Abhanga 4512
God does the saving himself and then quietly gives the credit to his devotee, because real greatness flows downward from the giver to the one who is served.
The verse
भाव दावी शुद्ध देखोनियां चित्त । आपल्या अंकित निजदासां ॥१॥
सांगे गोपाळांसि काय पुण्य होतें । वांचलों जळते आगी हातीं ॥२॥
आजि आम्हां येथें राखियेलें देवें । नाहीं तरी जीवें न वंचतों ॥३॥
न वंचत्या गाईं जळतों सकळें । पूर्वपुण्यबळें वांचविलें ॥४॥
पूर्वपुण्य होतें तुमचिये गांठी । बोले जगजेठी गोपाळांसि ॥५॥
गोपाळांसि म्हणे वैकुंठनायक । भले तुम्ही एक पुण्यवंत ॥६॥
करी तुका म्हणे करवी आपण । द्यावें थोरपण सेवकांसि ॥७॥
Literal translation
Bhāva dāvī śuddha dekhōniyām chitta — āpalyā ankita nija-dāsām — (he) shows bhāva, seeing clean chitta; (he is) of his own ankita nija-dāsas. Sānge gopāḷāmsi kāya puṇya hōte — vāncalōm jaḷate āgī hātīm — (he) says to the gopāḷas: 'what puṇya was there? — we survived the burning fire-hand'. Ājī āmhām yethēm rākhiyele Deve — nāhī tarī jīve na vanchatōm — 'today Deva saved us here; else (we) would-not-have-escaped with life'. Na vanchatyā gāīm jaḷatōm sakaḷe — pūrva-puṇya-baḷe vāncavile — 'cows didn't escape, all burned; (we were) saved by pūrva-puṇya-baḷa'. Pūrva-puṇya hōte tumaciye gāṇṭhī — bōle jagajeṭhī gopāḷāmsi — 'pūrva-puṇya was in your knot,' says jagajeṭhī to the gopāḷas. Gopāḷāmsi mhaṇe Vaikuṇṭha-nāyaka — bhale tumhī eka puṇyavanta — to gopāḷas says Vaikuṇṭha-nāyaka: 'you are puṇyavantas — good!'. Karī Tukā mhaṇe karavī āpaṇa — dyāve thōrapaṇa sevakāmsi — Tukā says: (he) himself does, (and) makes-(them)-do; (to) give thōrapaṇa to sevakas.
What it means
A 7-verse aftermath of the vōṇavā (4511). Krṣṇa attributes the gopāḷas' survival to their pūrva-puṇya; the gopāḷas counter that Deva saved them. The frame closes with Tukārām's signature theology: the Lord does the saving and then credits the bhakta — so that his sevaka receives the thōrapaṇa.
For someone today
After the fire is over, the cowherds realize they survived while the cattle did not, and they say plainly that God saved them, that without his protection they would not be alive. But Krishna turns it around and tells them their survival came from their own store of good merit, that they themselves were worthy people. Tukaram reads this as a window into how God actually works: he does the saving himself, then quietly gives the credit to his devotee, lifting them up rather than keeping the glory for himself. Real greatness is like that, it flows downward from the giver to the one served, not the other way around.
मराठी: आग शमल्यानंतर गोपाळांच्या लक्षात येते की ते वाचले पण गुरे मात्र वाचली नाहीत, आणि ते स्पष्टपणे म्हणतात की देवानेच त्यांना वाचवले, त्याच्या रक्षणाशिवाय ते जिवंत राहिले नसते. पण कृष्ण उलट सांगतो की त्यांचे वाचणे त्यांच्याच पूर्वपुण्यामुळे झाले, ते स्वतः पुण्यवान आहेत. तुकाराम यातून देवाच्या कार्यपद्धतीची झलक दाखवतात: तो स्वतः रक्षण करतो, आणि मग शांतपणे त्याचे श्रेय आपल्या भक्ताला देतो, स्वतःजवळ मोठेपणा न ठेवता त्यांना उंचावतो. खरे मोठेपण असेच असते, ते देणाऱ्याकडून सेवकाकडे झिरपत जाते, उलट दिशेने नाही.
Where this applies
- When you survive something difficult and wonder whether to credit luck, effort, or a higher protection
- When someone in authority quietly gives you credit for something they actually made possible
- When you find yourself downplaying your own role after someone else's grace or help carried you through
- When you are in a position to lift others up by sharing credit rather than keeping it for yourself