Abhanga 4200
When your prayers seem to go unanswered, it is tempting to imagine God as evasive, someone who stalls or pulls back like a person dodging a beggar at the door. Tukaram insists that is not Vitthal's way at all; if there has been a delay, the delay is not coming from God's side. Instead of blaming the divine for the silence, the verse quietly turns the question back on the seeker, suggesting the real holdup is likely in one's own readiness or faith. It is both a defense of Vitthal's reliability and a gentle call to self-examination whenever an answer seems slow to arrive.
The verse
मागत्याची टाळाटाळी । झिंझ्या वोढूनि कपाळीं ॥१॥
ऐसा तंव मोळा । तुमचा नसेल गोपाळा ॥ध्रु.॥
नसेल ना नवें । ऐसें धरियेलें देवें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे जाला । उशीर नाहीं तो विठ्ठला ॥३॥
Literal translation
Evading-asker — pulled-locks-on-forehead. Such-manner-not-yours-Gopāḷa. Not-new — held-deva-this-way. Tukā: delay-yes — but-not-Viṭhṭhal's.
What it means
A 3-verse petition-with-confidence text. Evading the one who asks, pulling out one's hair-locks on the forehead — such a manner is not yours, Gopāḷa. (Or if it is) — not new; this is how I held Deva. Tukā says: there has been delay — but not (the delay) of Viṭhṭhal. The line: jālā uśīra — nāhīm tō Viṭhṭhalā (delay has happened — but it is not of Viṭhṭhal). The bhakta absolves Viṭhṭhal of the delay-blame; the delay is in the bhakta's own readiness/path. Quietly profound.
For someone today
When your prayers seem to go unanswered, it is tempting to imagine God as evasive, someone who stalls or pulls back like a person dodging a beggar at the door. Tukaram insists that is not Vitthal's way at all; if there has been a delay, the delay is not coming from God's side. Instead of blaming the divine for the silence, the verse quietly turns the question back on the seeker, suggesting the real holdup is likely in one's own readiness or faith. It is both a defense of Vitthal's reliability and a gentle call to self-examination whenever an answer seems slow to arrive.
मराठी: प्रार्थनेचं उत्तर उशिरा येतं तेव्हा देव जणू टाळाटाळ करतो आहे, भिकाऱ्याला दारातून घालवावं तसं वागतो आहे, असं वाटायला लागतं. तुकाराम ठामपणे सांगतात की विठ्ठलाचा स्वभाव तसा नाही. जर उशीर झालाच असेल, तर तो देवाकडून झालेला नाही. देवाला दोष देण्याऐवजी हा अभंग शांतपणे प्रश्न आपल्याकडे वळवतो, कारण खरी अडचण बहुधा आपल्याच तयारीत किंवा श्रद्धेत असते. हा अभंग एकीकडे विठ्ठलाच्या विश्वासार्हतेचं समर्थन करतो आणि दुसरीकडे उत्तर उशिरा येतं तेव्हा स्वतःकडे बघायला सांगतो.
Where this applies
- When you feel abandoned or ignored after asking for help, in prayer or in everyday life
- When a long-awaited answer or blessing seems delayed and you start doubting whether it will come
- When you are tempted to blame someone reliable for a wait that is really about your own timing or readiness
- When you catch yourself assuming the worst about someone who has always shown up for you before