Abhanga 4555
A true encounter with God proves that plain, steady closeness to him outweighs any amount of status or striving, and it dissolves hostility and separateness at once.
The verse
नाचतां देखिलीं गाईं वत्सें जन । विस्मित होऊन इंद्र ठेला ॥१॥
लागला पाऊस शिळांचिये धारीं । वांचलीं हीं परी कैसीं येथें ॥२॥
येथें आहे नारायण संदेह नाहीं । विघ्न केलें ठायीं निर्विघ्न तें ॥३॥
विचारितां उचलिला गोवर्धन । अवतार पूर्ण कळों आला ॥४॥
आला गौळियांच्या घरा नारायण । करितो स्तवन इंद्र त्यांचें ॥५॥
त्यांच्या पुण्या पार कोण करी लेखा । न कळे चतुर्मुखा ब्रम्हयासि ॥६॥
सीणतां जो ध्याना न ये एकवेळा । तो तया गोपाळां समागमें ॥७॥
समागमें गाईं वत्स पुण्यवंता । देह कुर्वाळितां अंगसंग ॥८॥
संग जाला मायबापां लोकपाळां । आळिंगिती गळा कंठाकंठ ॥९॥
करिते हे जाले स्तुती सकळिक । देव इंद्रादिक गोविंदाची ॥१०॥
करितील वृष्टी पुष्पवरुषाव । देवआदिदेव पूजियेला ॥११॥
पुष्पांजुळी मंत्र घोष जयजयकार । दुमदुमी अंबर नेणें नादें ॥१२॥
नामाचे गजर गंधर्वांचीं गाणीं । आनंद भुवनीं न माये तो ॥१३॥
तो सुखसोहळा अनुपम्य रासी । गोकुळीं देवासी दोहीं ठायीं ॥१४॥
दोहीं ठायीं सुख दिलें नारायणें । गेला दरुषणें वैरभाव ॥१५॥
भावना भेदाची जाय उठाउठी । तुका म्हणे भेटी गोविंदाचे ॥१६॥
Literal translation
A 16-verse yamak-bandha — Indra-vismita-sees-Gokul-dancing-after-stones / how-survived-here-is-Nārāyaṇa-no-doubt / vighna-into-nirvighna / Govardhana-lifted = pūrṇa-avatāra-known / Nārāyaṇa-came-to-Gauḷī-house / Indra-stuti-Gauḷīs-puṇya-Brahmā-doesn't-count / yogis-can't-meditate-him-Gauḷī-sangāta / bodies-stroked-anga-sang / māy-bāp-loka-pāḷa-throat-embraced / Indra-devas-stuti-of-Govinda / puṣpa-vrṣṭi-puṣpāñjali-mantra-ghoṣa-jayajayakāra / ambara-dums-of-Name / gandharva-gītas — ānanda-bhuvana-doesn't-contain / sukha-sohaḷā-anupamya-rāśi-at-Gokul-both-places / both-places-sukha-Nārāyaṇa-by-darśana-vaira-bhāva-gone / bhāvanā-of-bheda-goes-uṭhā-uṭhī — Tukā: by-Govinda's-bhēṭī.
What it means
MAJOR A 16-verse yamak-bandha — Tukārām's most-developed Indra-stuti narrative (Bhāgavata 10.27 — Indra-acknowledges-Krṣṇa-as-supreme-Lord-after-Govardhana-uddhāraṇa). Key narrative-elements: (a) Indra-vismita acknowledges here-is-Nārāyaṇa, no-doubt — pūrṇa-avatāra — recognizes-his-error, (b) Indra praises the Gauḷīs — even-Brahmā-with-four-mouths-cannot-count-their-puṇya — radical-elevation of-cowherds-above-cosmic-creator, (c) yogis-can't-attain-him-in-meditation but-he-is-in-cow-Gauḷī-sangāta — bhakti-supremacy-over-yoga, (d) bodies-stroked, throats-embraced — Lord's-physical-tenderness-with-Gokul, (e) Indra and other devas (devas-of-the-hierarchy he-supposedly-leads) themselves make stuti of Govinda — puṣpa-vrṣṭi (flower-rain) on Lord — puṣpāñjali, mantra-ghoṣa, jayajayakāra, dumming-of-ambara with-Name, gandharva-songs — ānanda doesn't fit in the bhuvana, (f) vaira-bhāva-gone-by-darśana — bhāvanā-of-bheda goes-uṭhā-uṭhī (immediately) by Govinda's bhēṭī. The closing-statement: meeting-Govinda dissolves-all-enemy-feeling-and-difference-instantly. Pair with 4544 (Govardhana-shelter), 4546 (Govardhana-finale), 4554 (preceding Indra-arrives).
For someone today
When Indra sees Gokul thriving and dancing after his stone storm, he is stunned and finally admits the truth: this is Narayan himself, and there's no doubt about it. He praises the simple cowherds, saying even Brahma with his four faces cannot count how much merit they have earned. What yogis strive years to reach in meditation and never find, these humble cowherds have simply by staying close to God in daily life. Indra and the other gods then rain down flowers and sing praises, and Tukaram closes with the deepest point: the moment you truly meet God, all your hostility and sense of separateness disappear at once.
मराठी: इंद्र जेव्हा दगडांच्या पावसानंतरही गोकुळ आनंदाने नाचताना पाहतो, तेव्हा तो चकित होतो आणि शेवटी सत्य मान्य करतो: हा साक्षात नारायणच आहे, यात शंका नाही. तो साध्या गवळ्यांची स्तुती करतो, म्हणतो की चार मुखांच्या ब्रह्मदेवालाही त्यांचे पुण्य मोजता येणार नाही. योगी वर्षानुवर्षे ध्यान करूनही जे मिळवू शकत नाहीत, ते या साध्या गवळ्यांना रोजच्या जगण्यात देवाच्या सहवासाने सहज मिळाले. मग इंद्र आणि इतर देव फुले उधळतात आणि स्तुती गातात, आणि तुकाराम शेवटी सर्वात खोल गोष्ट सांगतात: देवाची खरी भेट होताच सगळे शत्रुत्व आणि परकेपणाची भावना क्षणात नाहीशी होते.
Where this applies
- When you finally realize you misjudged someone or something and need to admit you were wrong
- When you feel your simple, ordinary devotion doesn't measure up to advanced spiritual achievement
- When you assume status or intellectual mastery outweighs plain, steady closeness to what you love
- When meeting someone honestly, face to face, dissolves a grudge or hostility you had been carrying