Abhanga 3724
God's grace is so tender that it lifts up even those who never understood devotion, accepting the smallest and most accidental gesture as worship.
The verse
पाहा कैसेकैसे । देवें उद्धरिले आनयासें ॥१॥
ऐका नवल्याची ठेव । नेणतां भक्तिभाव ॥ध्रु.॥
कैलासासी नेला । भिल्ल पानेडी बैसला ॥२॥
पांखांच्या फडत्कारीं । उद्धरुनी नेली घारी ॥३॥
खेचरें पिंडी दिला पाव । त्या पूजनें धाये देव ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे भोळा । स्वामी माझा हो कोंवळा ॥५॥
Literal translation
See-how-Deva-uplifted-anāyāsē. Hear-navalā-store — without-knowing-bhakti-bhāva. Bhilla-taken-Kailāsa-pānēḍī-seated. Ghārī-uplifted-by-wing-flap. Khēchara-gave-pā-on-piṇḍa-Deva-satisfied. Tukā: my-Svāmī-bhōḷā-kōmvaḷā.
What it means
A 4-verse bhakti-democratization list with unusual cases — Tukārām emphasizes the Lord's tenderness (bhōḷā, kōmvaḷā) by listing uddhāra without conscious-bhakti: a Bhilla, a kite-bird, a donkey. Anyone, even by accident, can be lifted. Compare 2787 (canonical bhakti-redeems-the-fallen), 2843 (5-figure redemption list).
For someone today
Tukaram marvels at how easily God lifts people up, even when they had no real understanding of devotion at all. He lists strange, wonderful examples: a tribal hunter was carried off to Kailasa, a kite was lifted simply by the flap of its own wings, and even a donkey's hoof landing on a sacred stone was enough to please God. None of these figures knew what devotion meant, yet grace reached them anyway. Tukaram concludes that his Lord is innocent and tender-hearted, ready to accept even the smallest, most accidental gesture as worship.
मराठी: तुकाराम आश्चर्य व्यक्त करतात की देव किती सहज माणसांना उद्धरतो, त्यांना भक्तीची खरी जाणसुद्धा नसताना. ते विलक्षण उदाहरणे देतात, एक भिल्ल थेट कैलासाला नेला गेला, एक घार केवळ स्वतःच्या पंखांच्या फडफडीने वर उचलली गेली, आणि एका गाढवाचा पाय पिंडीवर पडला तरी देव संतुष्ट झाला. यांपैकी कोणालाही भक्तिभाव काय असतो हे ठाऊक नव्हते, तरीही कृपा त्यांच्यापर्यंत पोहोचली. तुकाराम शेवटी म्हणतात की त्यांचा स्वामी भोळा आणि कोवळ्या मनाचा आहे, अगदी लहानशी, अनवधानाने घडलेली कृतीसुद्धा तो पूजा म्हणून स्वीकारतो.
Where this applies
- When you feel unworthy of grace because you don't think you have proper spiritual knowledge or discipline
- When something good happens to someone who never seemed to be trying or asking for it
- When you accidentally do something kind or reverent without realizing its significance at the time
- When you doubt whether your small, imperfect gestures of faith could possibly matter to God