Abhanga 2643
On meeting the mother-and-father, all shrinking-shyness is broken. The pleasure enjoyed is — eating with the mouth free. The best is for the child — the mother puts it to the lips. Tukā: the fill-quenching happened; joy doesn't fit in the mind.
The verse
मायबापाचिये भेटी । अवघ्या तुटी संकोचा ॥१॥
भोगिलें तें आहे सुख । खातां मुख मोकळें ॥ध्रु.॥
उत्तम तें बाळासाटीं । लावी ओठीं माउली ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे जाली धणी । आनंद मनीं न समाये ॥३॥
Literal translation
On the mother-father meeting (māyabāpāñchī bhēṭī), all shrinking-shyness (sankōcha) is broken. The pleasure that has been enjoyed — eating with the mouth-free (mukha mōkaḷē). The best is for the child — the mother puts it to the lips. Tukā says: the dhaṇī (fill-quenching, satisfaction) happened — joy doesn't fit in the mind.
What it means
A small, somatically-precise reunion-verse. Māyabāpāñchī bhēṭī — avaghyā tuṭī sankōchā — on the mother-father meeting, all shrinking-shyness is broken. Sankōcha — the involuntary shrinking-shyness one feels in formal settings, in others' houses, with strangers. Avaghyā tuṭī — all of it is broken. The mother-father meeting dissolves every form of sankōcha one might be carrying.
The dhrūpada names a specific consequence: bhōgilēm tē āhē sukha — khātām mukha mōkaḷē — the pleasure that has been enjoyed — eating with the mouth free. Mukha mōkaḷē — mouth free, mouth open — the eating-without-self-consciousness that only happens at the family-meal. At others' houses one eats with shrinking-mouth; at the parent's table, the mouth opens.
The second verse: uttama tē bāḷāsāṭī — lāvī ōṭhīm māulī — the best is for the child — the mother puts it to the lips. The canonical mother-gesture: she takes the uttama (choicest portion) and puts it directly to the child's lips. The child does not have to reach for it.
The close: jālī dhaṇī — ānanda manīm na samāyē — fill-quenching has happened; joy does not fit in the mind. Dhaṇī (fill-quenching, full-satisfaction) — the meal-completion at its best. Na samāyē — does not fit, does not accommodate — joy exceeds the mind's capacity.
For someone today
If you remember what eating felt like at the mother's table — mouth-free, no sankōcha, the best portion placed directly to your lips — you have the experiential anchor for this verse. Tukārām makes the bhakti-reunion that same kind of meeting. The signs are recognizable: shrinking-shyness gone, eating mouth-free, the best portion given before you even ask, joy that doesn't fit in the mind. When you find a refuge where these signs land, you have found the māyabāpāñchī bhēṭī state.
मराठी: आईच्या घरी जेवताना जे वाटायचे ते तुम्हाला आठवत असेल — 'मुख मोकळे', कसलाही संकोच नाही, सर्वोत्तम घास थेट ओठांना लावला जाणे — तर या अभंगाचा अनुभव-आधार तुमच्याकडे आधीच आहे. तुकाराम भक्तीतील पुनर्भेटीलाही तशीच भेट म्हणतात. त्याची लक्षणे ओळखता येण्यासारखी आहेत — संकोच नाहीसा होणे, तोंड मोकळेपणाने उघडून जेवणे, न मागताच सर्वोत्तम घास मिळणे, आणि मनात न मावणारा आनंद. जिथे ही लक्षणे जुळतात असा आश्रय सापडला, की समजावे तीच 'मायबापाची भेट' झाली आहे.
Where this applies
- The bhakti-reunion experience as mother-child meeting
- Recognizing genuine refuge by the mukha-mōkaḷē eating-with-mouth-free criterion
- The mother-gesture as the canonical care-act
- A daily test — does joy fit in the mind, or does it not fit?