Lahanpan Dega Deva

 

Lahanpan Dega Deva

लहानपण दे गा देवा ।

Give me smallness dear God

मुंगी साखरेचा रवा ॥१॥ 

A tiny ant avails of sweet sugar granules.

ऐरावत रत्‍न थोर ।

The divine elephant Airavat is majestic. 

त्यासी अंकुशाचा मार ॥२॥ 

Yet he must endure the beatings from the sharp goad of his mahout.

जया अंगी मोठेपण ।

तया यातना कठीण ॥३॥  

One who achieves greatness also endures great suffering.

तुका म्हणे बरवे जाण ।
व्हावे लहानाहून लहान ॥४॥ 

Tukaram says know well that it is better to become smallest amongst the small.

महापूरे झाडे जाती ।
तेथे लव्हाळ वाचती ॥५॥

Huge trees are washed away in flood waters;

Yet flimsy grasses stay put in the same waters.

This abhang by Sant Tukaram is a masterclass on humility.

His observations of things in the surroundings was minute and reflected in his poetry. In this particular poem he has used several metaphors to stress the importance of humility.

It is a common tendency to wish being in the shoes of the tall and mighty, the rich and famous, or those higher in rank or power. Often times we get blindsided to the other realities of their lives. The stress and insecurity of being in that position, the paucity of true friends, being objects of envy, constantly being in the public eye, unable to go about doing simple things in life like shopping or sightseeing with their family without being mobbed, slightest of their mistakes coming under the lens are some of the disadvantages. Their  responsibilities are greater, their work carries bigger risks and higher stakes. It also gets forgotten how much struggle preceded their journey to reach where they are. It is truly worth reading the biographies of great men and women to know what they have been through to become who they are. Whether Meerabai, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Sant Dnyaaneshwar, Veer Savarkar, Lokmanya Tilak, Lata Mangeshkar. They didn’t become heroes or achieve fame overnight or without navigating through difficulties. In the Abhanga, Airavat, the divine elephant that belonged to God Indra represents these big people. The pain caused by the sharp goad is symbolic of the difficulties in their lives. 

An ordinary life may seem lacking luster but it has its perks. In many ways there is more freedom. Simple things in life are accessible. These are taken for granted until you lose them. For example going out for a walk in the morning or evening, picking up a newspaper at the neighborhood stand, enjoying with friends at a roadside vendor selling pani puri, playing on the street outside your home, watching out of the window when your car is stopped at a traffic light, attending every function at your child’s school. The ant in the abhang is a representative of all such small people toiling and leading ordinary lives. The sugar granules are the simple pleasures that are taken for granted yet what really matter to make life sweeter. 

But above and beyond these advantages and disadvantages is the issue of ego. Bigger the ego, bigger are the problems, socially and spiritually. Tukaram Maharaj hits the nail on the head with the last couplet in this abhang. Big egos take the biggest hit when adversity arrives. They don’t know how to adjust. The people with the smallest ego have been adjusting all their lives to all sorts of uncomfortable situations. Adapting is second nature to them. 

From spiritual perspective, bigger the ego, farther it is from truth/ God. It cannot even get a whiff of existence outside of the physical body. Therefore when death arrives such egos crumble. It is the end of the world for them. In contrast those “meek” ones who have surrendered their egos to the universal spirit survive beyond physical death. Death is just a caress for them as in the case of flood waters rolling over the river grass. These souls taste immortality. Thus both in life and death small people have an advantage. 

I keep telling young people, don’t dismiss teachings of saints without completely experimenting with them. If you enforce them in your life and don’t see the results only then criticize those teachings. These are true gems that we have inherited. Hold on to them. 

Musical rendition of this abhang can be found on YouTube in the voice of many singers. Suresh Wadkar’s version is popular. I suggest listening to Pandit Kumar Gandharva. 

Saree is a pure mulberry silk in royal blue with Kantha embroidery in white thread all over. I had bought it from a small shop in Pune nearly twenty years back. It is still one of my favorites.