Abhanga 3973
Tukaram compares himself to a dog rolling at his master's door, barking out God's name instead of a bark, sitting, rising, and refusing to leave, fawning at Vitthal's feet. It is a deliberately lowly image, but it carries a clear point: he knows what really matters, and it is not status or dignity. All he asks for in return is one thing, the simple joy of love. The lesson is that devotion does not need to look dignified to be real, and that lowering yourself completely for the sake of love is not a loss but a kind of wisdom.
The verse
श्वानाचियापरी लोळें तुझ्या दारीं । भुंकों हरिहरि नाम तुझें ॥१॥
भुंकीं उठीं बैसें न वजायें वेगळा । लुडबुडीं गोपाळा पायांपाशीं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे आम्हां वर्म आहे ठावें । मागेन ते द्यावें प्रेमसुख ॥३॥
Literal translation
Śvānāciyāparī lōḷēm tujhyā dārīm — bhunkōm harihari nāma tujhēm — like a dog I roll at your door — I bark hari-hari, your Name. Bhunkīm uṭhīm baisēm na vajāyēm vēgaḷā — luḍabuḍīm gōpāḷā pāyāmpāśīm — I bark, rise, sit — don't go separate — fawn at Gopāla's feet. Tukā mhaṇe āmhām varma āhe ṭhāvem — māgena te dyāve premasukha — Tukā says: we know the secret — what I ask, give: prema-sukha.
What it means
A 3-verse dog-at-door extreme-self-likening. Like-a-dog I-roll at-your-door — I-bark-hari-hari your-Name; sit-rise-fawn at-Gopāla's-feet, don't-leave; I-know-the-secret — give-me-prema-sukha. The dog-at-master's-door is among Tukārām's most-striking humility-images.
For someone today
Tukaram compares himself to a dog rolling at his master's door, barking out God's name instead of a bark, sitting, rising, and refusing to leave, fawning at Vitthal's feet. It is a deliberately lowly image, but it carries a clear point: he knows what really matters, and it is not status or dignity. All he asks for in return is one thing, the simple joy of love. The lesson is that devotion does not need to look dignified to be real, and that lowering yourself completely for the sake of love is not a loss but a kind of wisdom.
मराठी: तुकाराम स्वतःला दाराशी लोळणाऱ्या कुत्र्याची उपमा देतात, भुंकण्याऐवजी देवाचे नाव भुंकतात, बसतात, उठतात, आणि विठ्ठलाचे पाय सोडून जात नाहीत. ही प्रतिमा मुद्दामच लीन आहे, पण तिच्यात एक स्पष्ट मुद्दा आहे — त्यांना खरे काय महत्त्वाचे आहे हे ठाऊक आहे, आणि ते प्रतिष्ठा किंवा मानमरातब नाही. त्या बदल्यात ते फक्त एकच गोष्ट मागतात — प्रेमाचा साधा आनंद. शिकवण हीच की भक्ती दिसायला प्रतिष्ठित असावी लागत नाही, आणि प्रेमासाठी संपूर्ण स्वतःला लीन करणे ही हानी नसून एक प्रकारचे शहाणपण आहे.
Where this applies
- When you feel embarrassed about how devoted or attached you are to someone or something you love
- When you worry that humbling yourself completely makes you look foolish or weak
- When you are chasing status or dignity and forgetting what you actually want, which is love
- When you need permission to simply ask for love instead of achievement or recognition