Abhanga 2976
Gazing at the divine with full attention dissolves the sense of separateness, and once you truly meet God he never turns away, however small or humble his form first appears.
The verse
पाहातां रूप डोळां भरें । अंतर नुरे वेगळें । इच्छावशें खेळ मांडी । अवघें सांडी बाहेरी ॥१॥
तो हा नंदानंदन बाइये । यासी काय परिचार वो ॥ध्रु.॥
दिसतो हा नव्हे तैसा । असे दिशाव्यापक । लाघव हा खोळेसाटीं । होतां भेटी परतेना ॥२॥
म्हणोनि उभी ठालीये । परतलीये या वाटा । आड करोनियां तुका । जो या लोकां दाखवितो ॥३॥
Literal translation
Pāhātām rūpa ḍōḷām bhare — looking at (the)rūpa(form), (the) eye is filled; antara nure vegaḷe — no difference (= no separateness) remains inside; icchā-vaśe khēḷa māṇḍī — by theicchā(will), (he) plays thekhēḷa(game); avaghe sāṇḍī bāherī — leaves everything outside. Tō hā Nanda-nandana bāiye — this isNanda-nandana(Nanda's-son, Krṣṇa), Obāye(girl-friend); yāsī kāya parichāra vō — what formal-service (does he need)? Disatō hā navhe taisā — (he) seems (one way), but is not so; ase diśā-vyāpaka — isdiśā-vyāpaka(all-directions-pervading); lāghava hā khōḷe-sāṭīm — thelāghava(cleverness, trick) is for thekhōḷē(cradle-cloth, swaddle); hōtām bhēṭī paratenā — once meeting (happens), (he) does not turn back. Mhaṇōnī ubhī ṭhāliye — therefore, (I) stood; paratalīye yā vāṭā — turned-back from this path; āḍa karōnīyā Tukā — makingTukāa screen; jō yā lōkām dākhavitō — (the Lord) shows (himself) to (these) people.
What it means
A 3-verse striking Krṣṇa-stuti verse. The verse is spoken-as-a-female-bhakta — bāye (girl-friend) is the addressee — adopting the gopī-voice.
Verse 1: Pāhātām rūpa ḍōḷām bhare — antara nure vegaḷe — icchā-vaśe khēḷa māṇḍī — avaghe sāṇḍī bāherī — looking at the form, the eye is filled — no separateness remains inside — by icchā, he plays the game — leaves everything outside. The opening: Krṣṇa's-form fills-the-eye; inner-separateness is gone; his-game is by-his-own-will.
Dhrūpada: Tō hā Nanda-nandana bāiye — yāsī kāya parichāra vō — this is Nanda-nandana, O girl-friend — what formal-service does he need? The image: Krṣṇa-as-Nanda-nandana (the cowherd-boy) doesn't-need formal-ritualistic-service.
Verse 2: Disatō hā navhe taisā — ase diśā-vyāpaka — lāghava hā khōḷe-sāṭīm — hōtām bhēṭī paratenā — seems one way, isn't so — is all-directions-pervading — the trick is for the cradle-cloth — once met, doesn't turn back. The paradox: the small-baby-Krṣṇa is all-directions-pervading; the lāghava (the small-form-trick) is for the khōḷē (cradle-cloth — the limited-bodily-form); once-the-meeting-happens, the Lord-doesn't-turn-back.
Close: Mhaṇōnī ubhī ṭhāliye — paratalīye yā vāṭā — āḍa karōnīyā Tukā — jō yā lōkām dākhavitō — therefore (I) stood — turned-back-from-this-path — making Tukā a screen — (the Lord) is shown to people. The closing-claim: Tukārām is a screen (āḍa) through-which-the-Lord-shows-himself to-people. (Pairs with 2940 sāḷunkī-myna — Tukārām-as-trained-vehicle.)
For someone today
This is a striking hymn of praise to Krṣṇa, spoken in the voice of a gopī. When I look at his form, my eyes fill with it, and no sense of separateness remains inside me — by his own will he plays out his game, leaving everything else behind. This is Nanda's son, my friend — what formal ritual could he possibly need? He seems to be one thing, but he isn't only that: he is present in every direction. The small, playful form is just for the cradle-cloth — once you have truly met him, he never turns away. So I stood still, turned back from my old path, and let Tukārām become a screen through which the Lord shows himself to people. Three things are being said here: gazing at Krṣṇa's form fills the eye and dissolves the sense of separateness within; his small form is only for the cradle, while he himself pervades every direction; and Tukārām becomes the screen through which the Lord is revealed to others.
मराठी: हे कृष्णाच्या स्तुतीचे एक ठसठशीत, गोपीच्या स्वरात गायलेले स्तवन आहे. त्याचे रूप पाहताच माझे डोळे भरून येतात, आणि आतले वेगळेपण उरतच नाही — तो स्वतःच्या इच्छेने हा खेळ मांडतो, बाकी सगळे बाजूला सारून. सखी, हा तर नंदाचा नंदन आहे — त्याला कसली औपचारिक सेवा हवी? तो एका रूपात दिसतो, पण तेवढाच नाही — तो सर्व दिशांत व्यापून आहे. हे छोटे, खेळकर रूप फक्त पाळण्याच्या कापडासाठी आहे — एकदा खरी भेट झाली की तो पाठ फिरवत नाही. म्हणून मी थांबले, या जुन्या वाटेवरून मागे वळले, आणि तुकारामाला एक पडदा बनवले, ज्यातून देव लोकांना स्वतःचे दर्शन देतो. या अभंगातून तीन गोष्टी सांगितल्या आहेत — कृष्णाचे रूप पाहताच डोळे भरून येतात आणि आतले वेगळेपण नाहीसे होते; त्याचे छोटे रूप फक्त पाळण्यापुरते आहे, प्रत्यक्षात तो सर्वव्यापी आहे; आणि तुकाराम हे तेच माध्यम बनतात ज्यातून देव लोकांसमोर प्रकट होतो.
Where this applies
- When you are moved to stillness gazing at a beloved image or person and feel the boundary between you and them soften
- When you assume devotion has to mean elaborate rituals rather than a simple, loving gaze
- When you underestimate someone or something because of its small or humble appearance
- When you wonder whether you are worthy to be the means through which something sacred reaches other people