Abhanga 4519
God's true purpose often stays hidden until it is finished, and those who love him deeply may have to carry real fear and grief while waiting, unseen by people around them.
The verse
नेदी कळों केल्याविण तें कारण । दाखवी आणून अनुभवा ॥१॥
न पुरेसा हात घाली चेंडूकडे । म्हणीतलें गडे सांभाळावें ॥२॥
सांभाळ करितां सकळां जिवांचा । गोपाळांसि वाचा म्हणे बरें ॥३॥
बरें विचारुनी करावें कारण । म्हणे नारायण बर्या बरें ॥४॥
बरें म्हणउनि तयांकडे पाहे । सोडविला जाय चेंडू तळा ॥५॥
तयासवें उडी घातली अनंतें । गोपाळ रडते येती घरा ॥६॥
येतां त्यांचा लोकीं देखिला कोल्हाळ । सामोरीं सकळ आलीं पुढें ॥७॥
पुसतील मात आपआपल्यासि । हरिदुःखें त्यांसी न बोलवे ॥८॥
न बोलवे हरि बुडालासें मुखें । कुटितील दुःखें उर माथे ॥९॥
मायबापें तुका म्हणे न देखती । ऐसें दुःख चित्ती गोपाळांच्या ॥१०॥
Literal translation
Nedī kaḷōm kelyāviṇa te kāraṇa — dākhavī āṇūna anubhavā — (he) doesn't let (it) be known until the kāraṇa is done; he shows by bringing into anubhava. Na puresā hāta ghālī cheṇḍū-kaḍe — mhaṇītalēm gaḍe sāmbhāḷāve — (his) hand-toward-ball not-fully-reaching; said: 'friends, take care'. Sāmbhāḷa karitām sakaḷām jivāñcā — gopāḷāmsi vāchā mhaṇe bare — while taking care of all jīvas, the gopāḷas with vāchā say \"bare (good)\". Bare vichārunī karāve kāraṇa — mhaṇe Nārāyaṇa baryā bare — 'consider well and do the kāraṇa' — Nārāyaṇa says \"good-good\". Bare mhaṇaūni tayām-kaḍe pāhe — soḍavilā jāya cheṇḍū taḷā — saying \"good,\" he looks at them; the released ball goes to the bottom. Tayā-save uḍī ghātalī Anante — gopāḷa raḍate yetī gharā — with it Ananta jumped down; gopāḷas come weeping home. Yetām tyāñcā lōkī dekhilā kolhāḷa — sāmōrī sakaḷa ālī puḍhe — coming, in lōka a kolhāḷa was seen; all came forward. Pusatīla māta āpa-āpalyāsi — Hari-duḥkhe tyāmsī na bōlave — they ask news of each other; with Hari-grief they cannot speak. Na bōlave Hari buḍālāse mukhe — kuṭitīla duḥkhe ura māthe — cannot speak — \"Hari has-drowned\" on (their) mouths; they will-beat chest and head with grief. Māyabāpe Tukā mhaṇe na dekhatī — aise duḥkha citti gopāḷāñcyā — Tukā says: the māyabāpa don't see — such grief is in the gopāḷas' chitti.
What it means
Mid-narrative panel of the Kāḷiyā-mardana cluster. The ball is-dropped, Krṣṇa-jumps-after-it into the ḍoha. The gopāḷas come-back-weeping; a commotion in town; they can't-speak the words 'Hari has-drowned'; they-beat-chest-and-head. Tukārām's note: the parents (māyabāpa) don't-yet-see this grief in the gopāḷas' chitti.
For someone today
Krishna lets the ball drop into the depths of the pool and dives in after it alone, leaving the cowherd boys to walk home in tears, unable even to say out loud that Hari has drowned, beating their chests and heads in grief. When they reach the town, a commotion breaks out, and everyone rushes to ask what happened, but the boys are too overcome with sorrow to speak clearly. Tukaram notes that the parents around them cannot see the depth of grief actually happening inside the gopas' hearts. The lesson is that God's true purpose often stays hidden until it is completely finished, and those who love him deeply may have to sit with real fear and grief while waiting, a pain that people on the outside may not fully understand or see.
मराठी: कृष्ण चेंडू डोहाच्या तळाशी सोडून देतो आणि एकटाच त्याच्यामागे उडी घेतो, गोपाळ मुलांना रडत घरी परतावे लागते, "हरी बुडाला" हे शब्दही तोंडातून फुटत नाहीत, दुःखाने ते छाती आणि डोके बडवत जातात. गावात पोहोचताच गोंधळ उडतो, सगळे धावत येऊन काय घडले ते विचारतात, पण दुःखाच्या भरात मुलांना नीट बोलताही येत नाही. तुकाराम नोंदवतात की आजूबाजूच्या आई-वडिलांना गोपाळांच्या मनातील हे खरे दुःख दिसतच नाही. यातून हेच शिकायला मिळते की देवाचा खरा हेतू बरेचदा तो पूर्ण होईपर्यंत लपलेलाच राहतो, आणि जे त्याच्यावर मनापासून प्रेम करतात त्यांना वाट पाहताना खरी भीती आणि दुःख सोसावे लागते, जे बाहेरच्या लोकांना पूर्णपणे समजतही नाही किंवा दिसतही नाही.
Where this applies
- When you are waiting anxiously for news about someone you love and cannot find the words to explain your fear
- When people around you do not realize the depth of grief or worry you are actually carrying inside
- When someone you trust takes a risk alone and leaves you to sit helplessly with the uncertainty
- When you are asked what is wrong but are too overwhelmed by emotion to answer clearly