Abhanga 3152
Connection with the divine can quietly draw a person in through devotional feeling, revealing itself as something whole and already present only in hindsight.
The verse
निरांजनीं एकटवाणें । संग नेणें दुसरा ॥१॥
पाहा चाळविलें कैसें । लावुनि पिसें गोवळें ॥ध्रु.॥
लपलें अंगें अंग । दिला संग होता तो ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे नव्हतें ठावें । जालें भावें वाटोळें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Nirāmjanīm ekaṭavāṇe — in deserted-place, alone-state; sanga neṇe dusarā — didn't know a second sanga. Pāhā chāḷavile kaise — see how (I was) chāḷavile; lāvuni pise gōvaḷe — by attaching madness — the gōvaḷa. Lapale ange anga — body hidden in body; dilā sanga hōtā tō — the sanga (was) given. Tukā mhaṇe navhate ṭhāve — Tukā says: didn't know; jāle bhāve vāṭōḷe — by bhāvē, became rounded.
What it means
A 3-verse Krṣṇa-attachment text. The cowherd-Krṣṇa attaches-the-bhakta-by-madness; the bhakta-realizes-only-later: body-was-hidden-in-body; bhakti-made-it-complete.
For someone today
Tukaram describes a moment of being utterly alone, in a lonely, empty place where he did not even know that closeness with another was possible. Looking back, he sees how he was gently led along, drawn in by a kind of loving madness planted by Krishna, the playful cowherd. He realizes only afterward that this closeness had already been hidden within him, quietly given before he even recognized it. He admits he did not fully understand what was happening at the time, but through devoted feeling, everything eventually became whole and complete. It is a lesson about how connection with the divine can sneak up on us, revealing itself only in hindsight as something that was already there.
मराठी: तुकाराम एका पूर्णपणे एकाकी क्षणाचे वर्णन करतात, एका ओसाड, रिकाम्या जागी जिथे त्यांना कुणाशी जवळीक शक्य आहे हेही माहीत नव्हते. मागे वळून पाहताना त्यांना जाणवते की त्यांना हळुवारपणे कसे ओढले गेले, खोडकर गोवळ्या कृष्णाने रोवलेल्या एका प्रेमळ वेडाने. त्यांना नंतरच कळते की ही जवळीक आधीच त्यांच्यात लपलेली होती, ती ओळखण्याआधीच शांतपणे दिली गेली होती. त्यावेळी नक्की काय घडत होते हे त्यांना पूर्ण समजले नव्हते हे ते मान्य करतात, पण भावभक्तीमुळे शेवटी सगळे संपूर्ण आणि परिपूर्ण झाले. देवाशी असलेला संबंध कसा हळूच आपल्यावर येतो आणि तो आधीपासूनच होता हे केवळ मागाहून कळते, हा धडा यातून मिळतो.
Where this applies
- When you feel completely alone and unaware that any real closeness or connection is even possible
- When you realize only in hindsight that you were being drawn toward something meaningful all along
- When a devotional or loving feeling seems to sweep you up without you fully understanding it in the moment
- When you want language for how something that once felt scattered became whole through devotion