Abhanga 4488

Tukaram teaches that God takes the shape of whatever devotion is offered, that even remembering him in hatred can dissolve sin, and that God prefers the home of a sincere believer over formal honor.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A 10-verse yamak-bandha continuation from 4487's spaṭika-śilā. The crystal does not change by classification — it shows itself in whatever pattern (chhanda) is brought to it. As the bhakta makes (the Lord), so (the Lord) becomes moment-by-moment — fulfill your desire by bhakti-bhāva. He came to fulfill everyone's full-quota — Gopāḷa, Gauḷaṇī, mother-father. He released the parents from bondage by destroying Chāṇūra and Kamsa. Gives no separate gift — friend and enemy are one — Pūtanā the thorn he made liberated. Made liberated even the great-sinner uncle Kamsa — heap of child-killing sins. Where does sin stay when Hari is remembered — whether by bhakti or hatred, it works either way. He is witness at the bhakta for the previous karma — bound as debtor to service. Lord, innocent, runs after the bhakta — when the Name is uttered, runs behind and behind. Tukā says: disgusted with honor — runs to the house of the sincere-believer. The crystal-image continues: the Lord is colorless-in-himself but takes-on-the-color-of-the-bhakta. Pūtanā-and-Kamsa-liberation: even-the-enemies-touched-by-Lord-attain-mukti (Bhāgavata-tradition). Pair with 4487 (spaṭika-śilā), 4485 (Krṣṇa-janma), 2787 (bhakti-redeems-fallen).

For someone today

Tukaram continues the image of God as a crystal that never changes in itself but shows whatever shape the devotee brings to it, becoming moment by moment what your devotion makes of it. He points to the surprising Krishna story where even Putana, who came to harm the infant Krishna, and Kamsa, a man guilty of killing children, were both freed simply through contact with the Lord, showing that remembering him, whether out of love or even hatred, still burns away sin. He insists God treats friend and enemy the same, holding no grudge, and that God actually feels indebted to anyone who serves him with sincerity. Tukaram ends by saying God grows tired of formal honor and titles and instead runs, again and again, toward the home of a simple, sincere believer.

मराठी: तुकाराम स्फटिकाची उपमा पुढे नेतात, जो स्वतः बदलत नाही पण भक्त जो भाव अर्पण करतो त्याचेच रूप घेतो, क्षणाक्षणाला भक्तीनेच घडतो. ते कृष्णकथेतील आश्चर्यकारक प्रसंगाकडे लक्ष वेधतात, जिथे बाळ कृष्णाला इजा करायला आलेली पूतना आणि लहान मुलांना मारणारा दोषी कंस, हे दोघेही केवळ देवाच्या स्पर्शानेच मुक्त झाले, यातून हेच दिसते की प्रेमाने असो वा द्वेषाने, हरीचे स्मरण झाले की पाप जळून जाते. ते ठामपणे सांगतात की देव मित्र आणि शत्रू दोघांनाही सारखेच वागवतो, कोणाबद्दलही राग धरत नाही, आणि जो कोणी मनापासून सेवा करतो त्याचा देव खरोखर ऋणी होतो. शेवटी तुकाराम म्हणतात की देवाला औपचारिक मान-सन्मानाचा कंटाळा येतो आणि तो पुन्हा पुन्हा साध्या, प्रामाणिक भक्ताच्या घराकडे धावत जातो.

Where this applies

• When you feel your negative feelings toward God, even anger or resentment, disqualify you from ever being forgiven
• When you think only enemies or wrongdoers deserve punishment and can never change
• When you are drawn to formal status, titles, or public praise instead of quiet, sincere devotion
• When you wonder whether your simple, unadorned faith matters as much as elaborate ritual or recognition

Related verses

• Abhanga 4481 — Tukaram promises that sincerely calling on the Lord's name, knowingly or unknowingly, with
• Abhanga 4482 — Tukaram teaches that no ritual equals sincerely speaking the Lord's name, that self-center
• Abhanga 4497 — Tukaram describes a life so soaked in devotion that Krishna's presence fills every ordinar
• Abhanga 4495 — Tukaram tells how Krishna's mother and the cowherd families, absorbed in their own practic