Abhanga 2827
True welcome and devotion are given through the heart, not material gifts, and beholding what you love can loosen the knots that bind you.
The verse
सोडियेल्या गांठी । दरुषणें कृष्णभेटी ॥१॥
करिती नारी अक्षवाणें । जीवभाव देती दानें ॥ध्रु.॥
उपजल्या काळें । रूपें मोहीलीं सकळें ॥२॥
तुका तेथें वारी । एकी आडोनि दुसरी ॥३॥
Literal translation
Soḍiyēlyā gāṭhī — thegāṭhī(knots, bondage-knots) were untied; daruṣaṇē Krṣṇa-bhēṭī — at thedaruṣaṇa(darśana) — Krṣṇa-meeting. Karitī nārī akṣa-vāne — thenārī(women) perform theakṣa-vāne(welcoming-rice-ritual); jīva-bhāva dētī dāne — they givejīva-bhāvaasdāna. Upajalyā kāḷe — at theupajalyā(birth-time); rūpē mōhilīm sakaḷē — all therūpa(forms, those-present) weremōhilīm(enchanted) (by his form). Tukā tēthē vārī — Tukā there warding (warding-off, blocking); ekī āḍōnī dusarī — one (woman) blocked by another (in the crowd).
What it means
A 4-verse continuation of 2826's Krṣṇa-janma narrative, focusing on the women's-welcoming-ritual after the birth.
1. Knots untied at darśana: soḍiyēlyā gāṭhī — daruṣaṇē Krṣṇa-bhēṭī — the knots were untied — at the darśana, Krṣṇa-meeting. The gāṭhī are simultaneously the prison-bondage-knots (which fell off Vasudeva-Devakī) AND the inner-karma-knots (of the bhakta whom Krṣṇa-darśana releases). The double-meaning is intentional.
2. Women's akṣa-vāne: karitī nārī akṣa-vāne — jīva-bhāva dētī dāne — the women perform the akṣa-vāne (welcoming-rice-ritual); they give jīva-bhāva as dāna. The akṣa-vāne is a traditional-Maharashtra ritual: at a birth (or auspicious-occasion), women hold-grains-of-rice (akṣata) and welcome the new-arrival by ritual-throwing-or-sprinkling. The image: the women of Gokula performing-akṣa-vāne for the newborn Krṣṇa. Jīva-bhāva dētī dāne — they give jīva-bhāva (life-feeling) as dāna — meaning, their gift IS their feeling-of-love, not material-things.
3. All rūpas enchanted at birth: upajalyā kāḷe — rūpē mōhilīm sakaḷē — at the birth-time, all rūpas (those-present) were enchanted (by his form). Rūpa — forms — those-present, having-bodies. Sakaḷe mōhilīm — all-enchanted. The newborn's-form is so-beautiful-that all-those-present are spellbound.
4. Tukārām's witnessing: Tukā tēthē vārī — ekī āḍōnī dusarī — Tukā there warding — one (blocked) by another. The cryptic-line: Tukārām imagines-himself-there and is warding (vārī = blocking, warding-off — or perhaps watching). Ekī āḍōnī dusarī — one (woman, in the crowd) is in-front-of (blocking-the-view-of) another. The image is of the crowd of women jostling to see the newborn; Tukārām (in his imagination) is among them, with one in-front-of another — the joyful chaos of the welcoming-crowd.
For someone today
This verse continues Tukaram's imaginative retelling of Krishna's birth, focusing on the women who welcome him. At the sight of the newborn, inner knots come undone, the same knots that bound Vasudev and Devaki also loosen in the hearts of anyone who beholds Krishna. The women of Gokul perform the traditional rice-welcoming ritual, but what they truly offer is not rice, it is their own heartfelt love, given freely as a gift. Everyone present, Tukaram says, is utterly enchanted by the beauty of the newborn's form. In the final line, Tukaram imagines himself right there in the crowd, one woman jostling in front of another to catch a glimpse, caught up in the same joyful chaos. The lesson is that you can imaginatively place yourself inside a sacred, joyous moment, and that pure attention and love, freely given, is itself the real offering, one that can loosen whatever knot of worry is binding you.
मराठी: हा अभंग तुकारामांच्या कृष्णजन्माच्या कल्पनारम्य वर्णनाचा पुढचा भाग आहे, ज्यात कृष्णाचे स्वागत करणाऱ्या स्त्रियांचे चित्रण आहे. नवजात बाळाला पाहताच अंतरीच्या गाठी सुटतात — वसुदेव-देवकीला बांधणाऱ्या गाठी जशा सुटल्या, तशाच कृष्णदर्शनाने कोणाच्याही मनातील गाठीही सुटतात. गोकुळातील स्त्रिया पारंपरिक अक्षतांचा स्वागतविधी करतात, पण त्या खरे तर अक्षता देत नाहीत, तर आपले मनापासूनचे प्रेमच मुक्तपणे भेट म्हणून देतात. तिथे उपस्थित प्रत्येकजण त्या नवजात बाळाच्या रूपाने पूर्णपणे मोहित झालेला आहे, असे तुकाराम सांगतात. शेवटच्या ओळीत तुकाराम स्वतःला त्या गर्दीत उभे राहिलेले कल्पितात — एक झलक पाहण्यासाठी एकमेकींना ढकलणाऱ्या स्त्रियांमध्ये, त्याच आनंदी गलक्यात सामील होऊन. यातून हेच शिकायला मिळते की एखाद्या पवित्र, आनंदी क्षणात कल्पनेने स्वतःला सामावून घेता येते, आणि निखळ लक्ष व मुक्तपणे दिलेले प्रेम हीच खरी भेट असते, जी मनातील कोणतीही चिंतेची गाठ सोडवू शकते.
Where this applies
- When you want to imagine yourself present at a joyous, sacred event rather than just reading about it
- When you want to give someone your heartfelt attention as a gift, even without material offerings
- When you're part of an excited, jostling crowd trying to catch sight of something wonderful
- When simply beholding something beautiful releases a knot of tension or worry in you