Abhanga 3241
Real joy and real devotion grow and express themselves on their own, the way a mother's cravings arise from the life within her, and cannot be forced forward by mere wanting.
The verse
आनंदाचे डोहीं आनंदतरंग । आनंद चि अंग आनंदाचें ॥१॥
काय सांगों जालें कांहीचियाबाही । पुढें चाली नाहीं आवडीनें ॥ध्रु.॥
गर्भाचे आवडी मातेचा डोहळा । तेथींचा जिव्हाळा तेथें बिंबे ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे तैसा ओतलासे ठसा । अनुभव सरिसा मुखा आला ॥३॥
Literal translation
Ānandāñce ḍōhīm ānanda-taranga — in the pool of ānanda, ānanda-waves; ānanda chi anga ānandāñce — ānanda itself is the body of ānanda. Kāya sāngōm jāle kāmhīchiyābāhī — what can I say (has) happened, beyond-knowable-extent; puḍhe chālī nāhī āvaḍīne — no further movement by mere fondness. Garbhāñce āvaḍī māteñcā ḍōhaḷā — the foetus's fondness — the mother's ḍōhaḷā; tethīmñcā jivhāḷā tethe bimbe — the jīvhāḷā there reflects (itself) there. Tukā mhaṇe taisā ōtalāse ṭhasā — Tukā says: just so the stamp is cast; anubhava sarisā mukhā ālā — the anubhava came along to (my) mouth.
What it means
One of-the-most-famous Tukārām abhangs — the canonical ānandāñce-ḍōhīm-ānanda-taranga.
The recursive-non-dual-image: In-the-pool-of-ānanda, waves-of-ānanda; ānanda-itself the-body-of-ānanda. This is pure-ānanda-recursion. The bhakta-experiences ānanda-in-ānanda-of-ānanda — endless-self-reflection of bliss.
The garbha-mother-ḍōhaḷā image is striking: just-as the-foetus's-fondness-reflects-in-the-mother's-pregnancy-cravings, so-does the bhakti-anubhava reflect-from-within-to-my-mouth. The bhakta is-the-mother carrying-the-ānanda-foetus, and-the-cravings (= the bhakti-utterance) come-from-the-foetus-within.
This abhang is regularly-sung in-Vārkarī-kīrtanas and-is-among-the-most-canonical Tukārām-formulations of-bhakti-non-dual-bliss.
Compare-Tukārām's 3122 (mirror-second-yet-one; sindhu-bhēṭi-stream-loses-water), 3127 (prema-tantu-dōrī).
For someone today
Tukārām's ānandāñce-ḍōhīm abhang. In the pool of ānanda, waves of ānanda; ānanda itself (is) the body of ānanda. What can I say (has) happened, beyond-knowable-extent? — there is no further movement by (mere) fondness. (Like) the foetus's fondness — the mother's pregnancy-cravings — the warmth-of-life of that-place reflects-itself there. Just so the stamp has been cast — the anubhava came-along to (my) mouth. The verse permits the canonical bhakti-recursive-bliss: ānanda-in-ānanda-of-ānanda.
Where this applies
- When you feel pressured to perform devotion or joy instead of letting it arise naturally
- When you are waiting for a spiritual experience and keep straining to force it forward
- When a mother or caregiver notices how inner life shapes outward longing, as in pregnancy cravings
- When you doubt a quiet, effortless feeling of contentment because it did not come from struggle