Abhanga 4527
While the devotees on the bank simply kept remembering him, that steady remembrance is what brought Hari back up from the depths.
The verse
निजदास उभा तात्काळ पायापें । स्वामी देखे सर्पें वेष्टियेला ॥१॥
लहानथोरें होतीं मिळालीं अपारें । त्याच्या धुदकारें निवारिलीं ॥२॥
निघतां आपटी धरूनि धांवामधीं । एकाचें चि वधी माथें पायें ॥३॥
एकीं जीव दिले येतां च त्या धाकें । येतील तीं एकें काकूलती ॥४॥
यथेष्ट भक्षिलीं पोट धाये वरी । तंव म्हणे हरि पुरे आतां ॥५॥
आतां करूं काम आलों जयासाटीं । हरी घाली मिठी काळयासि ॥६॥
यासि नाथूनियां नाकीं दिली दोरी । चेंडू भार शिरीं कमळांचा ॥७॥
चालविला वरी बैसे नारायण । गरुडा आळंगुन बहुडविलें ॥८॥
विसरु न पडे संवगड्या गाईं । यमुनेच्या डोहीं लक्ष त्यांचें ॥९॥
त्याच्या गोष्टी कांठीं बैसोनि सांगती । बुडाला दाविती येथें हरि ॥१०॥
हरीचें चिंतन करितां आठव । तुका म्हणे देव आला वरी ॥११॥
Literal translation
Nija-dāsa ubhā tātkāḷa pāyāpe — svāmī dekhe sarpe veṣṭiyelā — nija-dāsa instantly stands at (his) feet; (Garuḍa) sees svāmī wrapped by sarpa. Lahānathōre hōtīm miḷālīm apāre — tyācyā dhudakāre nivārilīm — small and great gathered, apāra; by his dhudakāra (he) drove-(them)-off. Nighatām āpaṭī dharūni dhāmvāmadhīm — ekāce ci vadhī māṭhe pāye — coming out (he) strikes; running, kills with-one-stroke head-and-foot. Ekīm jīva dile yetām ca tyā dhāke — yetīla tīm eke kākulatī — some give jīva at the dhāka; some come pleading. Yatheṣṭa bhakṣilīm pōṭa dhāye varī — tamva mhaṇe Hari pure ātām — (Garuḍa) ate to fill, belly filled above; then Hari says — enough now. Ātām karūm kāma ālōm jayāsāṭīm — Harī ghālī miṭhī kāḷayāsi — now we'll do the work I came for — Hari throws miṭhī on Kāḷiyā. Yāsi nāthūniyām nākīm dilī dōrī — cheṇḍū bhāra śirīm kamaḷāñcā — bringing to rein, the cord in (his) nose; the ball, the burden on (his) head — of kamaḷa. Chālavilā varī baise Nārāyaṇa — Garuḍā āḷanguna bahuḍavilēm — making (Kāḷiyā) walk-above (rise), Nārāyaṇa sits; embracing Garuḍa, sends-him-back. Visaru na paḍe samvagaḍyā gāīm — Yamunecyā ḍōhīm lakṣa tyāñce — (he) doesn't forget the companion-cows; his lakṣa is on them in Yamunā's ḍoha. Tyācyā gōṣṭī kāṇṭhīm baisōni sāngatī — buḍālā dāvitī yethēm Hari — on the bank, sitting, they tell his stories; show \"here Hari drowned\". Harīce chintana karitām āṭhava — Tukā mhaṇe Deva ālā varī — doing Hari-chintana, smaraṇa — Tukā says: Deva came up.
What it means
The climax of the Kāḷiyā-mardana cluster. Garuḍa-arrives-instantly-on-Hari-thinking-of-him; drives-off-and-eats-Nāgas; Hari then says enough — let's do my real-work; embraces Kāḷiyā, puts cord in his nose, mounts him with a load-of-lotuses-on-head (the famous Kāḷiyā-dance image), rises-up to the surface; embraces Garuḍa and sends him back. He doesn't-forget the companion-cows. And — Tukārām's signature theological-close: while-the-bhaktas-on-the-bank were-doing-Hari-chintana-and-smaraṇa, Deva came-up. The Lord's-rising-up is itself by-the-smaraṇa of-the-bhakta.
For someone today
Garuda comes instantly the moment Hari thinks of him, drives off the serpents, and once the danger has passed, Hari reins in Kaliya, dances on his hood, and rises to the surface. But Tukaram saves the real point for last: while the cowherds sat on the bank simply remembering Hari and calling his name, that remembering is what brought him back up. The people waiting could not fight the serpent themselves, but their steady chintana of him was not powerless. When you cannot do anything to fix a crisis directly, holding the person or the outcome in your mind and heart still matters and still helps draw things back to safety.
मराठी: हरी आठवताच गरुड तात्काळ धावून येतो, नागांना पिटाळून लावतो, आणि संकट टळल्यावर हरी कालियाला वेसण घालून त्याच्या फण्यावर नाचत वर येतो. पण तुकाराम खरा मुद्दा शेवटी सांगतात, यमुनेच्या काठावर बसलेले गोपाळ फक्त हरीचे स्मरण आणि चिंतन करत होते, आणि त्याच स्मरणानेच देव वर आला. काठावरच्या लोकांना नागाशी लढता येत नव्हते, पण त्यांचे सतत स्मरण व्यर्थ नव्हते. जेव्हा एखादे संकट थेट सोडवणे तुमच्या हातात नसते, तेव्हाही ज्याची किंवा जिची काळजी वाटते त्याला मनात धरून ठेवणे आणि आठवत राहणे उपयोगी ठरते आणि परिस्थिती सावरण्यास मदत करते.
Where this applies
- When someone you love is in danger and all you can do is wait on the bank
- When you feel helpless because you cannot act directly to fix a crisis
- When you wonder whether simply holding someone in your thoughts actually does anything
- When a difficult situation finally resolves and you look back at what carried everyone through it