Abhanga 4529
The mistake of taking someone for granted always comes first, and it is only fear of losing them that finally wakes up true remembrance.
The verse
आस निरसली गोविंदाचे भेटी । संवसारा तुटी पुढिलिया ॥१॥
पुढें पाठविलें गोविंदें गोपाळां । देउनि चपळां हातीं गुढी ॥२॥
हाका आरोळिया देउनि नाचती । एक सादाविती हरि आले ॥३॥
आरंधीं पडिलीं होतीं तयां घरीं । संकीर्ण त्या नारी नरलोक ॥४॥
लोका भूक तान नाहीं निद्रा डोळा । रूप वेळोवेळां आठविती ॥५॥
आहाकटा मग करिती गेलिया । आधीं ठावा तयां नाहीं कोणा ॥६॥
आधीं चुकी मग घडे आठवण । तुका म्हणे जन परिचयें ॥७॥
Literal translation
Āsa-niraṣalī-Govinda-bhēṭī — samsāra-tuṭī. Govinda-sent-Gopāḷas-ahead-with-flag. Shouts-roars-dance — Hari-came-announced. Village-ārandhī — sankīrṇa-nara-lōka. No-hunger-thirst-sleep — only-rūpa-remembered. First-don't-know-anyone — then-mistake-realized. Tukā: by-parichaya.
What it means
A 7-verse yamak-bandha continuation — Gokul-villagers awaiting Lord's return after Kāḷiya episode. The picture: village in sankīrṇa (jumbled-sorrow) — no-hunger-no-thirst-no-sleep, only-rūpa-remembered-time-and-time-again. The Lord sends-Gopāḷas-ahead with a flag to-announce Hari-has-come. The closing-insight: first the mistake (chuki) then the memory (āṭhavaṇa) — the loss-precedes-realization. Pair with 4528 (preceding Kāḷiya-mardana), 4530 (mother's-lament).
For someone today
While Krishna was gone, the whole village of Gokul fell apart with worry, unable to eat, drink, or sleep, thinking of nothing but his face. When runners finally came ahead waving a flag shouting that Hari had returned, the people could hardly believe it, having assumed the worst. Tukaram's closing insight is simple and sharp: the mistake of taking someone for granted comes first, and only afterward, once you fear losing them, does the real remembering begin. It takes a scare, or an absence, to show you how much someone actually mattered.
मराठी: कृष्ण दूर गेल्यावर संपूर्ण गोकुळ गावाला काळजीने ग्रासले, लोकांना भूक, तहान, झोप काहीही राहिली नाही, फक्त त्याचे रूप वारंवार आठवत राहिले. जेव्हा गुढी घेऊन धावत आलेल्या गोपाळांनी हरी परत आल्याची आरोळी दिली, तेव्हा लोकांना खरे वाटेना, कारण त्यांनी आधीच वाईट गृहीत धरले होते. तुकारामांचा शेवटचा मुद्दा साधा आणि तीक्ष्ण आहे, आधी गफलत होते, गृहीत धरण्याची चूक, आणि नंतरच खरी आठवण जागी होते. एखाद्याला गमावण्याची भीती वाटल्याशिवाय तो किती महत्त्वाचा होता हे कळत नाही.
Where this applies
- When you realize how much someone means to you only after almost losing them
- When you have taken a person's presence for granted until they were suddenly absent
- When you cannot eat or sleep while waiting for news about someone you love
- When relief floods in after fearing the worst about someone's safety