Abhanga 3031
God himself is pictured as mad with longing for devotion, wanting only a small offering and never releasing whoever he catches.
The verse
आवडीनें धरिलीं नांवें । प्रियभावें चिंतन ॥१॥
वेडा जाला वेडा जाला । लांचावला भक्तीसी ॥ध्रु.॥
निचाड्या चाड धरी । तुळसी करीं दळ मागे ॥२॥
धरिला मग न करी बळ । तुका म्हणे कळ पायीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Āvaḍīnē dharilīm nāve — with āvaḍī (fondness), (he has) taken up thenāmas; priya-bhāve chintana — chintana with priya-bhāva. Vēḍā jālā vēḍā jālā — (he) has become mad, has become mad; lāmchāvalā bhaktīsī — lāmchāvalā (covetous) for bhakti. Nichāḍyā chāḍa dharī — to thenichāḍyā(one-without-want), (he) takeschāḍa(yearning); tuḷasī karīm daḷa māge — for adaḷa(leaf) oftuḷasī, (he) holds-out (his)kara(hand). Dharilā maga na karī baḷa — once grasped, (he) does not usebaḷa(strength to leave); Tukā mhaṇe kaḷa pāyīm — Tukā says:kaḷa(cunning, trick) is in (his)pāya(feet).
What it means
A 3-verse canonical Lord-mad-for-bhakti image by Tukārām.
The persona is striking: the Lord-has-become-mad (vēḍā-jālā); is-covetous-for-bhakti (lāmchāvalā-bhaktīsī); to-one-who-has-no-want, he-takes-the-want; he-holds-out-his-hand for-just-a-tuḷasī-leaf; once-grasped, doesn't-use-strength-to-leave; the-cunning is-in-his-feet.
The image inverts the usual bhakta-position: normally the bhakta is mad-for-the-Lord; here, the Lord is mad-for-the-bhakta. This is the bhakti-non-dualism at its-most-explicit — reciprocal-madness, reciprocal-craving.
The closing-line — kaḷa-pāyīm (cunning-in-his-feet) — is masterful Tukārām: the-Lord-himself-uses-the-trick-of-binding-with-his-own-feet. The bhakta grasps-the-Lord, but the Lord-has-already-set-the-trick-of-attachment-into-his-feet so-that-grasping-him is-being-held.
Compare-Kānhōbā's 3023 (king-of-chaturas-became-mad-by-bhāva) — both texts share the Lord-becomes-mad claim.
For someone today
Tukārām flips the usual picture of devotion here: it's not the bhakta who is mad for God, but God himself who has gone mad, hungry for devotion. He, who needs nothing at all, still finds himself yearning — reaching out his hand for something as small as a single tuḷasī leaf. And once he takes hold of a devotee, he doesn't let go by force; instead, Tukārām says, the real trickery lies in his feet, quietly binding whoever reaches for them. It reveals devotion as something reciprocal: God himself is pictured as mad with longing for devotion, wanting only a small offering and never releasing whoever he catches.
मराठी: तुकाराम इथे भक्तीचे नेहमीचे चित्र उलटवतात — भक्त परमेश्वरासाठी वेडा नाही, तर परमेश्वरच भक्तीसाठी वेडा झाला आहे, आतुर झाला आहे. ज्याला खरे तर काहीच नको आहे, तोच आतुरतेने एका तुळशीच्या पानासाठी हात पुढे करतो. आणि एकदा त्याने भक्ताला धरले की तो जबरदस्तीने सोडत नाही — खरी युक्ती त्याच्या पायांतच लपलेली आहे, जो त्याच्या चरणांना धरतो त्याला शांतपणे बांधून टाकते, असे तुकाराम सांगतात. भक्ती दोन्ही बाजूंनी असते हे यातून उलगडते — परमेश्वरच भक्तीसाठी वेडा असल्याचे चित्रित केले जाते, त्याला फक्त एक छोटी भेट हवी असते आणि जो त्याच्या हाती लागतो त्याला तो कधीच सोडत नाही.
Where this applies
- When you think devotion is a one-way effort and forget that love can come looking for you too.
- When you feel your small offering, like a single leaf or a quiet prayer, isn't enough to matter.
- When you realize you can't quite let go of your faith, even when you try.