Abhanga 3524
The world quickly forgets those left without support, but in real closeness, even with the divine, you can stand as an equal, forehead to forehead.
The verse
मरोनियां गेली माया । मग तया कोण पुसे ॥१॥
पोरटियांची दाद कोणा । ऐसा जाना प्रवाहो ॥ध्रु.॥
निढळास निढळ जोडा । होय कोडा कवतुका ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे देवाऐसी । आहों सरसीं आपण ॥३॥
Literal translation
Māyā-died-gone — who-pusē. No-ear-for-orphan's-dāda — this-is-pravāhō. Forehead-to-forehead-joined — becomes-kōḍa-kavatuka. Tukā: like-Deva — we-sarisī-equal.
What it means
A striking 3-verse text. When the mother has died, no one asks after her; no one hears the orphan's complaint — this is the way-of-things. (When) forehead-touches-forehead — it becomes a charming-game. Tukā: like Deva, we ourselves stand equal. The forehead-touching image suggests intimate-equality between bhakta and Deva (compare with namaskāra-on-forehead vs. forehead-to-forehead).
For someone today
Tukaram observes bluntly that once a mother has died, no one bothers to ask after her anymore, and no one truly listens to an orphaned child's complaint, that is simply how the world works. Yet he finds something startlingly tender in this: when forehead touches forehead in real intimacy, something like a charming wonder happens. He concludes that in that same closeness, he and God stand as equals, forehead to forehead.
मराठी: आई गेल्यावर मग तिची विचारपूस कोण करतो, अनाथ मुलाची तक्रार कोण ऐकतो, हाच जगाचा प्रवाह आहे असे तुकाराम सांगतात. पण कपाळाला कपाळ टेकवावे तसा एक हळुवार, अद्भुत क्षण येतो असे ते म्हणतात. शेवटी तुकाराम सांगतात, त्या जवळिकीत आपणही देवाइतकेच समान होऊन जातो.
Where this applies
- When someone feels abandoned or unheard because whoever once cared for them is gone
- When you notice the world moves on quickly and stops asking after people who've lost their support
- When you experience a moment of real closeness that feels startlingly equal, not distant or formal
- When you want to describe closeness with the divine as tender rather than formal