Abhanga 4113
Being gently accepted, imperfections and all, by wise and compassionate people can steady a restless soul and fill it with lasting joy.
The verse
कृपेचे सागर हे साधुजन । तिंहीं कृपादान केलें मज ॥१॥
बोबडे वाणीचा केला अंगीकार । तेणें माझा स्थिर केला जीव ॥ध्रु.॥
तेणें सुखें मन स्थिर जालें ठायीं । संतीं दिला पायीं ठाव मज ॥२॥
नाभी नाभी ऐसें बोलिलों वचन । तें माझें कल्याण सर्वस्व ही ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे जालों आनंदनिर्भर । नाम निरंतर घोष करूं ॥४॥
Literal translation
Krpā-sāgara-sādhus — krpā-dāna. Bobaḍē-vāṇī-accepted — jīva-sthira. Santas-gave-place-at-feet. Said-nābhī-nābhī — kalyāṇa-sarvasva. Tukā: ānanda-nirbhara — Name-ghōṣa-constant.
What it means
A 4-verse sant-grace text. These sadhus, oceans-of-compassion, have given me the gift of grace. They have accepted my lisping baby-speech; by this, my soul was made stable. By that joy, my mind became stable in place; the santas gave me place at their feet. I spoke the wordnābhī-nābhī(don't-fear, don't-fear) — that is my welfare, my everything. I have become bliss-filled; I will make constant ghosa of the Name. The bhakta's-baby-speech being accepted-by-sadhus is the source of his stabilization.
For someone today
Tukaram thanks the good and wise people in his life, calling them oceans of compassion, for gently accepting his clumsy, halting attempts at devotion the way a loving elder accepts a baby's lisping speech. That simple acceptance was enough to steady his restless soul, and finding a settled place among such people at their feet gave his mind real peace. He remembers speaking words of reassurance, telling himself not to fear, and says that alone became his whole sense of wellbeing, leaving him so full of joy that he now wants to keep calling out the divine Name without stopping.
मराठी: तुकाराम आपल्या आयुष्यातील चांगल्या आणि शहाण्या माणसांचे आभार मानतात, त्यांना करुणेचे सागर म्हणतात, कारण त्यांनी त्यांच्या अडखळत्या, अपूर्ण भक्तीच्या प्रयत्नांना असे स्वीकारले जसे एखादा प्रेमळ मोठा माणूस बाळाच्या बोबड्या बोलण्याला स्वीकारतो. या साध्या स्वीकारानेच त्यांच्या अस्वस्थ जीवाला स्थैर्य दिले, आणि अशा माणसांच्या चरणी स्थान मिळाल्याने त्यांच्या मनाला खरी शांती मिळाली. ते आठवतात की त्यांनी स्वतःला धीर देणारे शब्द बोलले, घाबरू नकोस असे स्वतःला सांगितले, आणि हेच त्यांचे संपूर्ण कल्याण बनले, इतका आनंद भरून राहिला की आता ते सतत देवाचे नाम पुकारत राहू इच्छितात.
Where this applies
- When someone patient accepts your clumsy first attempts at something new without judging you
- When being welcomed into a good community finally settles a restless or anxious mind
- When you need to remind yourself with simple words not to be afraid
- When gratitude for small acts of kindness fills you with a joy you want to keep expressing