Abhanga 4180
If even the greatest beings in creation cannot fully grasp the divine, then an ordinary person's smallness before that mystery is nothing to be ashamed of.
The verse
यमधर्म आणिक ब्रम्हादिक देव । त्यांचा पूर्ण भाव तुझे पायीं ॥१॥
करिती स्मरण पार्वतीशंकर । तेथें मी किंकर कोणीकडे ॥ध्रु.॥
सहजरमुखेंसी घोष फणिवराचा । मज किंकराचा पाड काय ॥२॥
चंद्र सूर्य आणि सर्व तारांगणें । करिती भ्रमण प्रदक्षिणा ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे त्यांसी स्वरूप कळेना । तेथें मज दीना कोण पुसे ॥४॥
Literal translation
Yama-Brahmā-devas — pūrṇa-bhāva-at-pāya. Pārvatī-Śankara-do-smaraṇa — where-am-I-the-kinkara. Śeṣa's-1000-mouths roar; what's-my-stature? Sun-Moon-stars-circumambulate. Tukā: even-they-don't-know-svarūpa — who-asks-this-dīna.
What it means
A 4-verse self-effacement-among-deva-list text. Yama-dharma and even Brahmā and other devas — their full bhāva is at your feet. Pārvatī-Śankara do your remembrance — where am I, this servant? With Śeṣa's 1000 mouths roaring the Name — what's my stature as a servant? Sun, Moon, and all the constellations make revolving-circumambulation. Even they don't know your svarūpa — who asks about me, this poor one? The closing twist: even Yama, Brahmā, Pārvatī-Śankara, Śeṣa, the constellations don't know your essence — so my obscurity is the same as theirs. A radical leveling-down by self-effacement.
For someone today
Tukārām lists the greatest beings in creation, Yama, Brahmā, Pārvatī and Śankara, the thousand-mouthed serpent Śeṣa, even the sun, moon, and stars circling in devotion, and says that all of them keep their full faith fixed at God's feet. Then he adds the striking twist: not even these great ones truly grasp God's full nature. So he asks, if beings that vast and powerful cannot fully know it, who would even bother to ask about someone as small and ordinary as him? The lesson is oddly comforting: since the deepest mystery is beyond everyone, however great, your own smallness or confusion is nothing to be ashamed of, you are in the same boat as the whole universe.
मराठी: तुकाराम सृष्टीतील सर्वांत मोठ्या शक्तींची यादी देतात, यमधर्म, ब्रह्मादिक देव, पार्वती-शंकर, हजार मुखांचा शेषनाग, आणि सूर्य-चंद्र-तारे सुद्धा भक्तिभावाने प्रदक्षिणा घालतात, आणि म्हणतात हे सगळे तुझ्याच पायी पूर्ण भाव ठेवतात. मग ते एक धक्कादायक पलटी मारतात, हे सगळे मोठे सुद्धा तुझे खरे स्वरूप जाणत नाहीत. मग एवढे मोठे जर हे जाणू शकत नाहीत, तर माझ्यासारख्या दीन, सामान्य माणसाची कोण चौकशी करणार? यातून हा विचित्र पण दिलासादायक धडा मिळतो की जेव्हा सर्वांत मोठ्यांनाही अंतिम रहस्य कळत नाही, तेव्हा आपला लहानपणा किंवा गोंधळ लाजण्यासारखा नाही, आपणही या विश्वाइतकेच त्या रहस्यासमोर सारखेच आहोत.
Where this applies
- When you feel small or insignificant compared to people who seem far more accomplished or powerful
- When you are struggling to understand something vast, like the nature of God or the meaning of life, and feel embarrassed by your confusion
- When you compare your devotion to that of people who seem far more advanced and feel discouraged
- When you want comfort in knowing that even the greatest minds and beings share the same fundamental mystery you do