Abhanga 4219
One of the cowherds describes the terror they felt watching Krishna open his mouth wide and swallow the raging surges of fire, admitting how badly they were shaking, half afraid he might swallow them along with the flames. Tukaram then turns the moment inward with an honest, wistful confession: he envies those cowherds their good fortune, wishing he too had been standing right there beside Krishna to witness it himself, calling his own missing out an unlucky forehead. It is a candid admission that even someone devoted can feel left out of a moment of grace others got to experience firsthand, and that longing itself is part of real devotion.
The verse
एक म्हणती कृष्णा वासिलें त्वां मुख । तेव्हां थोर धाक पडिला आम्हां ॥१॥
गिळो लागलासी अग्नीचे कल्लोळ । आम्ही चळचळां कांपतसों ॥ध्रु.॥
ज्वाळांबरोबरि गळिशील आम्हां । ऐसें मेघशामा भय वाटे ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे ऐसे भाग्याचे गोपाळ । फुटकें कपाळ आमुचें चि ॥३॥
Literal translation
Krṣṇa-when-opened-mukha — great-dhāka-fell. Swallowed-agni-kallōḷa — we-trembled. Alongside-flames-might-swallow-us — meghaśāmā-fear. Tukā: such-bhāgyavān-gopāḷas — fuṭakē-kapāḷa-ours.
What it means
Verse-12 of dāvānala-grasana cluster. One says: Krṣṇa, when you opened the mouth, a great terror fell on us. You began to swallow the surges of fire — we were trembling. Alongside the flames, you might swallow us too — so we feared, meghaśāmā. Tukā says: such fortunate are the gopāḷas — ours is just the broken forehead (we have no such share). The closing twist: fuṭakē-kapāḷa āmuchēm chi — our forehead is just broken (we missed-out) — Tukārām's wistful self-envy of the gopāḷas who saw Krṣṇa-up-close. Personal note in narrative.
For someone today
One of the cowherds describes the terror they felt watching Krishna open his mouth wide and swallow the raging surges of fire, admitting how badly they were shaking, half afraid he might swallow them along with the flames. Tukaram then turns the moment inward with an honest, wistful confession: he envies those cowherds their good fortune, wishing he too had been standing right there beside Krishna to witness it himself, calling his own missing out an unlucky forehead. It is a candid admission that even someone devoted can feel left out of a moment of grace others got to experience firsthand, and that longing itself is part of real devotion.
मराठी: एक गोपाळ कृष्णाने तोंड उघडून प्रचंड ज्वाळा गिळतानाची भीती सांगतो, आम्ही किती थरथर कापलो, आणि आपल्यालाही त्या ज्वाळांबरोबर गिळून टाकशील का अशी भीती वाटली, असं तो कबूल करतो. मग तुकाराम मात्र आपल्या मनातली प्रामाणिक हुरहूर व्यक्त करतात — त्या गोपाळांच्या भाग्याचा त्यांना हेवा वाटतो, आपणही तिथे कृष्णाजवळ उभं राहून हे प्रत्यक्ष पाहायला हवं होतं असं वाटतं, आणि आपल्या हातून हे चुकलं याला ते "फुटकं कपाळ" म्हणतात. भक्त असूनही इतरांना प्रत्यक्ष मिळालेल्या कृपेच्या क्षणापासून आपण वंचित राहिलो असं वाटणं, आणि ही हुरहूरच खऱ्या भक्तीचा एक भाग असणं, हे यातून प्रामाणिकपणे मांडलं आहे.
Where this applies
- Verse-12 of extended 14-abhang dāvānala-grasana cluster (4208-4221)