Abhanga 1273
For today: when fallen in the cintavana with prāṇa bursting — call twice "yē'ī gā Viṭṭhalā" — Hari's own laukika (his name's reputation) is at stake when he abandons his bāḷaka.
The verse
पडियेलों वनीं थोर चिंतवनी । उसीर कां आझूनि लावियेला ॥१॥ येई गा विठ्ठला येईगा विठ्ठला । प्राण हा फुटला आळवितां ॥ध्रु.॥ काय तुज नाहीं लौकिकाची शंका । आपुल्या बाळका मोकलितां ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे बहु खंती वाटे जीवा । धरियेलें देवा दुरी दिसे ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: I have fallen in the vana with thōra cintavana — why have you set ājhūnī this much usīra? Come, O Viṭṭhalā — come, O Viṭṭhalā — the prāṇa has burst from calling. Don't you have any laukika-śankā — when releasing your own bāḷaka? Tuka says: much khantī to the jīva — having held — Deva looks far.
मराठी: वनांत पडलों — थोर चिंत-वनींत — आझून-हि उसीर कां लावलास? येई गा विठ्ठला, येई गा विठ्ठला! — आळवीत-आळवीत प्राण फुटला. आपल्या बाळकाला सोडतांना — तुला लौकिकाची शंका नाहीं कां? Tukā म्हणे — जीवाला बहु खंती वाटे — धरलें — आणि देव दूर दिसे.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| पडियेलों वनीं थोर चिंतवनी | "I have fallen (paḍiyēlōm) in the vana — with thōra (great) cintavana (worry-forest)" |
| उसीर कां आझूनि लावियेला | "why have you set ājhūnī (this much) usīra (delay)?" |
| येई गा विठ्ठला येईगा विठ्ठला | "come, O Viṭṭhalā — come, O Viṭṭhalā" |
| प्राण हा फुटला आळवितां | "the prāṇa — has burst — from āḷavanī (calling-out)" |
| काय तुज नाहीं लौकिकाची शंका | "don't you have any laukika-śankā (worry about reputation)?" |
| आपुल्या बाळका मोकलितां | "in releasing (mōkalitām) your own bāḷaka (child)?" |
| बहु खंती वाटे जीवा | "much khantī (regret) to the jīva" |
| धरियेलें देवा दुरी दिसे | "having held (you), Deva — (now you) look far" |
What it means
Calling abhang — bhakta in extremis. The opening: paḍiyēlōm vanīm thōra cintavanī — I have fallen in the vana of great worry-forest (cintavana — cintā + vana, the worry-forest). The image is of being lost not in the literal forest but in the forest of worries.
The dhruva is the cry: yē'ī gā Viṭṭhalā yē'ī gā Viṭṭhalā — prāṇa hā phuṭalā āḷavitām — come, Viṭṭhalā, come, Viṭṭhalā — the prāṇa has burst from āḷavanī. Āḷavanī is the formal warkari calling-out of the deity (the way the āḷavaṇa is sung in dhārmic mode); the bhakta has called so long that prāṇa phuṭalā — the very life-breath has burst.
The clinching argument: kāya tuja nāhīm laukikācī śankā — āpulyā bāḷakā mōkalitām? — don't you have any laukika-śankā (worry about your reputation) — in releasing (= abandoning) your own bāḷaka? Hari has names like Anātha-rakṣaka (orphan-protector), Patita-pāvana, Bāḷakācā mātā-pitā (mother-and-father-of-the-child). To abandon his own bāḷaka would damage his own laukika.
The closing — dhariyēlēm Devā durī disē — having held (you), Deva (now you) look far — captures the painful experience: the bhakta has done the holding (1265, 1269), but Hari still appears distant.
[T]
For someone today
For today: when fallen in the cintavana with prāṇa bursting — call twice "yē'ī gā Viṭṭhalā" — Hari's own laukika (his name's reputation) is at stake when he abandons his bāḷaka.
Where this applies
- Fallen-in-cintavana.* Vanīm-thōra-cintavanī.
- Why-this-much-delay.* Usīra-kām-ājhūnī.
- Come-Viṭṭhala-twice.* Yē'ī-gā-Viṭṭhalā-twice.
- Prāṇa-bursting.* Prāṇa-phuṭalā-āḷavitām.
- Your-laukika-at-stake.* Tuja-laukikācī-śankā.
- Held-but-Deva-looks-far.* Dhariyēlēm-Devā-durī-disē.