Abhanga 2829
This verse celebrates the overflowing joy that followed Krishna's birth in Gokul, a happiness Tukaram says has no end and no shore, impossible to fully count. Everyone in Nanda's house, men and women alike, is bursting with delight over the baby Krishna. They raise festive poles and door-festoons, tell stories, and sing songs together. Tukaram's closing point is that this very festivity, this rhythm of celebration, is itself what pierces everyone's heart with Govinda's presence. The lesson is that joyful celebration, decorating, gathering, singing, telling stories, is not a distraction from devotion but can itself be the very thing that draws people into God's presence.
The verse
गोकुळीच्या सुखा । अंतपार नाहीं लेखा ॥१॥
बाळकृष्ण नंदा घरीं । आनंदल्या नरनारी ॥ध्रु.॥
गुढिया तोरणें । करिती कथा गाती गाणें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे छंदें । येणें वेधिलीं गोविंदें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Gōkuḷīñcyā sukhā — of Gokuḷa'ssukha(joy); anta-pāra nāhī lekhā — no end-no-shore oflekhā(accounting). Bāḷa-Krṣṇa Nandā gharī — baby-Krṣṇa, in Nanda's house; ānandalyā nara-nārī — men-women areānandalyā(joyful, gladdened). Guḍiyā tōraṇē — (they raise)guḍī(festive-pole) andtōraṇa(door-festoon); karitī kathā gātī gāṇē — they performkathāand sing songs. Tukā says: chandē — yeṇē vēdhilīm Govindē — by thischanda(passion-rhythm) — all (were)vēdhilīm(pierced, enchanted) by Govinda.
What it means
The 4th-stanza of the 5-abhang Krṣṇa-janma-līlā cluster (2826-2830). The Gokuḷa-celebration after-the-birth.
Gōkuḷīñcyā sukhā — anta-pāra nāhī lekhā — of Gokuḷa's joy — no-end-no-shore of accounting. The opening hyperbole: the joy is uncountable, has-no-shore (anta-pāra).
Bāḷa-Krṣṇa Nandā gharī — ānandalyā nara-nārī — baby-Krṣṇa in Nanda's house — men-women joyful. The simple-celebratory-image.
Guḍiyā tōraṇē — karitī kathā gātī gāṇē — (they raise) guḍī and tōraṇa — they perform kathā and sing songs. The Marathi festive-decoration vocabulary: guḍī (the festive-pole — still raised on Gudi-Pāḍvā in Maharashtra) and tōraṇa (the door-festoon of flowers-or-mango-leaves). The festival-program: kathā (storytelling) + gāṇē (song-singing).
Tukā mhaṇe chandē — yeṇē vēdhilīm Govindē — Tukā: by thischanda(passion-rhythm) — all (were)vēdhilīm(pierced, enchanted) by Govinda. The diagnostic: the celebration-rhythm itself enchants everyone with Govinda. The festival-mode is bhakti-mode.
For someone today
This verse celebrates the overflowing joy that followed Krishna's birth in Gokul, a happiness Tukaram says has no end and no shore, impossible to fully count. Everyone in Nanda's house, men and women alike, is bursting with delight over the baby Krishna. They raise festive poles and door-festoons, tell stories, and sing songs together. Tukaram's closing point is that this very festivity, this rhythm of celebration, is itself what pierces everyone's heart with Govinda's presence. The lesson is that joyful celebration, decorating, gathering, singing, telling stories, is not a distraction from devotion but can itself be the very thing that draws people into God's presence.
मराठी: गोकुळात कृष्णजन्मानंतर उसळलेल्या आनंदाचे वर्णन हा अभंग करतो — तुकाराम म्हणतात की या आनंदाला अंतच नाही, पार नाही, त्याची मोजदाद करता येत नाही. नंदाच्या घरात स्त्री-पुरुष सर्वजण बाळकृष्णाच्या आनंदाने ओथंबून गेले आहेत. ते गुढ्या-तोरणे उभारतात, कथा सांगतात, आणि एकत्र गाणी गातात. तुकारामांचा शेवटचा मुद्दा असा आहे की हा उत्सवच, हा आनंदाचा तालच, सर्वांच्या मनाला गोविंदाच्या उपस्थितीने भारावून टाकतो. यातून हेच शिकायला मिळते की आनंदी उत्सव साजरा करणे, सजावट करणे, एकत्र येणे, गाणे म्हणणे, कथा सांगणे — हे भक्तीपासून विचलित करणारे नसून, तेच माणसांना देवाच्या सान्निध्यात ओढून आणणारे साधन ठरू शकते.
Where this applies
- When you think devotion has to feel serious or quiet to count as real
- When your family or community is planning a festival and wonders if the fun distracts from the sacred
- When you are decorating your home or gathering people to sing and tell stories together
- When you feel joy overflowing and are not sure whether to treat it as separate from your spiritual life