Abhanga 4509
The one God beyond all form willingly becomes small and needy, letting an ordinary mother's protective ritual fall on the very father of the universe, so that love with a devotee becomes possible.
The verse
संयोग सकळां असे सर्वकाळ । दुश्चित्त गोपाळ आला दिसे ॥१॥
गोपाळ गुणाचा म्हणे गुणमय । निंबलोण माये उतरिलें ॥२॥
उतरूनि हातें धरि हनूवठी । ओवाळूनि दिठी सांडियेली ॥३॥
दिठी घाली माता विश्वाच्या जनका । भक्तिचिया सुखा गोडावला ॥४॥
लहान हा थोर जीवजंत भूतें । आपण दैवतें जाला देवी ॥५॥
देवी म्हैसासुर मुंजिया खेचर । लहान हि थोर देव हरि ॥६॥
हरि तुका म्हणे अवघा एकला । परि या धाकुला भक्तासाटीं ॥७॥
Literal translation
Samyōga sakaḷām ase sarva-kāḷa — union-is with all, all-time; duścitta gōpāḷa ālā dise — gopāḷa came appearing troubled. Gōpāḷa guṇāñcā mhaṇe guṇa-maya — (mother) says gopāḷa is guṇa-maya; nimba-lōṇa māye utariyelēm — neem-and-salt the mother passed-around. Utarūni hāte dhari hanuvaṭī — passing-around she holds the chin; uvāḷūni diṭhī sāmḍiyelī — waving, she cast-off the drṣṭi. Diṭhī ghāli mātā viśvācyā janakā — the mother casts drṣṭi on the world's janaka; bhakti-ciyā sukhā goḍāvalā — (he) was sweetened by bhakti's sukha. Lahāna hā thōra jīva-jantu bhūtem — āpaṇa daivate jālā Devī — small and great jīvas-jantus-bhūtas — (he) himself became deities-Devī. Devī Mhaisāsura Muñjiyā Khēchara — lahāna hi thōra Deva Hari — Devī, Mahiṣāsura, Muñjī, Khēchara — small and great, Deva-Hari. Hari Tukā mhaṇe avaghā ekalā — pari yā dhākulā bhaktā-sāṭīm — Tukā says: Hari is one-alone, but this small (one) is for the bhakta.
What it means
A 7-verse text in the gopāḷa-līlā cluster. Yaśodā, seeing-trouble on the child's face, does the household nimba-lōṇa uvāḷaṇī — neem-and-salt waved around the head and cast-off — on the very father-of-the-world. The radical line: Hari himself became all small-and-great beings, all named-deities (Devī, Mahiṣāsura, Muñjī, Khēchara); but takes the dhākulā (tiny) form for the bhakta.
For someone today
When young Krishna comes home looking troubled, his mother Yashoda does an ordinary household ritual, waving neem leaves and salt around his face to ward off the evil eye and gently holding his chin, even though the child in front of her is the father of the whole universe. Tukaram points out something striking: the same God who is one and beyond all form has become every kind of being, small and great, and takes on this tiny, needy, lovable shape purely for the sake of his devotee. It is a reminder that the divine does not stay distant and untouchable but willingly becomes small and ordinary so that love between you and God can actually happen.
मराठी: जेव्हा लहान कृष्ण त्रासलेला दिसत घरी येतो, तेव्हा त्याची आई यशोदा नेहमीच्या घरगुती पद्धतीने त्याच्या तोंडाभोवती कडुनिंब आणि मीठ फिरवून दृष्ट काढते आणि त्याची हनुवटी धरून त्याला जवळ घेते, जरी समोरचे मूल प्रत्यक्षात संपूर्ण विश्वाचा पिता असते. तुकाराम एक विलक्षण गोष्ट अधोरेखित करतात की जो देव एक आहे आणि सर्व रूपांच्या पलीकडे आहे, तोच लहान-मोठ्या सर्व जीवांच्या रूपात प्रकटतो, आणि केवळ भक्तासाठीच हे लहान, हवेहवेसे, प्रेमळ रूप घेतो. यातून हेच शिकायला मिळते की देव दूर आणि अस्पर्श राहत नाही, तर तुमच्या-देवाच्या प्रेमाला वाव मिळावा म्हणून तो स्वतःहून लहान आणि साधा बनतो.
Where this applies
- When you care for a child or loved one with simple, everyday rituals of protection and love
- When you feel God is too vast or distant to actually relate to on a personal level
- When you worry about someone close to you and instinctively want to ward off harm from them
- When you sense that the sacred shows up in humble, homely acts of care rather than only grand ceremonies