Abhanga 3751
The real purpose of a lifetime is to see the divine, and when time closes in at the end, calling out to God as a loving mother brings comfort in the face of fear.
The verse
जन्मा आलियाचा लाभ । पद्मनाभदरुषणें ॥१॥
पाठीलागा येतो काळ । तूं कृपाळु माउली ॥ध्रु.॥
कोण्या उपायें हें घडे । भव आंगडें सुटकेचें ॥२॥
बहु उसंतीत आलों । तया भ्यालों स्थळासी ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे तूं जननी । ये निर्वाणी विठ्ठले ॥४॥
Literal translation
Janmā āliyāñcā lābha — padmanābha-daruṣaṇe — gain of having-come-to-janma is Padmanābha-darśana. Pāṭhī-lāgā yetō kāḷa — kāḷa comes pursuing; tūm krpāḷu māulī — you (are) krpāḷu māulī. Kōṇyā upāye he ghaḍe — by what upāya does this happen; bhava āngaḍe suṭakeñce — bhava-cloth (becomes one) of release. Bahu umsantīta ālōm — I came much tired; tayā bhyālōm sthaḷāsī — afraid of that place. Tukā mhaṇe tūm jananī — ye nirvāṇī Viṭhṭhale — Tukā says: you (are) jananī — come at nirvāṇī, Viṭhṭhale.
What it means
A 4-verse petition at-life's-end: life-was-for-Padmanābha-darśana; Time-pursues; come-at-the-final-moment, mother.
For someone today
Tukārām's death-bed petition: come-at-nirvāṇī, jananī.
Where this applies
- When you reflect on what truly made your life worth living, beyond daily achievements
- When you feel time closing in and mortality becoming real and near
- When you feel tangled in worldly responsibilities and long for release
- When you are frightened facing an unknown ending and need to call out for comfort