Abhanga 3434
Love gives you the right to insist on closeness, so welcome what you cherish with real hospitality rather than waiting at a distance.
The verse
चाल घरा उभा राहें नारायणा । ठेवूं दे चरणांवरि माथा ॥१॥
वेळोवेळां देई क्षेमआलिंगन । वरी अवलोकन कृपादृष्टी ॥ध्रु.॥
प्रक्षाळूं दे पाय बैसें माजघरीं । चित्त स्थिर करीं पांडुरंगा ॥२॥
आहे त्या संचितें करवीन भोजन । काय न जेवून करिसी आतां ॥३॥
करुणाकरें नाहीं कळों दिलें वर्म । दुरी होतां भ्रम कोण वारी ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे आतां आवडीच्या सत्ता । बोलिलों अनंता करवीन तें ॥५॥
Literal translation
Come-home-stand-here-Nārāyaṇa — place-māthā-on-charaṇa. Give-kṣēma-ālingana-time-and-again — krpā-drṣṭi-avalōkana over. Wash-pāya, sit-in-mājagharī, settle-chitta-Pāṇḍurangā. Cook-bhōjana-from-samchita — what-else-but-jēvūn-now. Karuṇākara — varma-not-shown — when-far-bhrama-who-removes. Tukā: by-āvaḍī-sattā I-spoke-Anantā I'll-make-you-do-it.
What it means
A striking 6-verse host-Lord-as-guest text — rare extended domestic-bhakti narrative. The bhakta plays the host: come, stand here, embrace me, let me wash your feet, sit in the inner-room, eat the meal I cook. The closing line is striking: by the authority of (my) love, I have spoken — I'll-make-you-do-it. The sattā of āvaḍī (authority of love) doctrine.
For someone today
In this tender scene, Tukaram imagines himself as the host and God as the honored guest, inviting Narayan into his own home. He wants to bow his head at God's feet, receive a warm embrace again and again, and be looked upon with a kind, gracious gaze. He offers to wash God's feet himself, seat him in the most intimate room of the house, and settle his own restless mind in that closeness. He'll cook a meal from whatever he has, insisting there's nothing left to do now but sit and eat together. He gently complains that God hasn't shared the deepest secret with him, so confusion returns whenever that presence feels distant. But he ends with striking confidence: love itself gives him the right to insist, and he will bring God home simply because he loves that much.
मराठी: या हळुवार दृश्यात तुकाराम स्वतःला यजमान आणि देवाला सन्माननीय पाहुणा म्हणून कल्पितात, नारायणाला आपल्या घरी बोलावतात. त्यांना देवाच्या चरणी मस्तक टेकवायचे आहे, वारंवार प्रेमळ आलिंगन मिळवायचे आहे, आणि कृपादृष्टीने पाहिले जावे असे वाटते. ते स्वतः देवाचे पाय धुवायची इच्छा व्यक्त करतात, घरातील सर्वात आतल्या खोलीत बसवतात, आणि त्या जवळिकीत स्वतःचे अस्वस्थ मन स्थिर करतात. जे काही आहे त्यातून जेवण बनवतात, आणि आग्रह करतात की आता एकत्र बसून जेवण्याशिवाय दुसरे काही करायचे नाही. देवाने त्यांना खरे गुपित सांगितले नाही अशी सौम्य तक्रारही ते करतात, कारण ती उपस्थिती दूर गेली की भ्रम परत येतो. पण शेवटी ते ठाम आत्मविश्वासाने बोलतात, प्रेमच त्यांना हट्ट करण्याचा अधिकार देते, आणि केवळ प्रेमामुळेच ते देवाला घरी घेऊन येतील.
Where this applies
- When you want to show someone you love real hospitality, care, and attention in your own home
- When you crave closeness and reassurance more than distant, formal respect
- When you feel confused or unsettled whenever someone important to you stays distant
- When love gives you the confidence to insist on closeness rather than waiting passively