Abhanga 2765
A tender image of bhakti as mother and child. In the mother's chitta — the whole vyāpti is the baby's. Her body forgets itself; the struggle goes when she brings him near. He shows her the love-meal and climbs onto her body. Tukā clings at sants' feet, playfully-cleverly-lovingly. The image is precise: the bhakta-with-sants is the child-with-mother. The signs to look for: do I feel my struggle gone when near? Do I cling playfully without worry? Am I showing the love-meal and climbing on without self-consciousness? The mother-child model is the gold-standard.
The verse
मातेचिये चित्ती । अवघी बाळकाची व्याप्ति ॥१॥
देह विसरे आपुला । जवळीं घेतां सीण गेला ॥ध्रु.॥
दावी प्रेमभातें । आणि अंगावरि चढतें ॥२॥
तुका संतापुढें । पायीं झोंबे लाडें कोडें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Mātēchiye chittī — in the mother's chitta; avaghī bāḷakāñcī vyāpti — the wholevyāpti(extent, occupancy) is thebāḷaka(baby). Deha visare āpulā — (her) body forgets itself; javaḷīm ghētām sīṇa gēlā — bringing (the baby) near,sīṇa(struggle) is gone. Dāvī prēma-bhātē — (the baby) shows (his)prēma-bhāta(love-meal, the toy-feast); āṇi angāvari chaḍhate — and climbs onto the (mother's) body. Tukā: santāmpuḍhē — pāyīm jhōmbē lāḍē kōḍē — before the sants — clings at the feetlāḍē kōḍē(playfully, cleverly, lovingly).
What it means
A tender mother-child image-verse. Mātēchiye chittī — avaghī bāḷakāñcī vyāpti — in the mother's chitta — the whole occupancy is the baby's. Vyāpti — occupancy, extent, residence — the baby occupies all-of-the-mother's-chitta. Nothing-else has space there.
The dhrūpada: deha visare āpulā — javaḷīm ghētām sīṇa gēlā — (her) body forgets itself; bringing (the baby) near, struggle is gone. The mother's-body forgets itself in the presence of the baby. Bringing the baby near makes her sīṇa (struggle, fatigue) disappear. The proximity-cure of motherhood.
The second verse: dāvī prēma-bhātē — āṇi angāvari chaḍhate — (the baby) shows theprēma-bhāta(love-meal) — and climbs onto the (mother's) body. Prēma-bhāta is the same as 2753's prēma-bhātukē — the toy-meal-of-love that children play. The baby shows-the-game and climbs-on-the-mother.
The close pivots to the bhakta-mode: Tukā santāmpuḍhē — pāyīm jhōmbē lāḍē kōḍē — before the sants — Tukā clings at the feet, playfully-cleverly-lovingly. Jhōmbē — cling, grasp-onto. Lāḍē kōḍē — playfully and cleverly (with-affection-and-with-skillful-game-playing). The bhakta is the child; the sants are the mother; he clings to the feet the way the baby climbs onto the mother's body.
For someone today
A tender image of bhakti as mother and child. In the mother's chitta — the whole vyāpti is the baby's. Her body forgets itself; the struggle goes when she brings him near. He shows her the love-meal and climbs onto her body. Tukā clings at sants' feet, playfully-cleverly-lovingly. The image is precise: the bhakta-with-sants is the child-with-mother. The signs to look for: do I feel my struggle gone when near? Do I cling playfully without worry? Am I showing the love-meal and climbing on without self-consciousness? The mother-child model is the gold-standard.
मराठी: भक्तीचं आई आणि बाळाच्या नात्यासारखं एक हळुवार चित्र. आईच्या चित्तात संपूर्ण व्याप्ती फक्त बाळाचीच असते. तिचा देह स्वतःला विसरतो; बाळाला जवळ घेतल्यावर तिचा शीण निघून जातो. बाळ तिला प्रेमाचा खेळ दाखवतं आणि तिच्या अंगावर चढतं. तुका संतांच्या पायाशी लाडिकपणे, चतुराईने आणि प्रेमाने बिलगतो. ही प्रतिमा नेमकी आहे — संतांसोबतचा भक्त म्हणजे आईसोबतचं बाळच. ओळखण्याच्या खुणा अशा — जवळ गेल्यावर माझा शीण नाहीसा होतो का? मी काळजी न करता लाडिकपणे बिलगतो का? मी संकोच न बाळगता प्रेमाचा खेळ दाखवून चढून बसतो का? आई-बाळाचं नातं हेच खरं आदर्श मॉडेल आहे.
Where this applies
- When you hold back from a teacher or community out of self-consciousness instead of trusting them fully
- When you're exhausted and need to remember what genuine closeness with someone you love feels like
- When you're trying to understand what unguarded, childlike devotion actually looks like
- When you want to stop performing and just rest completely in someone's presence