Abhanga 4515
Once God reveals himself, even briefly, everything changes in that instant, and simply retelling a true story of grace can carry a spark of that same revelation to others.
The verse
खेळींमेळीं आले घरा गोपीनाथ । गोपाळांसहित मातेपाशीं ॥१॥
मातेपाशीं एक नवल सांगती । जाली तैसी ख्याती वोणव्याची ॥२॥
ओवाळिलें तिनें करूनि आरती । पुसे दसवंती गोपाळांसि ॥३॥
पुसे पडताळुनी मागुती मागुती । गोपाळ सांगती कवतुक ॥४॥
कवतुका कानीं आइकतां त्यांचे । बोलतां ये वाचे वीट नये ॥५॥
नयन गुंतले श्रीमुख पाहतां । न साहे लवतां आड पातें ॥६॥
तेव्हां कवतुक कळों आलें कांहीं । हळुहळु दोहीं मायबापां ॥७॥
हळुहळु त्यांचें पुण्य जालें वाड । वारलें हें जाड तिमिराचें ॥८॥
तिमिर हें तेथें राहों शके कैसें । जालियां प्रकाशें गोविंदाच्या ॥९॥
दावी तुका म्हणे देव ज्या आपणा । पालटे तें क्षणामाजी एका ॥१०॥
Literal translation
Kheḷīm-meḷīm āle gharā Gopīnātha — gopāḷām-sahita māte-pāśī — in play-and-gathering Gopīnātha came home, with gopāḷas, near mother. Māte-pāśī eka navala sāngatī — jālī taisī khyātī vōṇavyācī — near mother (they) tell one wonder — the khyāti of the vōṇavā as-it-happened. Ovāḷile tine karūni āratī — puse Dasavantī gopāḷāmsi — she did ārtī waving; Dasavantī asks the gopāḷas. Puse paḍatāḷunī māgutī māgutī — gopāḷa sāngatī kavatuka — she asks again-and-again; the gopāḷas tell the kavatuka. Kavatukā kānīm āikatām tyāñce — bolatām ye vāche vīṭa naye — hearing the kavatuka in ears — telling with tongue — vīṭa (weariness) doesn't come. Nayana guntale Śrī-mukha pāhatām — na sāhe lavatām āḍa pāte — eyes get-caught looking at Śrī-mukha; eyelid-falling is unbearable. Tevhām kavatuka kaḷōm ālēm kāmhī — haḷuhaḷu dōhīm māyabāpām — then some kavatuka came-to-be-known little-by-little to both māyabāpa. Haḷuhaḷu tyāñce puṇya jāle vāḍa — vārale he jāḍa timirāce — little-by-little their puṇya became big; the jāḍa-timira (thick-darkness) was-removed. Timira he tethēm rāhōm śake kaise — jāliyām prakāśe Govindācyā — how can darkness stay there — when Govinda's prakāśa has-come?. Dāvī Tukā mhaṇe Deva jyā āpaṇā — pālaṭe te kṣaṇāmājī ekā — Tukā says: (to-the-one) Deva shows-himself — change comes in just one kṣaṇa.
What it means
A 10-verse closing-scene of the vōṇavā-līlā cluster. Gopīnātha returns home; the gopāḷas, asked-and-asked-again by mother (Dasavantī), tell-the-kavatuka. The retelling itself is rasa-charged — ears, tongue, eyes — all transfixed on Śrī-mukha. Through this, parents themselves slowly receive darśana; their puṇya grows, dark-ignorance is-removed. Tukārām's frame: one-kṣaṇa of-Deva-revealing-himself, all changes.
For someone today
Tukārām claims: re-telling a Lord-encounter is itself purifying — speakers and hearers grow puṇya; one kṣaṇa of darśana changes everything.
Where this applies
- When retelling a story of grace or a meaningful experience brings you comfort each time you tell it
- When you listen closely to someone else's account of something sacred and feel changed by it
- When you notice understanding dawning slowly rather than all at once, through repeated conversation
- When a single moment of clarity or connection with God shifts something in you instantly