संत साहित्य
Work in progress. Translations and commentary are AI-generated and may contain inaccuracies or hallucinations — please use your own judgement and check against the original sources.
संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 955 of 4582

Abhanga 955

English: Āścarya — manā.

When a shock came to my mind — and you have to recognize this register
When karuṇā at a corpse went in vain — and you accept this image
When how can rage not come, seeing it's false? — and you allow this image

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

English: 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:

  1. आश्चर्य-मनीं — मढ्या-पाशीं-करुणा-वृथा. Karuṇā-at-corpse-claim. An āścarya came to my mana; 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.)

  2. रागा-येणारच — खोटें-देखोनि. Rage-when-seen-false-claim. How can rāga not come?; when one sees the khōṭa**?

  3. Tuka: कैंचा-बोला — शोध-Viṭṭhalा-माझिया. Find-me-out-claim. Tuka says: from-where will bōlā come?; (now) find/search-out me, my Viṭṭhalā. 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

This abhang names the karuṇā-at-corpse-find-me-out register:

  1. A shock came to my mind. Shock.

  2. Karuṇā at corpse went in vain; how can rage not come? Vain-prayer.

  3. From where will speech come — find me out, my Viṭṭhal. Find-me-out.

For today: āścarya in mana; karuṇā at maḍhā — vṛthā; rāga-when seeing *khōṭa; no bōlā left — śōdha me, Viṭṭhalā**.

This abhang is Tukaram's karuṇā-at-corpse-find-me-out register — one of the most-bitter unanswered-prayer statements. Compare 0954 rupture-and-cintana-meeting (Tuka's mudra); same I-give-up-words but here organized as find-me-out-Viṭṭhal. The śōdha Viṭṭhalā mājhiyā (find me out, my Viṭṭhal) is the precise reverse-petition closing*.

मराठी: ही ओवी karuṇā-at-corpse-find-me-out register नाव सांगते:

  1. आश्चर्य. Shock.

  2. मढ्या-पाशीं-करुणा. Vain-prayer.

  3. शोध-Viṭṭhalा. Find-me-out.

आज: Āścarya mana-त; Maḍhā-pāśīm karuṇā vṛthā; Rāga — khōṭa दिसून; Bōlā कुठून — Viṭṭhalā, śōdha मला.

Tukaram च-karuṇā-at-corpse-find-me-out-register — Most-bitter unanswered-prayer statements पैकी एक. 0954 (Tuka mudra) compare; तीच I-give-up-words पण इथे find-me-out-Viṭṭhal च्या मार्गाने. Śōdha Viṭṭhalā mājhiyā precise reverse-petition closing.

Where this applies

Bhakti Pāṇḍuranga / Viṭhṭhal shock-came-to-my-mind vain-prayer-and-find-me-out

Related verses