Abhanga 3216
When trust is real, devotion comes without strain, and even rough, imperfect words become precious to the one who loves you, the way a mother treasures her baby's clumsy speech.
The verse
विश्वासिया नाहीं लागत सायास । रंग अनायासें अंगा येतो ॥१॥
लेंकराच्या हातें घास मागे माता । वोरसोनि चित्ता सुख पावे ॥ध्रु.॥
गौरव त्या मानी आरुषा वचनीं । भूषण ते वाणी मिरवावी ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे आहेस सकळ ही साक्षी । माझा कई पक्षी पांडुरंग ॥३॥
Literal translation
Trusting-one needs-no-sāyāsa; ranga-comes-anāyāse. Mother-asks-grain-from-baby's-hand, gets-sukha. Sees-baby's-rough-words as-bhūṣaṇa. Tukā: you-are-all-sākṣī; when-(my)-pakṣī Pāṇḍuranga?
What it means
A canonical 3-verse trust-text. Trust-is-effortless; the-mother's-eagerness-treats-baby-words-as-ornament.
For someone today
For someone who truly trusts, devotion doesn't require strain, it comes naturally, the way a mother delights even in receiving a scrap of food from her baby's clumsy hand. She hears her child's rough, unpolished words and treasures them as if they were ornaments. Tukaram is saying that when your trust is real, even your imperfect efforts and words become precious to the one who loves you, so don't wait until you feel refined enough to approach God.
मराठी: खऱ्या विश्वासात भक्ती सहजपणे येते, तिच्यासाठी झगडावं लागत नाही, जशी आई आपल्या बाळाच्या अवघडलेल्या हातातून घास घेऊनही आनंदित होते. ती बाळाचे बोबडे, ओबडधोबड शब्द ऐकून त्यांना दागिन्यासारखं जपते. तुकाराम म्हणतात, तुमचा विश्वास खरा असेल तर तुमचे अपुरे प्रयत्न आणि शब्दसुद्धा प्रेम करणाऱ्यासाठी मौल्यवान ठरतात, त्यामुळे स्वतःला पुरेसे परिपूर्ण वाटेपर्यंत देवाजवळ जाण्याची वाट पाहू नका.
Where this applies
- When you hold back from prayer because you feel unworthy or unpolished
- When a parent treasures a child's clumsy words or gestures as precious
- When you doubt that your imperfect effort could mean anything to someone who loves you
- When trust lets you approach someone without straining to seem better than you are