Abhanga 3618
Tukaram describes a relationship so close it feels like an embrace of bodies: God's hand rests on his head in blessing, while his own heart stays fixed at God's feet in devotion. Neither one can be pulled away from the other; they are caught, tangled together for good. He sums up the whole relationship simply: the effort of service is his to give, and the grace that answers it belongs entirely to God.
The verse
माझे माथां तुझा हात । तुझे पायीं माझें चित्त ॥१॥
ऐसी पडियेली गांठी । शरीरसंबंधाची मिठी ॥ध्रु.॥
येरयेरांपाशीं । सांपडोन गेलों ऐसीं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे सेवा । माझी कृपा तुझी देवा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Your-hand-on-my-māthā — my-chitta-at-your-pāya. Such-gāṇṭhī — śarīra-sambandha's-miṭhī. Each-other-caught. Tukā: sēvā-mine, krpā-yours-Deva.
What it means
A beautiful 3-verse mutual-embrace text. Your hand on my head, my chitta at your feet; such a knot tied — the embrace of body-relation; we've-been caught in each-other; my sevā, your krpā. One of the corpus's tenderest mutual-claim images. Companion to 3434 (host-Lord-as-guest 6-verse) and 3524 (forehead-to-forehead-equal-to-Deva).
For someone today
Tukaram describes a relationship so close it feels like an embrace of bodies: God's hand rests on his head in blessing, while his own heart stays fixed at God's feet in devotion. Neither one can be pulled away from the other; they are caught, tangled together for good. He sums up the whole relationship simply: the effort of service is his to give, and the grace that answers it belongs entirely to God.
मराठी: तुकाराम इतक्या जवळच्या नात्याचे वर्णन करतात की ते जणू शरीराचीच मिठी वाटावी: देवाचा हात त्यांच्या मस्तकावर आशीर्वादासाठी आहे, आणि त्यांचे मन देवाच्या पायाशी स्थिर आहे. दोघेही एकमेकांपासून वेगळे होऊ शकत नाहीत, ते कायमचे एकमेकांत गुंतले आहेत. ते संपूर्ण नाते सोप्या शब्दांत मांडतात: सेवा करणे माझे काम आहे, आणि त्याचे फळ म्हणून येणारी कृपा पूर्णपणे देवाची आहे.
Where this applies
- When you want to describe devotion as something as close and physical as an embrace, not just an abstract belief
- When you are doing your part faithfully and waiting for grace that is not yours to control
- When you feel so bound to someone or something sacred that pulling away no longer feels possible
- When you need a simple way to divide labor from outcome: you show up and serve, the results are not yours to demand