Abhanga 4491
Tukaram teaches that God delights in the warm, unguarded affection of simple devotees more than in the formal meditation of solemn practitioners, and makes closeness easy for those who love him plainly.
The verse
वैकुंठीच्या लोकां दुर्लभ हरिजन । तया नारायण समागमें ॥१॥
समागम त्यांचा धरिला अनंतें । जिहीं चत्तिवत्ति समर्पिलें ॥२॥
समर्था तीं गाती हरीचे पवाडे । येर ते बापुडे रावराणे ॥३॥
रामकृष्णें केलें कौतुक गोकुळीं । गोपाळांचे मेळीं गाईं चारी ॥४॥
गाईं चारी मोहोरी पांवा वाहे पाठीं । धन्य जाळी काठी कांबळीचें ॥५॥
काय गौळियांच्या होत्या पुण्यरासी । आणीक त्या म्हैसी गाईं पशु ॥६॥
सुख तें अमुप लुटिलें सकळीं । गोपिका गोपाळीं धणीवरि ॥७॥
धणीवरि त्यांसी सांगितली मात । जयाचें जें आर्त तयापरी ॥८॥
परी याचि तुम्ही आइका नवळ । दुर्गम जो खोल साधनासि ॥९॥
शिक लावूनियां घालिती बाहेरी । पाहाती भीतरी सवें चि तो ॥१०॥
तोंडाकडे त्यांच्या पाहे कवतुकें । शिव्या देतां सुखें हासतुसे ॥११॥
हांसतसे शिव्या देतां त्या गौळणी । मरतां जपध्यानीं न बोले तो ॥१२॥
तो जेंजें करिल तें दिसे उत्तम । तुका म्हणे वर्म दावी सोपें ॥१३॥
Literal translation
A 13-verse yamak-bandha — Vaikuṇṭha-folk-rare-Harijana-Nārāyaṇa-samāgama → they-chitta-vrtti-arpaṇa-sing-Hari-pavāḍē-others-pathetic-rāya-rāṇē → Krṣṇa-Gokuḷ-cow-grazing-līla → blessed-the-blanket's-stick → Gauḷīs' and-paśu's-pūrva-puṇya — sukha-amupa-lūṭ → to-the-dhaṇī he-told-the-tale-each-one-as-his-yearning → hard-to-reach-for-sādhana but → thrown-outside-by-lash but-follows-inside → looks-at-tongue-with-delight → laughs-when-abuses-by-gauḷaṇī though-not-speaking-at-japa-dhyāna → shows-the-easy-varma.
What it means
A 13-verse yamak-bandha — celebrates Harijana-rarer-than-Vaikuṇṭha-folk — and the Gokul-cow-grazing-līla. Key claims: (a) Vaikuṇṭha-folk are rare beside Harijana (a striking-claim: bhaktas-rarer-than-Vaikuṇṭha-residents), (b) blessed-is-the-blanket-stick-of-the-cowherd-Krṣṇa-carried — radical-sacralization-of-rural-objects, (c) Gauḷīs and their cows-buffaloes too had pūrva-puṇya — animals-included-in-bhāgya, (d) Lord listens-to-abuses-with-delight from gauḷaṇī though-silent-at-japa-dhyāna — bhakti-supremacy-over-formal-practice, (e) shows-the-easy-varma — Lord-makes-the-mark-easy-for-bhāvika. Pair with 4483 (gopī cluster), 4492 (varma-sōpa continuation).
For someone today
Tukaram makes a bold claim here, that a true devotee of the Lord is actually rarer to find than the blessed residents of heaven, because God stays in constant, close company with them. He paints the tender scene of Krishna grazing cows with the cowherd boys in Gokul, calling even the stick and blanket of an ordinary herder blessed, and saying the very cows and buffaloes there carried good fortune from past lives. What is striking is that the Lord delights even in the affectionate scolding of the cowherd women, laughing warmly at their teasing, while he stays silent and distant during the formal meditation of solemn yogis. The point is that easy, unguarded closeness with the divine is available to ordinary, unpretentious people, God makes that path simple for those who love him plainly.
मराठी: तुकाराम इथे एक ठाम दावा करतात, की खरा हरिभक्त हा वैकुंठातील रहिवाशांपेक्षाही दुर्मीळ असतो, कारण देव त्यांच्यासोबत सतत, जवळचा सहवास ठेवतो. ते गोकुळात कृष्ण गोपाळांसोबत गाई चारतानाचे कोमल दृश्य रंगवतात, अगदी सामान्य गुराख्याची काठी आणि कांबळीसुद्धा धन्य मानतात, आणि सांगतात की तिथल्या गाई-म्हशींनीसुद्धा मागील जन्मीचे पुण्य वागवले होते. लक्षवेधी गोष्ट म्हणजे देव गवळणींच्या प्रेमळ रागावण्यातही आनंद घेतो, त्यांच्या चिडवण्याला हसून प्रतिसाद देतो, तर गंभीर योग्यांच्या औपचारिक ध्यानात मात्र तो शांत आणि दूर राहतो. यातून हेच शिकायला मिळते की देवाशी सहज, निखळ जवळीक साध्या, अनौपचारिक लोकांनाही मिळू शकते, जे मनापासून प्रेम करतात त्यांच्यासाठी तो हा मार्ग सोपा करतो.
Where this applies
- When you assume only formal, disciplined spiritual practice can bring you close to God
- When you feel your ordinary, unpolished way of expressing love or frustration toward God is inappropriate
- When you want to find the sacred in everyday objects and simple daily work rather than only in grand rituals
- When you notice that playful, honest affection feels closer to real connection than stiff formality