Abhanga 3657
Real love shows up for your own people first, and it is honest, even childlike, to openly demand the closeness you deeply want.
The verse
उरलें तें भक्तिसुख । डोळां मुख पाहावें । अंतरींचें कां हों नेणां । नारायणा माझिये ॥१॥
पुरवां तैसी केली आळी । बळी जगदानियां ॥ध्रु.॥
हातीं घेउनि चोरां भातें । दावां रितें बाळका । साजतें हें थोरपण । नाहीं विण वत्सळा ॥२॥
शाहणें तरीं लाड दावी । बाळ जेवीं मातेसी । तुका म्हणे पांडुरंगा । ऐसें पैं गा आहे हें ॥३॥
Literal translation
What-remains-bhakti-sukha — see-mukha-with-eyes. Why-don't-know-antara-Nārāyaṇa. Fulfill-āḷī-by-baḷa-jagad-dāni. Take-food-for-chōrā-show-bāḷaka-empty — thorpaṇa-suits — none-without-vatsaḷā. Wise-shows-lāḍa-as-bāḷa-to-māta. Tukā: Pāṇḍurangā — that's-how-it-is.
What it means
A 3-verse sharp-complaint with a striking image. I want to see your mukha with bhakti-sukha; why don't you know my heart? Fulfill the tantrum I made. (You) take food in hand for the thief but show the child an empty-hand — this greatness suits (you, sardonically) — but there's no one-without-affection-for-own. The wise child shows whimsical-fondness with mother; that's how it is, Pāṇḍuranga.
For someone today
Tukaram speaks like someone who wants only one simple thing now, to see the face of the one he loves. He teases God for not seeming to understand what is really in his heart, and insists, almost like a stubborn child, that this heartfelt wish be granted. Playfully he points out that it makes no sense for someone so generous to strangers to leave his own child empty-handed, real love always shows up for your own. Like a child who openly demands affection from its mother, that is exactly the kind of closeness Tukaram is asking for.
मराठी: तुकाराम अशा माणसासारखे बोलतात ज्याला आता फक्त एकच गोष्ट हवी आहे, आपल्या प्रिय व्यक्तीचा चेहरा पाहणे. आपल्या मनातले खरे काय आहे हे देवाला कळत नाही असे म्हणत ते खोडकरपणे तक्रार करतात, आणि हट्टी लहान मुलासारखे आपली मनापासूनची इच्छा पूर्ण व्हावी असा आग्रह धरतात. गंमतीने ते सांगतात की परक्यांना उदार हस्ते देणारा माणूस स्वतःच्या मुलाला रिकाम्या हाताने ठेवतो हे शोभत नाही, खरे प्रेम नेहमी आपल्या माणसांसाठी असते. जसे लहान मूल आईकडे उघडपणे लाड मागते, तशीच जवळीक तुकारामांना हवी आहे.
Where this applies
- When you feel closest to someone you love but frustrated that they do not seem to notice your deepest longing
- When you playfully insist on attention from someone who cares for you, the way a child demands affection from a parent
- When you notice someone being generous to strangers while overlooking the people closest to them
- When you use gentle teasing to express a real need for closeness rather than staying silently hurt