Abhanga 2824
Like a mother who feels no disgust at her baby's mess and delights simply in caring for him, God cares for a devotee with complete, undisgusted tenderness regardless of their flaws.
The verse
काय नाहीं माता गौरवीत बाळा । काय नाहीं लळा पाळीत ते ॥१॥
काय नाहीं त्याची करीत ते सेवा । काय नाहीं जीवा गोमटें तें ॥ध्रु.॥
अमंगळपणें कांटाळा न धरी । उचलोनि करीं कंठीं लावी ॥२॥
लेववी आपुले अंगें अळंकार । संतोषाये फार देखोनियां ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे स्तुति योग्य नाहीं परी । तुम्हां लाज थोरी अंकिताची ॥४॥
Literal translation
Kāya nāhī mātā gauravīt bāḷā — what does the mother not (do) —gauravīt(honoring) the baby?; kāya nāhī laḷā pāḷīta te — whatlaḷā(cherishing) does she notpāḷīta(perform)? Kāya nāhī tyāñci karīt te sevā — what does she not do in his sevā?; kāya nāhī jīvā gōmaṭe te — what is notgōmaṭe(cherished, sweet) in (her)jīva(life)? Amangaḷa-paṇē kāmṭāḷā na dharī — she does not holdkāmṭāḷā(disgust, repulsion) by (the baby's)amangaḷa-paṇa(un-cleanness); uchalōnī karī kaṇṭhī lāvī — lifting (the baby) with hand, she clasps (him) at thekaṇṭha(neck, throat). Levavī āpule ange aḷankāra — with her ownanga(body), shelevavī(dresses) (him) inaḷankāra(ornaments); santōṣāye phāra dekhōnīyām — by very-muchsantōṣa(contentment), seeing (him). Tukā says: stuti yōgya nāhī parī — (I am) notstuti-yōgya(praise-worthy), but; tumhām lāja thōrī ankitāñcī — you have greatlāja(modesty-shame-pride) for (your)ankita(marked-as-yours).
What it means
A tender mother-Lord-and-bhakta-baby meditation verse. Four-fold rhetorical kāya nāhī (what doesn't (she)) — establishing the mother's full-care-of-the-baby.
1: Mother honors the baby (gauravīt bāḷā) — even though the baby is dependent and unable, the mother honors him.
2: Mother cherishes-and-pampers (laḷā pāḷīta) — the mother does laḷā (cherishing, affectionate-spoiling) repeatedly.
3: Mother does all-his-sevā — bathing, feeding, dressing, cleaning.
4: Everything in her life is sweet-in-relation-to-him (kāya nāhī jīvā gōmaṭe) — her jīva is centered-on-him.
The dhrūpada-extension: amangaḷa-paṇē kāmṭāḷā na dharī — uchalōnī karī kaṇṭhī lāvī — she doesn't hold disgust at the baby's un-cleanness — she lifts (him) and clasps (him) at the neck. The baby is amangaḷa (un-clean, dirty with food, etc.); the mother does not feel kāmṭāḷā (disgust). She uchalōnī (lifts-with-care) and kaṇṭhī-lāvī (clasps-at-the-neck — the throat-embrace).
The ornaments-image: levavī āpule ange aḷankāra — santōṣāye phāra dekhōnīyām — with her own body she dresses him in ornaments — very-contented seeing him. Āpule ange — with her own body — meaning with her own hand, with personal effort. She levavī (dresses, decorates) him in aḷankāra (ornaments). And santōṣāye phāra dekhōnīyām — very-content, seeing-him. The mother's-satisfaction is in seeing the adorned child.
The close: Tukā mhaṇe — stuti yōgya nāhī parī — tumhām lāja thōrī ankitāñcī — I am not stuti-yōgya (praise-worthy), but you have great lāja (modesty-shame-pride) for (your) ankita (marked-as-yours). The bhakta's praise-unworthiness is not the operative-fact; the Lord's-lāja-thōrī-for-his-ankita (great-pride-as-mother-figure for those-marked-as-his) is. The Lord-as-mother is proud-of (in the mother-bhakta sense) those he has ankita-marked-as-his.
For someone today
This is a tender meditation comparing God's care to a mother's care for her baby. Tukaram lists everything a mother does without hesitation: she honors her baby, cherishes and pampers him, does every bit of his care herself, and everything in her life becomes sweet simply because he is in it. She feels no disgust even when the baby is messy or unclean, she just lifts him up and holds him close at her neck. With her own hands she dresses him in ornaments, and she feels deep contentment just from looking at him. Tukaram closes by admitting he is not worthy of such praise, yet insists that God feels the same fierce, protective pride in those he claims as his own. The lesson is that God cares for a devotee the way that mother cares for her child, with complete, undisgusted tenderness, regardless of any flaws.
मराठी: देवाची काळजी आईच्या आपल्या बाळाविषयीच्या काळजीशी तुलना करणारे हे एक हळुवार चिंतन आहे. आई आपल्या बाळासाठी काय करत नाही, याची यादी तुकाराम मांडतात — ती बाळाचा गौरव करते, त्याला लाडाने वाढवते, त्याची प्रत्येक सेवा स्वतः करते, आणि तो आहे म्हणूनच तिच्या आयुष्यातील प्रत्येक गोष्ट गोड बनते. बाळ मलिन असले तरी तिला किळस वाटत नाही, ती त्याला उचलून घेते आणि गळ्याशी घट्ट धरते. स्वतःच्या हातांनी ती त्याला अलंकार घालते, आणि त्याला पाहूनच तिला खूप समाधान वाटते. शेवटी तुकाराम कबूल करतात की मी अशा स्तुतीस पात्र नाही, तरीही देव आपल्या माणसांबद्दल हीच तीव्र, संरक्षक अभिमानाची भावना बाळगतो असे ते ठामपणे सांगतात. यातून हेच शिकायला मिळते की देव भक्ताची काळजी त्या आईसारखीच घेतो — कोणत्याही उणिवांची पर्वा न करता, पूर्ण, किळसविरहित मायेने.
Where this applies
- When you feel unworthy of love because of your flaws or mistakes, literal or otherwise
- When you're caring for someone vulnerable and want a model of complete, undisgusted tenderness
- When you doubt whether God or someone who loves you truly delights in you as you are
- When you need reassurance that being claimed by someone who loves you is enough, even without earning it