संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 3548 of 4582

Abhanga 3548

Honest devotion sometimes includes real disappointment and doubt, voicing that confusion openly to God is itself part of faith, not a betrayal of it.

When you've trusted that your effort or devotion would be answered, but you feel only silence
When you want to admit confusion or hurt in prayer instead of masking it with false certainty
When you're waiting for a sign of comfort or reassurance that hasn't come yet

The verse

काय विनवावें कोणें तो निवाड । केलें माझ्या कोड वचनाचें ॥१॥ आहो कृपनिधी गुणांच्या निधाना । माझ्या अनुमाना नये चि हें ॥ध्रु.॥ बहुत करुणा केलेंसे भासेन । एक ही वचन नाहीं आलें ॥२॥ माझी कांहीं सेवा होईंल पावली । निश्चिंती मानिली होती ऐसी ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे माझी उरली ते आटी । अभय कर कटी न देखें चि ॥४॥

Literal translation

Kāya vinavāve kōṇe tō nivāḍa — what to explain — who (gives) the nivāḍa; kele mājhyā kōḍa vachanāñce — (you) made my riddle of vachana. Āhō krpa-nidhī guṇāñcyā nidhānā — O krpā-nidhi, treasury of guṇas; mājhyā anumānā naye chi he — my anumāna doesn't reach this. Bahuta karuṇā kelese bhāsena — much karuṇā seemed-done; eka hī vachana nāhī āle — not one vachana has come. Mājhī kāmhī sevā hōīmla pāvalī — my sevā would-have-reached; niśchintī māniyelī hōtī aisī — (I) had-believed such niśchintī. Tukā mhaṇe mājhī uralī te āṭī — Tukā says: my āṭi remains; abhaya kara kaṭī na dekhe chi — abhaya-hand on kaṭi — I don't see.

What it means

A 5-verse protest-petition. Tukārām claims he had-given-niśchintī (assurance) to himself that-his-sevā-would-reach the Lord, yet not-a-single-vachana has come back. The closing — abhaya-kara-on-kaṭi-not-seen — refers to Viṭhṭhal's-standing-posture with hands-on-waist; the abhaya (fearlessness) that should radiate from-that-pose hasn't-reached the bhakta.

For someone today

Tukārām voices an honest complaint here — he had trusted that his devoted service would reach God and bring some reassurance in return, but no word has come back. Even though much mercy seemed to have been shown, not a single answer has arrived, and he admits his confidence has been shaken. This is honest bhakti doubt: Tukārām doesn't hide his disappointment from God, but brings it directly to him, trusting that voicing this frustration is itself part of faith rather than a betrayal of it.

मराठी: तुकाराम इथे मनमोकळेपणाने आपली तक्रार मांडतात — आपली सेवा देवापर्यंत पोहोचेल आणि काहीतरी उत्तर मिळेल असा त्यांना विश्वास होता, पण एकही शब्द परत आला नाही. खूप कृपा झाल्यासारखे वाटले, तरी प्रत्यक्षात कोणतेही आश्वासक वचन मिळाले नाही, आणि त्यांचा निश्चिंतपणा डळमळीत झाला. ही आहे भक्तातली प्रामाणिक शंका — तुकाराम आपली निराशा देवापासून लपवत नाहीत, तर थेट त्याच्यासमोर मांडतात, कारण अशी उघड तक्रार करणे हाही श्रद्धेचाच एक भाग आहे, तिचा विश्वासघात नव्हे.

Where this applies