Abhanga 2963
Tukaram says his devotion to Hari's story is not borrowed words but his own true mother, a bond so powerful it commands even the highest gods and holds back the pull of a corrupt age.
The verse
बोलाचे गौरव । नव्हे माझा हा अनुभव ॥१॥
माझी हरिकथा माउली । नव्हे आणिकांसी पांगिली ॥ध्रु.॥
व्याली वाढविलें । निजपदीं निजवलें ॥२॥
दाटली वो रसें । त्रिभुवन ब्रम्हरसें ॥३॥
विष्णु जोडी कर । माथां रज वंदी हर ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे बळ । तोरडीं हा कळिकाळ ॥५॥
Literal translation
Bōlāñce gauravā — (the)gauravā(formal-dignity) of mere-words; navhe mājhā hā anubhava — this is not myanubhava. Mājhī Hari-kathā māulī — myHari-kathāis (my)māulī(mother); navhe āṇikāmsī pāngilī — notpāngilī(borrowed, indebted) from others. Vyālī vāḍhavile — (she) gave-birth, raised (me); nija-padī nijavale — put (me) to sleep at (her)nija-pada(own-feet). Dāṭalī vō rase — densely-filled withrasa; tribhuvana brahma-rase — thetribhuvana(three-worlds) with thebrahma-rasa. Viṣṇu jōḍī kara — Viṣṇu joins (his) hands; māthām raja vandī Hara — Hara (Śiva) bows (his) head, (offering the)rajas(dust). Tukā says: baḷa — by (this)baḷa(strength); tōrāḍī hā kaḷi-kāḷa — thiskaḷi-kāḷaistōrāḍī(tied-up, manacled).
What it means
A striking 5-verse Hari-kathā-as-mother verse. The verse-image is unique: Tukārām claims-Hari-kathā as his-mother who-raised-him.
Verse 1: Bōlāñce gauravā — navhe mājhā hā anubhava — not the weight of mere words — this is my anubhava. The Tukārām-poetics-claim: my-speech is not mere-paṇḍita-words; it is anubhava.
Dhrūpada: Mājhī Hari-kathā māulī — navhe āṇikāmsī pāngilī — my Hari-kathā is my mother — not borrowed from others. The striking-image: Hari-kathā = my-mother. The bhakta-poet was raised by-Hari-kathā.
Verse 2: Vyālī vāḍhavile — nija-padī nijavale — gave-birth-and-raised — put to sleep at own-feet. The mother-image: Hari-kathā gave-birth, raised, put-to-sleep at-her-own-feet.
Verse 3: Dāṭalī vō rase — tribhuvana brahma-rase — densely-filled with rasa — three-worlds with brahma-rasa. The cosmic-claim: the Hari-kathā fills the three-worlds with brahma-rasa.
Verse 4 (the striking-claim): Viṣṇu jōḍī kara — māthām raja vandī Hara — Viṣṇu joins hands; Hara (Śiva) bows-head with-dust. The radical-claim: Viṣṇu and Śiva themselves honor the Hari-kathā. Pairs with 2934 Vedānta-vāhe-pāṇī — the supreme-things become-subordinate to bhakti-kathā.
Close: Tukā mhaṇe baḷa — tōrāḍī hā kaḷi-kāḷa — by this strength, kaḷi-kāḷa is tied-up. The eschatological-claim: the Hari-kathā-strength binds-Kali-time.
For someone today
Tukaram insists that what he speaks isn't just the polish of borrowed words — it comes from his own lived experience. He describes telling the story of Hari as his very mother, someone who isn't inherited or copied from anyone else. She's the one who gave birth to him, raised him, and lulled him to sleep at her own feet. This devotion fills the three worlds like a rich, overflowing essence, so powerful that even Vishnu folds his hands in respect and Shiva bows his head before it. With that strength, Tukaram says, even the corrupting pull of this troubled age is held in check.
मराठी: तुकाराम ठामपणे सांगतात की त्यांचे बोलणे नुसते उसने शब्द नाहीत — ते त्यांच्या स्वतःच्या अनुभवातून येते. हरिकथा सांगणे हीच आपली खरी आई आहे, असे ते म्हणतात — जी कोणाकडूनही उसनी घेतलेली नाही. तिनेच त्यांना जन्म दिला, वाढवले, आणि स्वतःच्या चरणाशी निजवले. ही भक्ती त्रिभुवनाला एखाद्या समृद्ध रसासारखी व्यापून टाकते, इतकी शक्तिशाली की खुद्द विष्णूही हात जोडतो आणि शिवही मस्तक झुकवतो. या शक्तीमुळेच, तुकाराम म्हणतात, या कठीण कलियुगाचा जोरही आवरला जातो.
Where this applies
- When you want your spiritual practice to come from lived experience rather than borrowed words
- When you think of your devotion as something as close and nurturing as a parent
- When you doubt that ordinary personal devotion could carry any real power against the world's difficulties
- When you want language for how central telling and hearing stories about the divine is to your own life