Abhanga 4525
God's forms are endless and beyond full understanding, and sheer, unexplainable beauty and goodness can disarm even the household of an enemy.
The verse
काळयाचे मागे चेंडु पत्नीपाशीं । तेजःपुंज राशी देखियेला ॥१॥
लावण्यपूतळा मुखप्रभाराशी । कोटि रवि शशी उगवले ॥२॥
उघवला खांब कर्दळीचा गाभा । ब्रीदें वांकी नभा देखे पायीं ॥३॥
पाहिला सकळ तिनें न्याहाळूनि । कोण या जननी विसंबली ॥४॥
विसरु हा तीस कैसा याचा जाला । जीवाहुनि वाल्हा दिसतसे ॥५॥
दिसतसे रूप गोजिरें लाहान । पाहातां लोचन सुखावले ॥६॥
पाहिलें पर्तोनि काळा दुष्टाकडे । मग म्हणे कुडें जालें आतां ॥७॥
आतां हा उठोनि खाईंल या बाळा । देईंल वेल्हाळा माय जीव ॥८॥
जीव याचा कैसा वांचे म्हणे नारी । मोहिली अंतरीं हरिरूपें ॥९॥
रूपे अनंताचीं अनंतप्रकार । न कळे साचार तुका म्हणे ॥१०॥
Literal translation
Kāḷayāce māge cheṇḍu patnī-pāśī — tejaḥ-punja rāśī dekhiyelā — behind Kāḷiyā, the ball at (his) wife's; she saw a tejaḥ-punja heap. Lāvaṇya-pūtaḷā mukha-prabhā-rāśī — kōṭi ravi śaśī ugavale — idol of beauty, heap of face-radiance; crores of sun-moons rose. Ughavalā khāmba kardaḷīcā gābhā — brīda-vāṇkī nabhā dekhe pāyī — an erect pillar — banana-core; brīda-vāṇkī, sky seen on (his) feet. Pāhilā sakaḷa tine nyāhāḷūni — kōṇa yā jananī visambalī — she examined all — \"whose mother lost track of him?\". Visaru hā tīsa kaisā yācā jālā — jīvāhuni vālhā disatase — how did she forget him — he appears dearer than jīva. Disatase rūpa gōjire lāhāna — pāhātām lōchana sukhāvale — the rūpa appears soft and small; looking, eyes become sukhī. Pāhile partōni kāḷā duṣṭā-kaḍe — maga mhaṇe kuḍe jāle ātām — turned, she looked toward wicked Kāḷiyā; then says: \"now bad has-happened\". Ātām hā uṭhōni khāīmla yā bāḷā — deīmla velhāḷā māya jīva — now he will rise and eat this child; the velhāḷā mother will give jīva. Jīva yācā kaisā vāmce mhaṇe nārī — mōhilī antarīm Hari-rūpe — how will his jīva be saved, says the woman; mohit inside by Hari-rūpa. Rūpe Anantāñcīm ananta-prakāra — na kaḷe sācāra Tukā mhaṇe — the rūpas of Ananta are infinite kinds; Tukā says: not known truly.
What it means
A 10-verse lyrical interlude inside the Kāḷiyā-mardana narrative. Kāḷiyā's own wife, finding-Krṣṇa-near-her, sees-him-as-a-heap-of-light, mohit inside by Hari-rūpa. Her concern is not for her serpent-husband but for-the-child's-life: 'how-will-his-jīva-be-saved?' Tukārām's gloss: the rūpas of Ananta are of-infinite-kinds — not-knowable-truly.
For someone today
When the serpent Kaliya's own wife notices the child Krishna near her, she is struck by his radiant beauty, so overwhelming it feels like sunlight and moonlight rising together, and she wonders aloud how any mother could bear to lose track of someone this precious. She does not recognize who he truly is, she only worries that her fierce husband might wake and harm this beautiful, defenseless-looking child, and her heart is quietly captivated without her even understanding why. Tukaram closes by admitting that God's forms are endless and impossible to fully grasp, appearing wherever and however he chooses, sometimes disarming even the household of an enemy through nothing more than sheer, unexplainable beauty and goodness.
मराठी: काळिया नागाची पत्नी जेव्हा जवळ असलेल्या बालकृष्णाला पाहते, तेव्हा त्याच्या तेजस्वी सौंदर्याने ती थक्क होते, जणू सूर्य आणि चंद्र एकत्र उगवल्यासारखे तिला वाटते, आणि ती मनातल्या मनात विचार करते की अशा या लाडक्या मुलाला कोणती आई विसरू शकेल. तो खरोखर कोण आहे हे तिला कळत नाही, तिला फक्त एवढीच काळजी वाटते की तिचा उग्र पती जागा होऊन या सुंदर, असहाय्य दिसणाऱ्या मुलाला इजा करेल, आणि तिचे मन का ते न कळताच शांतपणे मोहित होते. तुकाराम शेवटी कबूल करतात की देवाची रूपे अगणित आणि पूर्णपणे समजण्यापलीकडची आहेत, तो हवे तिथे आणि हवे तसे प्रकट होतो, कधी कधी शत्रूच्या घरालाही केवळ निखळ, अस्पष्टीकृत सौंदर्य आणि चांगुलपणाने निःशस्त्र करतो.
Where this applies
- When someone unexpected recognizes beauty or goodness in a person you thought was your opponent
- When you feel drawn to something good without fully understanding why it moves you
- When compassion or protectiveness for someone vulnerable arises even inside a hostile situation
- When you try to fully define or explain the divine and realize it exceeds every category you have