Abhanga 3282
True devotion floods a person with joy too large to contain, pulling them toward closeness with the Divine the way a mother is bound to her child.
The verse
अनाथां जीवन । आम्हां तुमचे चरण । करूनि सांटवण। धरीयेले हृदयीं ॥१॥
पुष्ट जाली अंगकांति । आनंद न समाये चित्तीं । कवतुकें प्रीती । गाऊं नाचों उल्हासें ॥ध्रु.॥
करुणाउत्तरीं । करून आळवण हरी । जाऊं नेदूं दुरी । प्रेमप्रीतिपडिभरें ॥२॥
मोहो माते करी गोवा । ऐसें आहे जी केशवा । तुका म्हणे सेवा । आणीक नाहीं जाणत ॥३॥
Literal translation
Anāthā-jīvana — your-feet, ours; kept-in-hrdaya. Anga-puṣṭa, ānanda-doesn't-fit; kavatuka-prīti, sing-dance-with-ulhāsa. Karuṇā-uttara, calling-Hari, don't-let-far. Mōha-makes-māte's-gōvā. Tukā: no-other-sevā known.
What it means
A 3-verse anāthā-jīvana text. Your-feet-in-hrdaya; we-don't-let-you-far by-the-overflow-of-prema.
For someone today
Tukārām describes what it feels like when devotion truly fills the heart. To one who has no other refuge, the Lord's feet themselves become life, and Tukārām says he has taken hold of them and pressed them into his heart. His body grows radiant and his joy overflows — too much for the mind to contain — so he sings and dances in sheer delight. Calling out to Hari with words of longing, he refuses to let the Lord feel distant, held close by the sheer weight of his love. He compares this pull to a mother's fierce bond with her child, and says he knows no other service but this.
मराठी: तुकाराम येथे भक्तीने अंतःकरण भरून जाण्याचा अनुभव सांगतात. ज्याला दुसरा कोणी आधार नाही, त्याच्यासाठी देवाचे चरणच जीवन आहेत — तुकाराम म्हणतात, त्यांनी हे चरण हृदयात धरून ठेवले आहेत. त्यांचे शरीर तेजाने भरून येते आणि आनंद चित्तात मावेनासा होतो, म्हणून ते उल्हासाने गाऊ नाचू लागतात. करुणेच्या शब्दांनी हरीला हाक मारत ते त्याला दूर जाऊ देत नाहीत, प्रेमाच्या ओढीने. आईची आपल्या मुलावर जशी माया असते तशीच ही ओढ आहे, असे ते केशवाला सांगतात — आणि म्हणतात, मला दुसरी कोणतीही सेवा माहीत नाही.
Where this applies
- When you feel completely dependent on something or someone for your sense of stability and life itself.
- When joy from devotion or love feels so large it needs to come out in singing, dancing, or celebration.
- When you find yourself pleading for closeness with someone you love, unwilling to let them feel far away.
- When you recognize a fierce, protective love in yourself, like a mother's bond, directed toward someone dear.