Abhanga 4578
The Lord took human form so his devotees could taste a personal, intimate bliss in his presence, a joy that only those who live it in devotion can truly know.
The verse
ब्रिदावळी ज्याचे रुळते चरणीं । पाउलें मेदिनी सुखावे त्या ॥१॥
सुखावे मेदिनी कृष्णाचिये चालीं । कुंकुमें शोभलीं होय रेखा ॥२॥
होउनि भ्रमर पाउलांचें सुख । घेती क्त मुख लावूनियां ॥३॥
याचसाटीं धरियेला अवतार । सुख दिलें फार निजदासां ॥४॥
निज सुख तुका म्हणे भक्तां ठावें । तींहीं च जाणावें भोगूं त्यासि ॥५॥
Literal translation
Bīrudāvaḷī-rolls-at-feet — pāvalas-make-medinī-sukha. Sukha-medinī-by-Krṣṇa-walking — kumkuma-shōbhā-by-rēkhā. Becoming-bhramaras-pāvala-sukha — bhaktas-take-mukha-laying. For-this-took-avatāra — fār-sukha-to-nija-dāsas. Nija-sukha — Tukā: known-to-bhaktas — they-only-bhōgūm.
What it means
A 5-verse yamak-bandha — bhaktas-as-bumble-bees-at-Lord's-feet. Beautiful image: the Lord's footsteps make-the-earth-joyful — kumkuma-vermilion-marks-form-lines-of-beauty (the foot-prints leave kumkuma-paths in the earth). The bhaktas-become-bumble-bees-(bhramaras), drinking-the-sukha-of-his-footsteps, laying-their-faces-at-them. The closing: the-avatāra-was-taken-for-this — to-give-nija-sukha to-the-nija-dāsas — only-bhaktas-know-how-to-enjoy-it. Pair with 4577 (preceding bīrudāvaḷī), 4579 (continuing climactic).
For someone today
Tukaram paints a tender picture: wherever Krishna walks, the earth itself feels joy, and his footprints leave lines of beauty like vermilion marks on the ground. His devotees become like bumble bees, drawn to the sweetness of his footsteps, resting their faces at them in devotion. The whole point of his taking human form, Tukaram says, was to give this deep, personal bliss to his own devotees. That bliss is not something that can be explained from the outside; only someone who has tasted it in their own bhakti actually knows what it is.
मराठी: तुकाराम एक हळुवार चित्र रेखाटतात: कृष्ण जिथे चालतो तिथे पृथ्वीलाही आनंद होतो, आणि त्याच्या पावलांचे ठसे जणू कुंकवाच्या रेषांसारखे सौंदर्य निर्माण करतात. त्याचे भक्त भ्रमरांसारखे होतात, त्याच्या पावलांच्या गोडव्याकडे आकर्षित होतात आणि भक्तिभावाने आपले मुख त्यांवर टेकवतात. तुकाराम म्हणतात की त्याने मनुष्यरूप घेतले तेच मुळी आपल्या भक्तांना हा खोल, अंतरंगीचा आनंद देण्यासाठी. हा आनंद बाहेरून सांगून समजावता येत नाही; ज्याने स्वतःच्या भक्तीत तो अनुभवला आहे, त्यालाच तो खरोखर कळतो.
Where this applies
- When you long to feel that the divine is close and tender, not distant and abstract
- When you wonder why devotion or worship should feel like joy rather than duty
- When you find yourself drawn again and again to a place, name, or practice that feels sweet
- When someone tries to explain spiritual bliss in words and it falls flat because words are not the experience