Abhanga 3217
Offering your heart sincerely draws in a caring presence, and staying small and dependent, like a nursing child, is not weakness but how you get cared for.
The verse
वैभवाचे धणी सकळां शरणागत । सत्यभावें चत्ति अर्पिलें तें ॥१॥
नेदी उरों देव आपणावेगळें । भावाचिया बळें ठायाठाव ॥ध्रु.॥
जाणोनि नेणोनि अंगा आली दशा । मग होय इच्छा आपणच ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे बरें धाकट्याचें जिणें । माता स्तनपानें वाढवते ॥३॥
Literal translation
Vaibhava-master, refuge-of-all. Chitta-offered-with-satya-bhāva. Deva-doesn't-leave-apart-from-himself; by-bhāva-bala, ṭhāya-stays. Knowing-not-knowing, state-comes-to-anga; then-icchā-arises. Tukā: dhākaṭyā-jīṇe good; mother grows-(baby)-by-stanapāna.
What it means
A 3-verse bhakti-confidence text. Vaibhava-master is-refuge to all; bhāva-bala-makes-the-Lord-stay; being-small is-protected-by-mother.
For someone today
The one who holds all abundance offers refuge to everyone who turns to him, when you offer your heart with real sincerity, God doesn't withdraw or stay separate from you. Whether you approach knowingly or not, that presence settles into you and a genuine longing rises up on its own. Tukaram says there's something good about staying small and dependent, the way a mother nurses her child, being little and trusting isn't weakness, it's how you get cared for.
मराठी: सर्व वैभवाचा धनी सर्वांना आश्रय देतो, जेव्हा तुम्ही खऱ्या मनाने आपलं मन अर्पण करता, तेव्हा देव दूर राहत नाही. कळत असो वा नकळत, ती उपस्थिती तुमच्यात उतरते आणि खरी ओढ आपोआप निर्माण होते. तुकाराम म्हणतात, लहान आणि अवलंबून राहण्यात काहीतरी चांगुलपण आहे, जसं आई आपल्या बाळाला स्तनपान देऊन वाढवते, लहान आणि विश्वासू राहणं ही दुर्बलता नाही, तीच काळजी घेतली जाण्याची पद्धत आहे.
Where this applies
- When you're afraid that depending on someone makes you weak
- When you offer your true feelings sincerely and wonder if you'll be met with care
- When you realize a caring presence has settled into you without you fully noticing how
- When you feel embarrassed about needing to be looked after, like a small child