Abhanga 4417
When trouble strikes, real protection should not wait on the world's opinion, a parent's love for a child, like God's mercy, must act despite mockery or doubt.
The verse
काय पाहतोसि कृपेच्या सागरा । नराच्या नरेंद्रा पांडुरंगा ॥१॥
नामाचा प्रताप ब्रिदाचा बडिवार । करावा साचार नारायणा ॥ध्रु.॥
कलीमाजी देव बौध्यरूप जाला । जगाचिया बोला लागूं नका ॥२॥
माय पुत्रा काय मारूं पाहे कळी । जगाची ढवाळी काय काज ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे या हो कृपेच्या सागरा । रुकुमादेवीवरा मायबापा ॥४॥
Literal translation
What watching, krpā-sāgara, narendra, Pāṇḍurangā? Make Name-pratāpa and biruda-baḍivāra sāchāra. In Kali, Deva became Buddha-rūpa? Don't listen to jagat-bōla. Mother-son, kaḷi wants to kill — what's use of jagat's ḍhavāḷī? Tukā: come, krpā-sāgara, Rakumādevīvara-māyabāpa.
What it means
A striking-image petition. Buddha-rūpa image refers to-the-tradition that in Kali-yuga the-Lord-becomes-silent (the avatāra-as-Buddha). Tukārām urges: don't-listen-to-world's-mockery, come.
For someone today
Tukaram challenges God directly, asking why the ocean of mercy just watches instead of acting. If the Name carries real power and God's reputation as protector means anything, he says, now is the time to prove it true. He notes that in this troubled age God seems to have gone quiet, like the silent Buddha form, and urges God not to be swayed by what the world says or thinks. Using the image of a mother whose child is under threat, he insists no amount of the world's mockery should stop a parent from protecting their child, so God, as mother and father, should simply come.
मराठी: तुकाराम देवाला थेट आव्हान देतात, कृपासागर फक्त पाहत का बसला आहे असे विचारतात - जर नामाचा प्रताप आणि ब्रीदाचा बडिवार खरा असेल तर तो आता सिद्ध करून दाखवावा. या कठीण काळात देव जणू बौद्धरूपासारखा शांत झाला आहे असे ते म्हणतात, आणि जगाच्या बोलण्याला महत्त्व देऊ नकोस असे सांगतात. मुलावर संकट आले असताना आईने त्याला वाचवावेच लागते, जगाच्या टिंगलीची पर्वा न करता, या प्रतिमेतून ते सांगतात की आईवडिलांप्रमाणे असलेल्या देवाने आता फक्त यावे.
Where this applies
- When you feel God or life is silently watching instead of stepping in during a crisis
- When you wonder whether your faith actually holds power or is just empty words
- When you feel embarrassed to seek help because of what others might say or think
- When you need someone to act like a protective parent for you rather than staying distant