Abhanga 3287
A mother turns her child's rough, broken speech into something sweet simply because she loves the child, and the divine receives our imperfect prayers the same way.
The verse
जैसी तैसी तरि वाणी । मना आणी माउली ॥१॥
लेकरांच्या स्नेहें गोड । करी कोड त्या गुणें ॥ध्रु.॥
मागें पुढें रिघे पोटीं । साहे खेटी करीतें ॥२॥
तुका विनवी पांडुरंगा । ऐसें पैं गा आहे हें ॥३॥
Literal translation
As-is, vāṇī-howsoever — Māulī-brings-to-mana. Lenkara-snēha makes-gōḍa, takes-kōḍa-as-guṇa. Enters-pōṭa front-and-back; tolerates-keṭī. Tukā-vinavī-Pāṇḍuranga: this-is-how-it-is.
What it means
A short 3-verse Māulī-image. Our-speech-is-rough-but-the-Mother-Lord-cherishes-it as-sweet, by-her-affection.
For someone today
You don't need polished words to be loved. A mother treasures her child's clumsy, broken speech simply because it comes from her child, and hears it as sweet. In the same way, the divine Mother receives your rough, imperfect prayers with affection rather than correction. She tolerates, even delights in, your fumbling attempts to reach her, again and again.
मराठी: तुम्हाला प्रेम मिळवण्यासाठी सुंदर, नीटनेटके शब्दच बोलावे लागतात असं नाही. आई आपल्या बाळाचं अस्पष्ट, तुटक बोलणं फक्त तिचं मूल आहे म्हणून गोड मानते. त्याचप्रमाणे परमेश्वर तुमची अपूर्ण, अडखळणारी प्रार्थना सुधारणा न करता प्रेमानेच स्वीकारतो. तुमचे कच्चे, वारंवार होणारे प्रयत्नही तो सांभाळून घेतो.
Where this applies
- When you feel your prayers or words are too clumsy or ordinary to matter
- When you hesitate to speak from the heart because you're afraid you'll say it wrong
- When you doubt that something imperfect from you could be cherished by anyone
- When you watch a mother delight in her baby's babbling and wonder if the divine feels the same about you