Abhanga 4560
Divided, ordinary attention is no match for total absorption in one thing, even if that absorption is born from fear or hatred.
The verse
सैन्य जन हांसे राया जालें काईं । वासपे तो ठायीं आपणासि ॥१॥
आपणा आपण जयास तीं तैसीं । वैरभाव ज्यांसि भक्ति नाहीं ॥२॥
नाहीं याचा त्याचा भाव एकविध । म्हणउनि छंद वेगळाले ॥३॥
वेगळाल्या भावें ती तया हांसती । तयास दिसती अवघीं हरि ॥४॥
हरिला कंसाचा जीव भाव देवें । द्वेषाचिया भावें तुका म्हणे ॥५॥
Literal translation
Sainya-jana-laugh-rāya-what-happened — vāsapē-at-own-place. Own-self-to-such — vairabhāva-no-bhakti. No-ekavidha-bhāva — vegaḷalē-chhanda. They-laugh-but-to-him-all-Hari. Hari-snatched-Kamsa-jīva-bhāva — by-dvēṣa-bhāva — Tukā.
What it means
A 5-verse yamak-bandha continuing the Kamsa-narrative. The dramatic-irony: people laugh-at-Kamsa-who-is-bewildered, while-meanwhile-Kamsa-sees-everyone-as-Hari. The doctrinal-point: vaira-bhāva yields no-bhakti normally — but ekavidha-bhāva (single-fold-feeling) is-what-matters — and Hari-snatched-Kamsa's-jīva-and-bhāva by-the-very-bhāva-of-dvēṣa. Pair with 4559 (preceding), 4561 (continuing).
For someone today
The soldiers and courtiers laugh at Kamsa, wondering what has happened to their king, since he seems terrified in his own palace for no visible reason. What they don't understand is that Kamsa now sees Hari's face in everyone around him. Tukaram points out the irony: those who mock him are simply going about their scattered, ordinary lives with divided attention, while Kamsa, even through pure hatred, has become completely absorbed in God, and God claims his very life and heart through that intensity.
मराठी: सैनिक आणि दरबारी कंसाला हसतात, राजाला काय झाले असा प्रश्न विचारतात, कारण तो आपल्याच राजवाड्यात विनाकारण घाबरलेला दिसतो. पण त्यांना कळत नाही की कंसाला आता आजूबाजूला प्रत्येकात हरिचे रूप दिसू लागले आहे. तुकाराम या विरोधाभासाकडे लक्ष वेधतात: जे त्याला हसतात ते आपापल्या विखुरलेल्या, सामान्य आयुष्यात विभागलेल्या लक्षाने जगत आहेत, तर कंस, निव्वळ द्वेषातूनही, पूर्णपणे देवात लीन झाला आहे, आणि देव त्या तीव्रतेतूनच त्याचे जीवन आणि हृदय आपलेसे करतो.
Where this applies
- When people around you mock a fear or preoccupation they don't understand
- When your attention is scattered across many things while someone else stays fixed on one thing intensely
- When you assume mockery from others means you're the one who's mistaken
- When something you're obsessed with, even negatively, turns out to be shaping you more than you realize