Abhanga 359
When you're in real trouble, don't hold back your plea — call out with your whole heart, even if you have to say it three times before it feels real. Tukaram's cry reminds you that ultimately there is only one true source that sustains your life, and every other refuge you run to first is a lesser substitute. There's an honest admission here too: part of what stings about seeking help elsewhere is knowing, somewhere underneath, exactly where the real help was all along. Yet the plea doesn't stay formal — it ends by calling God "friend," someone close enough to plead with directly, not a distant power approached only through ceremony.
The verse
सोडवा सोडवा । सोडवा हो अनंता ॥१॥ तुजविण ऐसा । कोण दुजा प्राणदाता ॥ध्रु.॥ कोणा लाज नेणां ऐसें । आणिकां शरण आम्ही जातां ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे सखया । माझ्या रखुमाईच्या कांता ॥३॥
Literal translation
Release, release, release — O Ananta. Apart from You — who is another prāṇa-dātā? — Not knowing lāja — we go for śaraṇa to others. Tuka says: O sakhā — my Rakhumāī's kāntā.
मराठी: सोडवा सोडवा सोडवा हो अनंता. तुजविण ऐसा — कोण दुजा प्राणदाता. कोणा लाज नेणां ऐसें — आणिकां शरण आम्ही जातां. तुकाराम म्हणतां — सखया — माझ्या रखुमाईच्या कांता.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| सोडवा सोडवा सोडवा हो अनंता | "release, release, release — O Ananta" |
| तुजविण ऐसा कोण दुजा प्राणदाता | "apart from You — who is another prāṇa-dātā?" |
| कोणा लाज नेणां ऐसें | "(we) — not knowing lāja (shame)" |
| आणिकां शरण आम्ही जातां | "go for śaraṇa (refuge) to others" |
| सखया माझ्या रखुमाईच्या कांता | "O sakhā — my Rakhumāī's kāntā (lord)" |
What it means
A triple-distress-call to Ananta abhang. Three claims:
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सोडवा सोडवा सोडवा हो अनंता — release, release, release — O Ananta. The triple-vocative call. Repeated-three-times to seal the call. Release me — O Ananta. (Compare 355's triple-vow na sōḍīm x3; here, the bhakta calls sōḍavā x3 — release me.)
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तुजविण ऐसा — कोण दुजा प्राणदाता — apart from you — who is another prāṇa-dātā. The exclusivity-claim: only You are the prāṇa-dātā; no other. The exclusive-source-of-life claim.
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कोणा लाज नेणां ऐसें — आणिकां शरण आम्ही जातां — not knowing the lāja — we go for śaraṇa to others. The self-recognition of folly: not knowing the lāja (shame) — we go for refuge to others. The shame is in seeking refuge elsewhere when only Ananta is prāṇa-dātā.
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तुका म्हणे सखया — माझ्या रखुमाईच्या कांता — Tuka says: O sakhā — my Rakhumāī's lord. The closing-vocative: O sakhā (friend) — my Rakhumāī's kāntā. The intimate-form-of-address: deva issakhā, not justdeva; and Rakhumāī's lord, not impersonal Ananta. The abstract-name and intimate-name held together.
[T]
For someone today
When you're in real trouble, don't hold back your plea — call out with your whole heart, even if you have to say it three times before it feels real. Tukaram's cry reminds you that ultimately there is only one true source that sustains your life, and every other refuge you run to first is a lesser substitute. There's an honest admission here too: part of what stings about seeking help elsewhere is knowing, somewhere underneath, exactly where the real help was all along. Yet the plea doesn't stay formal — it ends by calling God "friend," someone close enough to plead with directly, not a distant power approached only through ceremony.
मराठी: जेव्हा तुम्ही खऱ्या संकटात असता, तेव्हा मन आवरून ठेवू नका — मनापासून हाक द्या, गरज पडली तर तीनदा सांगा, जोपर्यंत ते खरे वाटत नाही. तुकारामांची ही विनवणी सांगते की शेवटी तुमच्या आयुष्याचा खरा आधार एकच आहे, आणि इतर कोणताही आसरा त्यापुढे उणा ठरतो. यात एक प्रामाणिक कबुलीही आहे — इतरांकडे मदतीसाठी जाताना जी लाज वाटते, ती खोलवर हे माहीत असल्यामुळेच वाटते की खरी मदत कुठे आहे हे आपल्याला अगोदरच ठाऊक होते. तरीही ही हाक औपचारिक राहत नाही; ती देवाला सखा म्हणते — दुरून वंदन करायची एक दूरची शक्ती नव्हे, तर मनमोकळेपणाने बोलता येईल असा जवळचा मित्र.
Where this applies
- Triple-call. सोडवा x3.
- Only Ananta is prāṇa-dātā. Exclusivity.
- Shame-of-going-elsewhere. Honest-self-recognition.
- Sakhā, Rakhumāī's kāntā. Intimate-vocative.