Abhanga 3998
If the divine once broke every limit out of love for a devotee, that same grace can be asked for again, boldly and without hesitation.
The verse
आतां तुज मज नाहीं दुजेपण । दाखवीं चरण पांडुरंगा ॥१॥
तुज रूप रेखा नाम गुण नाहीं । एक स्थान पाहीं गांव सिंव ॥ध्रु.॥
नावडे संगाति तुजा दुजयाची । आपुल्या भक्तांची प्रीति तुम्हां ॥२॥
परि आम्हांसाटीं होसील सगुण । स्तंभासी फोडून जयापरि ॥३॥
तुका म्हणें तैसें तुज काय उणें । देई दरुषण चरणांचें ॥४॥
Literal translation
No-dujepaṇa — show-feet. No-rūpa-rēkhā — one-sthāna. No-duja-sangāti — only-bhakta-prīti. For-us-saguṇa — broke-stambha. Tukā: no-uṇē — give-darśana.
What it means
A 4-verse Narasimha-precedent prayer. Now there is no twoness between you and me — show me your feet. You have no form, line, name, qualities — only one place; even the village and boundary are you. You don't like the company of any other; only your bhakta's love is yours. But for our sake you become saguṇa — like when you broke the stambha (for Prahlāda). What's the difficulty for you in (doing) this? Give the darśana of your feet. The Narasimha-stambha reference: the Lord broke the pillar to appear as the man-lion for Prahlāda. The argument: if you came-out-of-the-pillar for one bhakta, come now too.
For someone today
Tukaram tells Panduranga that between them there is no real separation left, so why not simply show himself. The divine, he says, has no fixed form or name, no boundary at all, since even the village and its edges are the divine. Yet this formless presence has taken shape before for the sake of a devotee, breaking open a stone pillar to appear as Narasimha for Prahlada. So Tukaram asks, if you could do that once out of love, what is stopping you from appearing now. It is a bold, intimate plea that treats a legendary act of grace as proof that another one is not too much to ask.
मराठी: तुकाराम पांडुरंगाला सांगतात की आपल्यात आता खरे द्वैत उरलेलेच नाही, मग स्वतःला का दाखवत नाहीस. परमेश्वराला कोणतेही ठराविक रूप, नाव किंवा सीमा नाही, कारण गाव आणि त्याची सीमाही तूच आहेस. तरीही हे निराकार अस्तित्व एका भक्तासाठी आधी साकार झाले आहे, प्रल्हादासाठी स्तंभ फोडून नरसिंहरूपात प्रकट झाले. म्हणून तुकाराम विचारतात, जर एकदा प्रेमापोटी हे केलेस, तर आता प्रकट व्हायला काय अडचण आहे. ही एक धाडसी, आर्त विनवणी आहे जी पूर्वीच्या कृपेच्या कथेला आताच्या मागणीचा पुरावा मानते.
Where this applies
- When you feel so close to someone or something sacred that the usual distance no longer makes sense
- When you remember a past act of grace or kindness and use it as grounds to ask for help again
- When you are waiting for a sign and want to argue, gently, that you deserve one
- When you want language for praying boldly rather than timidly, treating intimacy as a reason to ask directly