Abhanga 4510
The same divine presence lives in every being and meets each person exactly where their true feeling is directed, so what you truly believe shapes what you actually receive.
The verse
भक्तीसाटीं केली यशोदेसी आळी । थिंकोनिया चोळी डोळे देव ॥१॥
देव गिळुनियां धरिलें मोहन । माय म्हणे कोण येथें दुजें ॥२॥
दुजें येथें कोणी नाहीं कृष्णाविण । निरुते जाणोन पुसे देवा ॥३॥
देवापाशीं पुसे देव काय जाला । हांसें आलें बोला याचें हरि ॥४॥
यांचे मी जवळी देव तो नेणती । लटिकें मानिती साच खरें ॥५॥
लटिकें तें साच साच तें लटिके । नेणती लोभिकें आशाबद्ध ॥६॥
सांग म्हणे माय येरु वासी तोंड । तंव तें ब्रम्हांड देखे माजी ॥७॥
माजी जया चंद्र सूर्य तारांगणें । तो भक्तांकारणें बाळलीला ॥८॥
लीळा कोण जाणे याचें महिमान । जगाचें जीवन देवादिदेव ॥९॥
देवें कवतुक दाखविलें तयां । लागतील पायां मायबापें ॥१०॥
मायबाप म्हणे हा चि देव खरा । आणीक पसारा लटिका तो ॥११॥
तो हि त्यांचा देव दिला नारायणें । माझें हें करणें तो हि मी च ॥१२॥
मीं च म्हणउनि जें जें जेथें ध्याती । तेथें मी श्रीपति भोगिता तें ॥१३॥
तें मज वेगळें मी तया निराळा । नाहीं या सकळा ब्रम्हांडांत ॥१४॥
ततभावना तैसें भविष्य तयाचें । फळ देता साचें मी च एक ॥१५॥
मी च एक खरा बोलें नारायण । दाविलें निर्वाण निजदासां ॥१६॥
निजदासां खूण दाविली निरुती । तुका म्हणे भूतीं नारायण ॥१७॥
Literal translation
Bhaktī-sāṭīm kelī Yaśodesī āḷī — thimkōniyā cōḷī ḍōḷe Deva — for bhakti, (he) made a tussle with Yaśodā; spitting, Deva rubs (his) eyes. Deva giḷuniyām dharile mōhana — māya mhaṇe kōṇa yethēm dujē — swallowing (apparent) Deva, (he) caught hold of mohana; mother says — who is second here?. Dujē yethēm kōṇī nāhī Krṣṇāviṇa — nirute jāṇōna puse Devā — no second here besides Krṣṇa — knowing-truly she asks Deva. Devāpāśīm puse Deva kāya jālā — hāse āle bōlā yāce Hari — near Deva she asks what-became-Deva; laughter came at his words, Hari's. Yāmce mī javaḷī Deva tō neṇatī — laṭike mānitī sāca kharē — I-near-them — Deva — they don't know; they take lies as truth. Laṭike te sāca, sāca te laṭike — neṇatī lōbhike āśā-baddha — lies are truth, truth is lies — the greedy, āśā-bound don't know. Sānga mhaṇe māya, yerū vāsī tōṇḍa — tava te brahmāṇḍa dekhe mājī — mother says 'show'; (he) opens mouth — there brahmāṇḍa she sees within. Mājī jayā candra sūrya tārāngaṇe — tō bhaktām-kāraṇe bāḷa-līḷā — within (which are) moon-sun-star-clusters — for the bhakta this is bāḷa-līlā. Līḷā kōṇa jāṇe yāce mahimāna — jagāce jīvana devādideva — who knows his līlā-mahimā — jagat's jīvana, devādi-deva. Deve kavatuka dākhavile tayām — lāgatīla pāyām māyabāpe — Deva showed kavatuka to them — māyabāpa-(s) will fall at (his) feet. Māyabāpa mhaṇe hā ci Deva kharā — āṇīka pasārā laṭikā tō — māyabāpa say 'this alone is true Deva, the rest of the spread is false'. Tō hi tyāmcā Deva dilā Nārāyaṇe — mājhe he karaṇe tō hi mī ca — that too — their Deva — given-by Nārāyaṇa; this making (is) mine, that too is I. Mīm ca mhaṇaūni jem jem jethē dhyātī — tethēm mī Śrīpati bhōgitā tem — I-alone — wherever they meditate, there I, Śrīpati, enjoy that. Te maja vegaḷe mī tayā nirāḷā — nāhī yā sakaḷā brahmāṇḍāmta — that from me separate; I from that distinct; not in all this brahmāṇḍa (there is no such division). Tata-bhāvanā taise bhaviṣya tayāce — phaḷa detā sāce mī ca eka — as the bhāvanā, such (one's) future; truly the fruit-giver is I-alone. Mī ca eka khārā bōle Nārāyaṇa — dāvile nirvāṇa nija-dāsām — I-alone-am-true, says Nārāyaṇa; showed nirvāṇa to nija-dāsas. Nija-dāsām khūṇa dāvilī nirutī — Tukā mhaṇe bhūtīm Nārāyaṇa — to nija-dāsas the khūṇa is shown truly; Tukā says: in bhūtas — Nārāyaṇa.
What it means
A 17-verse extended-narrative of the Yaśodā-mouth-opening viśvarūpa-darśana from Krṣṇa-bāla-līlā. The child-Krṣṇa picks a quarrel with mother; she demands him to open his mouth — and within it she sees the whole brahmāṇḍa with sun-moon-stars. Tukārām threads this into a theology-of-bhāva: as one meditates, so I, Śrīpati, enjoy; I-alone-give-fruit. In-all-bhūtas, Nārāyaṇa.
For someone today
In this story, the child Krishna picks a playful quarrel with his mother Yashoda, and when she demands he open his mouth, she is stunned to see the entire universe, sun, moon, and stars, inside a simple child's mouth. Krishna then explains that whatever people meditate on, that is where he shows up and receives their devotion, because he does not stand apart from anyone's true feeling. What you believe determines what you receive, since the same one presence quietly lives inside every being, however ordinary or unlikely that being seems. Tukaram's point is that the divine is not confined to one form or place, and your own depth of feeling is what shapes how truly you meet it.
मराठी: या कथेत बालकृष्ण आईशी, यशोदेशी खेळकर भांडण करतो, आणि जेव्हा ती त्याला तोंड उघडायला सांगते, तेव्हा तिला त्या साध्या बालकाच्या तोंडात संपूर्ण विश्व, सूर्य, चंद्र आणि तारे दिसतात. मग कृष्ण सांगतो की लोक जे जे मनात ध्यान करतात, तिथेच तो प्रकट होतो आणि त्यांची भक्ती स्वीकारतो, कारण कोणाच्याही खऱ्या भावापासून तो वेगळा नसतो. तुम्ही जे मानता तेच तुम्हाला मिळते, कारण एकच अंतर्यामी उपस्थिती प्रत्येक जीवात वास करते, मग तो जीव कितीही साधा किंवा अनपेक्षित का असेना. तुकारामांचा मुद्दा हा आहे की परमेश्वर एका रूपात किंवा स्थानात बंदिस्त नाही, आणि तुमच्या भावाची खोलीच ठरवते की तुम्ही त्याला किती खऱ्या अर्थाने भेटता.
Where this applies
- When you assume the divine can only be found in one particular form, place, or tradition
- When you underestimate someone or something ordinary that might hold more depth than it appears
- When you notice your own beliefs and feelings shaping what you actually experience in life
- When a small, everyday moment with a child or loved one suddenly reveals something larger than expected