Abhanga 4559
Whatever consumes your whole mind, even hatred or fear fixed on God, ends up shaping who you become, and God will not let his devotees suffer unanswered.
The verse
अवतार केला संहारावे दुष्ट । करिती हे नष्ट परपीडा ॥१॥
परपीडा करी दैत्य कंसराव । पुढें तो ही भाव आरंभिला ॥२॥
लाविलें लाघव पाहोनियां संधी । सकळांही वधी दुष्टजना ॥३॥
दुष्टजन परपीडक जे कोणी । ते या चक्रपाणी न साहति ॥४॥
न साहवे दुःख भक्तांचें या देवा । अवतार घ्यावा लागे रूप ॥५॥
रूप हें चांगलें रामकृष्ण नाम । हरे भवश्रम उच्चारितां ॥६॥
उच्चारितां नाम कंस वैरभावें । हरोनियां जीवें कृष्ण केला ॥७॥
कृष्णरूप त्यासि दिसे अवघें जन । पाहे तों आपण कृष्ण जाला ॥८॥
पाहिलें दर्पणीं आधील मुखासि । चतुर्भुज त्यासि तो चि जाला ॥९॥
जालीं कृष्णरूप कन्या पुत्र भाज । तुका म्हणे राज्य सैन्य जन ॥१०॥
Literal translation
Avatāra-to-samhāra-duṣṭa-paraprīḍa. Kamsa-rāva-duṣṭa-bhāva — that-too-begun-ahead. Lāghava-samdhi-found-killed-all. Duṣṭa-jana-paraprīḍak-Chakra-pāṇī-doesn't-tolerate. Doesn't-tolerate-bhakta-duḥkha — takes-rūpa-avatāra. Rāma-Krṣṇa-Name-removes-bhava-śrama. Kamsa-vaira-bhāve-Name-uttered — jīva-snatched-Krṣṇa-made. Sees-all-jana-Krṣṇa-rūpa — looking-self-Krṣṇa-became. Saw-in-mirror-self-chaturbhuja-became. Kamsa's-kanyā-putra-bhāja — Tukā: rājya-sainya-jana-all-Krṣṇa-rūpa.
What it means
A 10-verse yamak-bandha continuing-the-narrative into Mathurā. The radical claim: even-Kamsa, by-uttering-the-Name-with-vaira-bhāva (hate-feeling), was-made-into-Krṣṇa-rūpa by-the-Lord. The Bhāgavata-tradition holds that-even-meditation-with-hate (dvēṣa-bhakti, as practiced by enemy-avatāras like Kamsa, Śiśupāla, Hiraṇyakaśipu) is-effective — because-the-mind-is-continuously-fixed-on-Lord-even-if-with-hatred. Tukārām makes this very-vivid: Kamsa sees-everyone-as-Krṣṇa, sees-himself-as-chaturbhuja-in-the-mirror, his-whole-family-and-court-becomes-Krṣṇa-rūpa. Pair with 4561 (continuing dvēṣa-dhyāna), 4565 (Kamsa-meets-Lord), 2787 (bhakti-redeems-fallen).
For someone today
God takes on a human form specifically to stop those who cause suffering to others, because he cannot bear to watch his devotees be tormented. Tukaram tells the striking story of Kamsa, a tyrant so consumed with hatred and fear of Krishna that Krishna's name was constantly on his mind, even if only as an obsession with an enemy. That relentless focus, even born from hate, transformed Kamsa so deeply that he began seeing Krishna's face everywhere, including his own reflection in the mirror. What you fix your whole mind on, whether in love or in fear, ends up shaping who you become.
मराठी: देव माणसाच्या रूपात अवतार घेतो, मुद्दाम अशा लोकांना थांबवण्यासाठी जे इतरांना त्रास देतात, कारण त्याला आपल्या भक्तांचे दुःख पाहवत नाही. तुकाराम कंसाची विलक्षण गोष्ट सांगतात, जो कृष्णाच्या द्वेष आणि भीतीने इतका ग्रासलेला होता की कृष्णाचे नाव सतत त्याच्या मनात राहत असे, जरी ते एका शत्रूवरील वेडासारखे असले तरी. तो सततचा एकाग्र भाव, द्वेषातून जन्मलेला असूनही, कंसाला इतका बदलून टाकतो की त्याला सर्वत्र, अगदी आरशातल्या स्वतःच्या प्रतिबिंबातही कृष्णाचे रूप दिसू लागते. तुम्ही तुमचे संपूर्ण मन ज्यावर स्थिर करता, मग ते प्रेमाने असो वा भीतीने, ते शेवटी तुम्हाला घडवते.
Where this applies
- When someone's constant obsession, even a hostile one, ends up consuming their whole mind and identity
- When you're tempted to believe cruelty toward others will go unanswered
- When you notice that whatever you fixate on, positive or negative, starts shaping how you see the world
- When you need reassurance that God will not simply watch devotees suffer without acting