviewable; the bhakta-wants-the-graspable-personal-form.
[T]
For someone today
For today: Śruti say no-end; become small and tender — show four arms ; cosmic-form unviewable by human eyes.
Where this applies
- When you feel overwhelmed trying to intellectually grasp something too vast to understand
- When you would rather have a close, personal relationship with God than an abstract idea of him
- When you catch yourself demanding more than you can actually receive or hold
- When you need to trust that the divine will meet you at a scale you can relate to