Abhanga 2964
After hardship, arriving home in devotion resolves old sorrows completely, leaving only quiet fullness where words used to be.
The verse
सेवट तो भला । माझा बहु गोड जाला ॥१॥
आलों निजांच्या माहेरा । भेटों रखुमाईंच्या वरा ॥ध्रु.॥
परिहार जाला । अवघ्या दुःखाचा मागिल्या ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे वाणी । गेली आतां घेऊं धणी ॥३॥
Literal translation
Sevaṭa tō bhalā — the end is good; mājhā bahu gōḍa jālā — it has become very sweet for me. Ālōm nijāñcyā māherā — I have come to themāhera(mother's-home) of (my)nija(own); bhēṭōm Rukhumāīñcyā varā — meetingRukhumāī'shusband. Parihāra jālā — theparihāra(resolution) has happened; avaghyā duḥkhāñcā māgilyā — of all the pastduḥkhas. Tukā says: vāṇī — (my) speech; gelī ātām gheūm dhaṇī — has gone — now takedhaṇī(fullness).
What it means
A short end-is-good relief verse. Sevaṭa tō bhalā — mājhā bahu gōḍa jālā — the end is good — very sweet for me. The opening-relief.
Ālōm nijāñcyā māherā — bhēṭōm Rukhumāīñcyā varā — came to mother's-home of own — meeting Rukmiṇī's husband. The image: the bhakta's-soul came-home to the māhera (in Marathi culture, the woman's-natal-home, the place-of-affection); the māhera is meeting-with-Viṭṭhal (Rukmiṇī's-husband). The image of bhakta-as-woman-returning-to-māhera.
Parihāra jālā — avaghyā duḥkhāñcā māgilyā — resolution happened — of all past duḥkhas. The completion-claim.
The close: Tukā mhaṇe vāṇī — gelī ātām gheūm dhaṇī — vāṇī gone — now take fullness. Vāṇī-gone — speech-departed (= silence-of-completion); gheūm dhaṇī — take-the-fullness (full-satisfaction).
For someone today
A useful end-is-good relief prayer. The end is good — it has become very sweet for me. (I) have come to the mother's-home of (my) own — to meet Rukmiṇī's husband. The resolution (of) all the past duḥkhas has happened. (My) speech has gone — now (I) take fullness. The verse permits the bhakta's completion-relief: (1) end-is-sweet; (2) came-home to māhera; (3) past-duḥkhas resolved; (4) speech-departs into silence-and-fullness. The discipline-warrant: the bhakti-completion brings the māhera-relief.
Where this applies
- When someone has endured a long, painful stretch and finally feels relief at the end of it
- When a person returns after years away and feels the pure comfort of coming home
- When old grief finally lifts and there is nothing left to explain or justify
- When words feel unnecessary because the sense of arrival and peace speaks for itself