संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 2819 of 4582

Abhanga 2819

This verse makes a simple reciprocal claim: God mirrors back whatever attitude you bring. If God feels like a lifeless stone to you, that is really a reflection of your own stone-like devotion. Whatever you tend and preserve with care eventually turns sweet, though inner obstacles and temptations will keep rising along the way. God is met through genuine feeling, not through ritual or qualification, so take hold of whatever love your own longing offers. Tukaram closes with a simple image: the kind of sprout you plant determines the kind of fruit you get. If your relationship with God feels dry, this verse invites you to look first at your own attitude, since that is likely shaping the outcome.

When your spiritual practice feels dry or lifeless and you want to trace it back to your own attitude.

When you nurture something with real care and trust that its sweetness will eventually show.

When inner struggles or temptations arise even as you try to stay devoted.

The verse

शिळा जया देव । तैसा फळे त्याचा भाव ॥१॥ होय जतन तें गोड । अंतरा येती नाड ॥ध्रु.॥ देव जोडे भावें । इच्छेचें तें प्रेम घ्यावें ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे मोड दावी । तैशीं फळें आलीं व्हावीं ॥३॥

Literal translation

Śiḷā jayā Deva — (if) Deva isśiḷā(stone) for someone; taisā fhaḷe tyāñcā bhāva — his bhāva yields like-that. Hōya jatana te gōḍa — (what) becomesjatana(preserved) is sweet (gōḍa); antarā yetī nāḍa — thenāḍa(snares, troubles) come to theantara(inside). Deva jōḍē bhāve — Deva is joined bybhāva; icchēñce te prema ghyāve — take thepremaof (the) desire. Tukā says: mōḍa dāvī — (as) themōḍa(sprout) shows; taiśīm phaḷe ālī vhāvī — so should the fruits come.

What it means

A short as-bhāva-so-Deva claim verse. Śiḷā jayā Deva — taisā fhaḷe tyāñcā bhāva — if Deva is stone for someone — his bhāva yields like-that. The reciprocal-claim: the way you treat Deva determines what Deva returns. If you treat Deva as a śiḷā (stone), your bhāva yields like-stone. (Compare 2369's canonical jayā chittīm jaisā bhāva — tayā javaḷa taisā Deva.)

The dhrūpada: hōya jatana te gōḍa — antarā yetī nāḍa — what is preserved becomes sweet; the snares come to the inside. Two-fold-observation: preservation-of-bhāva makes-it-sweet; meanwhile, the nāḍa (snares) come to the antara (inside, mind). The double-track of preserving-the-sweet and dealing-with-the-snares.

The second verse: Deva jōḍē bhāve — icchēñce te prema ghyāve — Deva is joined by bhāva; take the prema of (your) desire. The mechanism: bhāva-joins-Deva. And prema-of-desire is what to take.

The close: mōḍa dāvī — taiśīm phaḷe ālī vhāvī — (as) the sprout shows — so should the fruits come. The image: the kind-of-sprout determines the kind-of-fruit. Bhāva is the sprout; result is the fruit.

For someone today

मराठी: हा अभंग एक साधा परस्परसंबंधाचा दावा मांडतो — तुम्ही जो भाव आणता, तोच देव तुम्हाला परत दाखवतो. जर देव तुम्हाला दगडासारखा निर्जीव वाटत असेल, तर ते खरे तर तुमच्याच दगडासारख्या भावाचे प्रतिबिंब आहे. जे काही तुम्ही मायेने जपता ते शेवटी गोड बनते, जरी वाटेत मनातील अडथळे व मोह वारंवार डोके वर काढत राहिले तरी. देव विधी किंवा पात्रतेने नव्हे, तर खऱ्या भावाने भेटतो, म्हणून आपल्याच ओढीतून जे काही प्रेम मिळते ते स्वीकारावे. तुकाराम एका साध्या प्रतिमेने अभंग संपवतात — जसे अंकुर असेल तसेच फळ येते. जर देवाशी असलेले नाते कोरडे वाटत असेल, तर आधी स्वतःचा भाव तपासून पाहावा, कारण तोच परिणाम घडवत असतो, असे हा अभंग सुचवतो.

Where this applies

When your relationship with God or a practice feels dry or lifeless and you wonder why
When you're nurturing something with care and want reassurance the sweetness will eventually come
When you feel inner obstacles or temptations rising even while trying to stay devoted
When you want to check whether your own attitude is shaping a disappointing outcome