Abhanga 403

You can be furious at someone and demand they prove their words with real action while still recognizing, underneath it all, that they love you.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A chiding-Krishna's-naṭa-nāṭya-deception abhang. Tukyā-bamdhu mudra (Kānhōbā). Six claims:

1. तरी कां वंचनुक सुमनासि — नट नाट्य बरें संपादूं जाणतोसि — why vañcanuka of sumana? — naṭa-nāṭya You know how. The opening-question: why thisvañcanuka(deception) of thesumana(good-mind / tulasī-flower)? — You know how to performnaṭa-nāṭya(theatre). Krishna as theatrical-actor.

2. जाणतें मी या शब्दाच्या कुसरी — ऐसें च करून ठकविलें आजिवरी — I know Your śabda-kusarī — like this You've cheated me till now. The recognition-of-deception: I know your word-cleverness; like this You haveṭhakavilē(cheated) me till now.

3. तों तों केलें हें पाठमोरें जग — ऐसें काय जाणें हे तुझे रंग — made the jaga pāṭha-mōrē — how would I know Your ranga? The jaga-back-turned claim: You have made the worldpāṭha-mōrē(back-turned); how would I know Your colors? The world's-turning-its-back is His doing.

4. नाहीं तरी कां नव्हती ठावीं वर्में — परद्वारीं ऐसा हाकलिती प्रसिद्ध नांवें — else how would varma not be known — para-dvāra — they call by name. The public-mark-claim: otherwise, thevarma(secret) wouldn't have been hidden; (but) at thepara-dvāra(other's-door, accusation-of-adultery), they call by name. His doings get the bhakta-publicly-named.

5. आप पर न म्हणसी माय बहीण — सासूसुनास लावुनि पाहासी भांडण — no āpa-para, no māya-bahīṇa — between sāsū-sunā You make bhāṇḍaṇa. The anti-categorical-claim: You don't sayown-other,mother-sister; betweensāsū-sunā(mother-and-daughter-in-law), You make a quarrel appear. The deva is not bound by relational-categories; even disrupts family-relations. (This is bold theology: the deva-as-disruptor of social-categories — compare 365 no diśā excluded from deva's khēḷa, varṇa-dharma is His khēḷa.)

6. आतां न करीं तैसें करी क्रिया आणा — भक्तवत्सल म्हणे तुकयाबंधु कान्हा — now don't — kriyā āṇā — Tukyā-bamdhu says: bhakta-vatsala Kānhā. The closing-petition-and-naming: now don't (do) like that — make akriyā āṇā(vow-of-action, swear-on-conduct); Tukyā-bamdhu says:bhakta-vatsala(the bhakta-loving)Kānhā. The chiding-protest closes with the affectionate-recognition: despite the deception-chiding, He isbhakta-vatsala.

[T]

For someone today

Here the devotee openly scolds Krishna: his clever words and theatrics have deceived her, and his games have gotten her publicly blamed and gossiped about, as though it were her fault. She's frustrated that his presence upends her ordinary social world, blurring lines she counted on, like mother and sister or this house and that, and even stirring quarrels between people who should be close, like a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. This time she wants more than sweet talk. She wants him to actually make good on his word, to prove it through action, not just promises. And yet, after all the complaining, she still calls him the one who loves his devotees, showing that anger and deep love can sit in the same sentence.

मराठी: इथे भक्त कृष्णाला स्पष्टपणे रागावते: त्याच्या चतुर शब्दांनी आणि नाट्यांनी तिला फसवलं आहे, आणि त्याच्या खेळांमुळे तिच्यावरच जणू दोष येऊन ती लोकांच्या तोंडी झाली आहे. त्याच्या असण्यामुळे तिचं रोजचं सामाजिक जग उलटंपालटं होतं, आई-बहीण, हे घर-ते घर अशा नात्यांच्या मर्यादा धूसर होतात, इतकंच नाही तर सासू-सुनेसारख्या जवळच्या माणसांमध्येही भांडणं लावली जातात, याचा तिला त्रास होतो. यावेळी तिला फक्त गोड बोलणं नको आहे. तिला हवं आहे की त्याने आपला शब्द कृतीने खरा करून दाखवावा, नुसती आश्वासनं नकोत. आणि तरीही, इतकं सगळं बोलून झाल्यावरही, ती त्याला भक्तवत्सल म्हणजे भक्तांवर प्रेम करणारा असंच संबोधते, यातून हे दिसतं की राग आणि खोल प्रेम एकाच वाक्यात नांदू शकतात.

Where this applies

• Naṭa-nāṭya-deception ofsumana. Master-actor.
• Śabda-kusarī cheats. Don't trust words.
• Jaga-pāṭha-mōrē; categorical-disruption. Don't expect categories intact.
• Kriyā āṇā — vow-of-action. Demand accountability.
• Bhakta-vatsala despite all. Affection survives.

Related verses

• Abhanga 1571 — For today: Kṛṣṇa was born when crore-suns rose and moons were eclipsed; jaya Kṛṣṇa-nāthā;
• Abhanga 2540 — Even the smallest, most helpless creature that cries out to God in danger is sheltered and
• Abhanga 4481 — Tukaram promises that sincerely calling on the Lord's name, knowingly or unknowingly, with
• Abhanga 4482 — Tukaram teaches that no ritual equals sincerely speaking the Lord's name, that self-center