Abhanga 955
When your pleading feels like weeping before a corpse and you run out of words, it is honest to feel anger at what is false, and it is just as honest to stop searching and simply ask to be found.
The verse
आश्चर्य तें एक जालें । मना आलें माझिया ॥१॥ मढ्यापाशीं करुणा केली । तैसी गेली वृथा हे ॥ध्रु.॥ न यावा तो कैसा राग । खोटें मग देखोनि ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे कैंचा बोला । शोध विठ्ठला माझिया ॥३॥
Literal translation
Āścarya — manā. Maḍhā — karuṇā — vṛthā. Rāga — khōṭa. Tuka says: bōlā — from-where — śōdha — Viṭṭhalā.
मराठी: आश्चर्य तें एक जालें — माझ्या मना आलें. मढ्या-पाशीं करुणा केली — तैसी वृथा गेली हे. न यावा तो कैसा राग — खोटें मग देखोनि?. Tuka म्हणे: कैंचा बोला — शोध, Viṭṭhalā, माझिया.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| आश्चर्य तें एक जालें | "āścarya — jālē" |
| मना आलें माझिया | "manā — came" |
| मढ्यापाशीं करुणा केली | "maḍhā — karuṇā" |
| तैसी गेली वृथा हे | "vṛthā" |
| न यावा तो कैसा राग | "rāga" |
| खोटें मग देखोनि | "khōṭa — seeing" |
| कैंचा बोला | "from-where — bōlā" |
| शोध विठ्ठला माझिया | "śōdha — Viṭṭhalā" |
What it means
A shock-came-to-my-mind-karuṇā-at-corpse-went-in-vain-how-can-rage-not-come-when-one-sees-it-is-false-from-where-will-speech-come-find-me-out-my-Viṭṭhal abhang. Karuṇā-at-corpse-find-me-out register. Three claims:
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आश्चर्य-मनीं — मढ्या-पाशीं-करुणा-वृथा. Karuṇā-at-corpse-claim. Anāścaryacame to mymana; karuṇā before a maḍhā (corpse) — vṛthā gēlī. Praying-to-You-felt-like-praying-to-a-corpse-no-response. (Bracing-image: when one's prayer gets no-response, it's as-though one prayed-to-a-corpse — karuṇā-vṛthā.)
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रागा-येणारच — खोटें-देखोनि. Rage-when-seen-false-claim. How canrāganot come?; when one sees thekhōṭa?
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Tuka: कैंचा-बोला — शोध-Viṭṭhalा-माझिया. Find-me-out-claim. Tuka says: from-where willbōlācome?; (now) find/search-out me, myViṭṭhalā. No-words-left; just-find-me. (After the bitter karuṇā-at-corpse experience, Tuka's last petition is for-Viṭṭhal-to-search-him-out — i.e., to take initiative.)
[T]
For someone today
A strange realization has dawned on you: all your pleading has felt like weeping in front of a corpse, met with nothing, going nowhere. When you see clearly that something is hollow or false, of course anger rises in you; that is not a failure of faith, it is honesty. Tukaram reaches a point where he has no words left to offer, so he turns the prayer around completely: instead of searching for God himself, he asks God to come find him. Sometimes the most honest prayer is admitting you are out of words and asking to be found, rather than exhausting yourself trying to find.
मराठी: एक विचित्र जाणीव तुमच्या मनात आली आहे - तुमची सगळी विनवणी जणू प्रेतापुढे रडण्यासारखी, निरुपयोगी ठरली आहे. जेव्हा एखादी गोष्ट पोकळ किंवा खोटी आहे हे स्पष्ट दिसतं, तेव्हा राग येणं स्वाभाविकच आहे - ती श्रद्धेची कमतरता नसून प्रामाणिकपणा आहे. तुकाराम अशा टप्प्यावर पोहोचतात जिथे बोलायला शब्दच उरत नाहीत, म्हणून ते प्रार्थना उलटी फिरवतात - स्वतः देवाला शोधण्याऐवजी, देवानेच आपल्याला शोधून काढावं अशी विनंती करतात. कधीकधी सर्वात प्रामाणिक प्रार्थना म्हणजे शब्द संपल्याचं मान्य करून, शोधत राहण्याऐवजी सापडण्याची वाट पाहणं.
Where this applies
- Shock. Realization.
- Vain-prayer. Like-corpse.
- Find-me-out. Reverse-petition.