Abhanga 4528
True protection does not stop at ending the danger, it calls the frightened back, embraces them, and restores even what seemed permanently withered, and what is given this way endures.
The verse
अवचित त्यांणीं देखिला भुजंग । पळतील मग हाउ आला ॥१॥
आला घेऊनियां यमुनेबाहेरी । पालवितो करीं गडियांसि ॥२॥
गडियांसि म्हणे वैकुंठनायक । या रे सकळिक मजपाशीं ॥३॥
मजपाशीं तुम्हां भय काय करी । जवळि या दुरी जाऊं नका ॥४॥
कानीं आइकिले गोविंदाचे बोल । म्हणती नवल चला पाहों ॥५॥
पाहों आले हरीजवळ सकळ । गोविंदें गोपाळ आळिंगिले ॥६॥
आल्या गाईं वरी घालितील माना । वोरसलें स्तना क्षीर लोटें ॥७॥
लोटती सकळें एकावरी एक । होउनि पृथक कुर्वाळलीं ॥८॥
कुर्वाळलीं आनंदें घेती चारापाणी । तिहीं चक्रपाणी देखियेला ॥९॥
त्यां च पाशीं होता परि केली माव । न कळे संदेह पडलिया ॥१०॥
याति वृक्ष वल्ली होत्या कोमेलिया । त्यांसि कृष्णें काया दिव्य दिली ॥११॥
दिलें गोविंदें त्या पदा नाहीं नाश । तुका म्हणे आस निरसली ॥१२॥
Literal translation
Suddenly-saw-bhujanga — fled. Took-out-of-Yamunā — waves-to-friends. Vaikuṇṭha-nāyaka-says-come-near-me-no-fear. Heard-Govinda-words-novel-let's-see. Came-near-Hari — Govinda-embraced-Gopāḷas. Cows-came-over-stana-overflowed-kṣīra. Rushed-prthak-stroked-each. Took-chārā-pāṇī-saw-Chakra-pāṇī. At-their-side-but-māv-not-known. Vrkṣa-vallī-withered-given-divya-kāyā — pada-no-nāśa. Tukā: āsa-niraṣalī.
What it means
A 12-verse yamak-bandha continuing from the prior chain — narrating the climax of the Kāḷiya-mardana episode (Bhāgavata 10.16). After Krṣṇa subdues Kāḷiya, the gopāḷas (who had fled when they saw the serpent) are called back. Lord takes them out of the Yamunā poisoned-water, says come-near-me-no-fear. The miraculous restoration: (a) cows-rush-over-each-other with overflowing milk (mother-cows recognizing their replicated-calves from Brahma-vimōhana-līlā context), (b) Lord-strokes-each-prthak (one-by-one), (c) gopāḷas-see-the-Chakra-pāṇī-in-him while-he-was-right-at-their-side but-māv-prevented-recognition, (d) the vrkṣa-vallī (trees-and-vines) which-had-withered-from-Kāḷiya's-poison — Krṣṇa gives-them-divya-kāyā (a divine body) — environmental-restoration after Kāḷiya-mardana. (e) closing: that-pada-has-no-destruction; āsa-niraṣalī. Pair with 4527 (preceding chain), 4495 (bāla-līlā), 2471 (vrkṣa-vallī eco-bhakti).
For someone today
After Krishna subdues the serpent Kaliya, he does not just end the danger, he calls the frightened cowherds back, tells them not to be afraid, and embraces each one by one. Even the trees and vines that had withered from the serpent's poison are given new, radiant life. Tukaram's closing line says what Krishna gives cannot be destroyed. This verse is about what real protection looks like after a crisis: it is not only removing the threat but restoring what fear and harm damaged, down to the smallest living thing, and doing it so completely that the good does not fade again.
मराठी: कालिया नागाला वश केल्यानंतर कृष्ण फक्त संकट संपवत नाही, तर घाबरून पळालेल्या गोपाळांना जवळ बोलावतो, घाबरू नका असे सांगतो आणि प्रत्येकाला जवळ घेऊन कुरवाळतो. नागाच्या विषाने कोमेजलेल्या झाडावेलींनाही तो नवे, दिव्य जीवन देतो. तुकाराम शेवटी म्हणतात की कृष्णाने दिलेले हे कधीच नष्ट होत नाही. ही ओवी खऱ्या रक्षणाचे स्वरूप सांगते, संकट टाळणे एवढेच पुरेसे नसते, तर भीतीने व नुकसानाने जे बिघडले ते पुन्हा नव्याने उभे करणे, अगदी लहानशा जीवापर्यंत, आणि ते इतके पूर्णपणे करणे की ते पुन्हा ढासळू नये.
Where this applies
- When people around you are still shaken even after a danger has passed
- When you want to reassure someone who fled in fear that it is now safe to come close
- When something in your life has withered under stress and needs care to come back to life
- When you wonder whether real healing means more than just stopping the harm