Abhanga 4215
Even a power that just saved you can feel like too much, and it is natural to want the gentler, familiar closeness back once the danger has passed.
The verse
गोपाळ प्रीतीनें कैसे विनविती । विक्राळ श्रीपती होऊं नको ॥१॥
नको रे बा कृष्णा धरूं ऐसें रूप । आम्हां चळकांप सुटलासे ॥ध्रु.॥
होई बा धाकुटा शाम चतुर्भूज । बैसोनियां गुज सुखें बोलों ॥२॥
वोणव्याच्या रागें गिळिशील आम्हां । तुका मेघशामा पायां लागे ॥३॥
Literal translation
Gopāḷas-pray-with-prīti — don't-be-vikrāḷa-Śrī-pati. Don't-take-such-rūpa-Krṣṇa — we-tremble-shivering. Be-little-Śyāma-chatur-bhuja — sit-speak-guja-in-joy. In-vōnavā's-rage — might-swallow-us. Tukā-meghaśyāma falls-at-feet.
What it means
Verse-8 of dāvānala-grasana cluster. The gopāḷas pray with love: don't become terrible, Śrī-pati. Don't take such a form, Krṣṇa — we're seized by shivering. Be the little Śyāma with four-arms — sit and let us speak close-talk in joy. In the forest-fire's rage you might swallow us (too) — Tukā falls at the meghaśyāma's feet. The reverse-petition: now-shrink-back-from-the-terrible-form. Pair with Arjuna's request in Gītā 11 for Krṣṇa to return from Viśva-rūpa to human-form.
For someone today
Right after being saved from the swallowed fire, the cowherds beg Krishna, with love, to stop being so terrifying: do not keep that vast, fearsome form, they say, because it leaves them shaking. What they actually want is the small, familiar Krishna they know and love, someone they can sit close to and talk with intimately and joyfully. They even worry that in the heat of swallowing the fire he might accidentally swallow them too, so Tukaram bows at his feet and asks for the gentler form back. It is a tender reminder that even necessary, protective power can be overwhelming, and it is fine to want closeness and ease again once the danger has passed.
मराठी: आग गिळून झाल्यावर लगेच गोपाळ प्रेमाने कृष्णाला विनवतात, आता इतकं भयानक होऊ नको. असं अफाट, भीतिदायक रूप धरू नकोस, कारण त्यामुळे आम्ही थरथर कापतो, असं ते सांगतात. त्यांना खरोखर हवा असतो तो लहानसा, ओळखीचा श्यामसुंदर कृष्ण, ज्याच्याजवळ बसून प्रेमाने गुजगोष्टी करता येतील. वणव्याच्या रागात आपल्यालाही गिळून टाकशील का, अशी भीतीही त्यांना वाटते, म्हणून तुकाराम मेघश्यामाच्या पायाशी लीन होऊन पुन्हा तेच सौम्य रूप मागतात. गरजेपोटी दाखवलेली रक्षणकारी शक्तीसुद्धा भारावून टाकणारी असू शकते, आणि संकट टळल्यावर पुन्हा जवळीक आणि सहजता हवीशी वाटणं स्वाभाविक आहे, हेच यातून सांगितलं आहे.
Where this applies
- Verse-8 of 10-abhang dāvānala-grasana cluster (4208-4217)