Abhanga 3454
Tukaram playfully claims that God depends on his remembrance to take form, so it is Tukaram who gives shelter to God, the wandering stranger.
The verse
कळों आलें तुझें जिणें । देवा तूं माझें पोसनें ॥१॥
वाट पाहासी आठवाची । सत्ता सतंत कईची ॥ध्रु.॥
बोलावितां यावें रूपा । सदा निर्गुणीं चि लपा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे तूं परदेशी । येथें आम्हां अंगेजिसी ॥३॥
Literal translation
Kaḷōm āle tujhe jiṇe — I came-to-know your jiṇē; Devā tūm mājhe pōsane — Deva, you (are) my pōsane. Vāṭa pāhāsī āṭhavāñcī — you wait for (my) remembrance; sattā satant kaīñcī — when-is sattā (ever) permanent. Bōlāvitām yāve rūpā — when called, come to rūpa; sadā nirguṇī chi lapā — always hide in nirguṇa. Tukā mhaṇe tūm paradeśī — Tukā says: you are paradeśī; yethe āmhām angejisī — here we give-shelter.
What it means
A striking 3-verse role-reversal text. Normally the bhakta-is-Lord's-pōsane (cherished-dependent); here Tukārām claims-the-reverse: Deva is-my-pōsane; you're-a-paradeśī (stranger); I-give-you-shelter-here.
For someone today
Tukaram playfully flips the usual relationship between devotee and God, saying he has come to understand how God actually lives, and that in a sense, God depends on him, waiting for Tukaram's remembrance the way a dependent waits to be cared for. God's presence only takes shape when Tukaram calls, otherwise God stays hidden and formless, without any fixed authority of his own. So Tukaram declares that God is really the stranger here, a wanderer without a settled home, and it is Tukaram who gives him shelter and a place to live, in his own heart and remembrance.
मराठी: तुकाराम भक्त आणि देव यांच्यातील नेहमीचे नाते खेळकरपणे उलटवतात आणि म्हणतात की त्यांना आता देव कसा जगतो हे कळले आहे, आणि एका अर्थाने देव त्यांच्यावरच अवलंबून आहे, जो आपल्या पोषणकर्त्याची वाट पाहणाऱ्या आश्रिताप्रमाणे तुकारामांच्या स्मरणाची वाट पाहतो. देवाचे अस्तित्व फक्त तुकारामांनी हाक मारली तरच रूप घेते, अन्यथा तो निर्गुण आणि अदृश्य राहतो, त्याची कोणतीही ठाम सत्ता नसते. म्हणून तुकाराम म्हणतात की खरा परका इथे देवच आहे, ज्याला स्थिर घर नाही, आणि तुकारामच त्याला आपल्या हृदयात आणि स्मरणात आश्रय देतात.
Where this applies
- When you realize that your own faithful remembrance is what keeps a relationship or practice alive
- When you feel the balance of a relationship shift and wonder who is really depending on whom
- When you playfully sense that you're giving something a home rather than the other way around
- When you want to express deep intimacy with God through a surprising, affectionate reversal of roles