Abhanga 4534
What looks wrong from the outside can be a deliberate act that redirects devotion from the wrong object to the right one, done without fear of judgment or convention.
The verse
जाला कवतुक करितां रोकडें । आणीक ही पुढें नारायण ॥१॥
येउनियां पुढें धरिला मारग । हरावया भाग इंद्रापाशीं॥२॥
इंद्रा दहीं दुध तूप नेतां लोणी । घेतलें हिरोनि वाटे त्यांचें ॥३॥
हिरोनि घेतल्या कावडी सकळा । म्हणती गोपाळा बरें नव्हे ॥४॥
नव्हे तें चि करी न भे कळिकाळा । तुका म्हणे लीळा खेळे देव ॥५॥
Literal translation
One-kautuka-just-done — another-ahead-by-Nārāyaṇa. Coming-ahead-held-path — robbing-Indra's-bhāga. Indra's-curds-milk-ghee-loṇī — snatched-on-way. Snatched-all-kāvaḍīs — gopīs-complain "not-good-Gopāḷa". Not-good-that-he-does — not-fearing-Kaḷikāḷa — Tukā: Deva-plays-līlā.
What it means
A 5-verse yamak-bandha — preview of the famous Indra-yajña-prevention narrative (Bhāgavata 10.24-25, leading to Govardhana-līlā). The Gokul-villagers used-to-send-bhāga (offering-share) to Indra — curds, milk, ghee, butter on kāvaḍīs (yokes for carrying-pots). Lord-deliberately-intercepts and-snatches-it-all-on-the-way. The gopīs-complain Gopāḷa-this-isn't-right. The radical-claim: what-is-(called)-not-good — that-very-thing-he-does — not-fearing-Kaḷikāḷa — Deva-plays-the-līlā — Lord-doesn't-follow-conventional-piety, plays-his-own-game. Pair with 4533 (preceding), 4535 (continuing chain).
For someone today
Krishna deliberately blocks the path and snatches away the curds, milk, ghee, and butter that the villagers were carrying as an offering to Indra. The gopis object, saying this is not right, but Tukaram notes that Krishna does exactly the thing that looks wrong, unafraid of judgment or of time itself, because he is playing his own game on his own terms. Sometimes what looks like mischief or wrongdoing from the outside is actually a pointed redirection, pulling devotion away from the wrong object and back toward what truly deserves it.
मराठी: कृष्ण मुद्दाम वाट अडवतो आणि गावकरी इंद्राला अर्पण करण्यासाठी नेत असलेले दही, दूध, तूप आणि लोणी हिरावून घेतो. गोपी तक्रार करतात की हे बरोबर नाही, पण तुकाराम सांगतात की जे वाईट दिसते तेच कृष्ण करतो, कुणाच्या निंदेची किंवा कालाची भीती न बाळगता, कारण तो स्वतःच्याच अटींवर आपली लीळा खेळतो. कधी कधी बाहेरून खोडसाळपणा किंवा चुकीचे वाटणारे कृत्य खरे तर भक्तीला चुकीच्या दिशेकडून योग्य दिशेकडे वळवणारे असते.
Where this applies
- When someone challenges a tradition that looks proper on the surface but is misdirected underneath
- When you are criticized for doing something that looks wrong but serves a deeper purpose
- When you feel pressure to follow convention even when your instincts say otherwise
- When redirecting someone's attention from a lesser goal requires an act that looks disruptive at first