Abhanga 3877
Even a baby frog's cry of Rama-Rama while trapped in boiling water is enough to move God to intervene, showing that no one calling out for help is too small to be protected.
The verse
दर्दुराचें पिलुं म्हणे रामराम । नाहीं उदक उष्ण होऊं दिलें ॥१॥
कढेमाजी बाळ करी तळमळ । गोविंद गोपाळ पावें वेगीं ॥ध्रु.॥
आज्ञा तये काळीं केली पावकासी । झणी पिलीयासी तापवीसी ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे तुझे ऐसे हे पवाडे । वणिऩतां निवाडे सुख वाटे ॥३॥
Literal translation
Frog's-baby-says-Rāma-Rāma — water-not-let-become-uṣṇa. Baby-in-kadhī-taḷamaḷa — Govinda-Gōpāḷa-came-quickly. Gave-āgnyā-to-pāvaka: don't-heat-up-baby. Tukā: your-pavāḍē-describing-gives-niḍaḍē-sukha.
What it means
A 3-verse rare frog-baby protection narrative. The frog's baby says Rāma-Rāma — and the Lord did not let the water become hot. The baby in the boiler-pot was in anxious-thrashing — Govinda-Gōpāḷa came quickly. At that very time he ordered the fire — don't heat up the little one (don't burn the baby). To describe such heroic stories of yours gives a settled, calm joy. A lesser-known but striking bhakta-protection narrative: the frog-baby caught in a boiling-pot (perhaps a household-cooking-pot or a heat-trap), calling out Rāma-Rāma — and Govinda intervenes by ordering the fire to not heat the water. Companion to 2540 (Kurukṣetra-sparrows — bhakta-rakṣaka protecting birds-on-battlefield); both stories share the Lord-protects-the-helpless-by-intervening-in-nature motif.
For someone today
Tukaram tells a small, tender story: a baby frog trapped in heating water cries out 'Rama, Rama,' and God simply doesn't let the water get hot. As the little one thrashes in fear inside the pot, Govinda arrives quickly and orders the very fire itself not to burn the helpless creature. It's a reminder that no one calling out to God is too small or too insignificant to be noticed, even a baby frog's cry is enough to bring divine intervention. Tukaram says that just retelling stories like this brings a settled, calm joy.
मराठी: तुकाराम एक लहानशी, हृदयस्पर्शी गोष्ट सांगतात: तापणाऱ्या पाण्यात अडकलेले बेडकाचे पिल्लू 'राम राम' म्हणते, आणि देव पाणी तापूच देत नाहीत. भांड्यात ते पिल्लू भीतीने तळमळत असताना, गोविंद-गोपाळ लगेच धावून येतात आणि अग्नीलाच आज्ञा देतात की त्या असहाय जीवाला जाळू नकोस. यातून हा संदेश मिळतो की देवाला हाक मारणारा कोणीही, कितीही लहान किंवा क्षुल्लक असला तरी, दुर्लक्षित राहत नाही, अगदी बेडकाच्या पिल्लाची हाकही देवाला हलवते. अशा गोष्टी सांगण्यानेच मनाला एक शांत, स्थिर सुख मिळते, असे तुकाराम म्हणतात.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's rare frog-baby Rāma-Rāma protection narrative
- anāthāñchyā-Nātha (Lord-of-the-helpless) theology
- Pair with 2540 (Kurukṣetra-sparrows-narrative)