Abhanga 1314
For today: when the body / life is burning beyond control — dhāmvē rē Kēśavā mayabāpā — you are my jananī, who else in nirvāṇa will save?
The verse
जळे माझी काया लागला वोणवा । धांव रे केशवा मायबापा ॥१॥ पेटली सकळ कांति रोमावळी । नावरे हे होळी दहन जालें ॥ध्रु.॥ फुटोनियां दोन्ही भाग होऊं पाहे । पाहातोसी काय हृदय माझें ॥२॥ घेऊनि जीवन धांवें लवलाहीं । कवणाचें काहींहीं न चले येथें ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे माझी तूं होसी जननी । आणीक निर्वाणीं कोण राखे ॥४॥
Literal translation
English: My body burns — the vōṇavā has caught. Run, Kēśava, mayabāpa! All the skin and rōmāvalī has caught fire — this hōḷī is irrepressible — dahana is happening. (My) hṛdaya wants to burst into two pieces — what are you looking at, my hṛdaya? Run quickly — bringing jīvana — no one's anything avails here. Tuka says: you are my jananī — who else, in nirvāṇa, will save?
मराठी: माझी काया जळते — वोणवा (वणवा) लागला — धांव रे केशवा, मायबापा! सकळ कांति-रोमावळी पेटली — ही होळी आवरत नाहीं — दहन झालें. हृदय माझें — फुटून दोन भाग होऊं पाहतें — काय (अजून) पाहतोस? जीवन (पाणी) घेऊन — लव-लाहीं (लवकर) धांव — येथें कवणाचें कांहींहि चालत नाहीं. Tukā म्हणे — तू माझी जननी होसी — आणखी निर्वाणींत कोण राखेल?
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| जळे माझी काया लागला वोणवा | "my body burns — the vōṇavā (forest-fire) has caught" |
| धांव रे केशवा मायबापा | "run, Kēśava, mayabāpa" |
| पेटली सकळ कांति रोमावळी | "all the kānti (skin / complexion) and rōmāvalī (line of body-hair) has caught fire (pēṭalī)" |
| नावरे हे होळी दहन जालें | "this hōḷī (bonfire) is irrepressible — dahana (burning) is happening" |
| फुटोनियां दोन्ही भाग होऊं पाहे | "(my hṛdaya) wants to phuṭōnī (burst) into two pieces" |
| पाहातोसी काय हृदय माझें | "what are you looking at — my hṛdaya?" |
| घेऊनि जीवन धांवें लवलाहीं | "taking jīvana (water / life-water) — run quickly (lavalāhīm)" |
| कवणाचें काहींहीं न चले येथें | "no one's anything (kāhīmhī) avails (na cālē) here" |
| माझी तूं होसी जननी | "you are my jananī (mother)" |
| आणीक निर्वाणीं कोण राखे | "who else, in nirvāṇa (extremity), saves?" |
What it means
The most-quoted biographical-prasanga abhang — composed during the Lōhagāmva hot-water incident.
The vid-ghaṭanā (occurrence) is named in the editor's marker at 1313: hot water was poured on Tuka's body at Lōhagāmva. The abhang is the cry uttered in that very moment — the burning-body bhakta calling Hari from the agony.
The fire-imagery is literal: - Vōṇavā (= forest-fire / wildfire) has caught (lāgalā) on the body - Sakaḷa kānti rōmāvalī pēṭalī — all skin and body-hair has lit up - Hōḷī irrepressible — dahana jālē — the bonfire can't be controlled — burning is happening - Hṛdaya wants to burst into two pieces
The cry: dhāmvē rē Kēśavā mayabāpā — run, Kēśava, mother-and-father. Lavalāhīm — quickly, hurry-with-water-jīvana. Kavaṇācē kāhīmhī na cālē yēthē — no one's anything avails here — every other help is too slow or too small.
The closing — mājhī tūm hōsī jananī — āṇīka nirvāṇīm kōṇa rākhē — you are my jananī (mother) — who else, in nirvāṇa, can save? In nirvāṇa (= extremity, the death-moment, the verge) — only the mother. Compare 1228's mother-Hari abhang.
This abhang has lived in warkari memory because of its dual reality: it is literal-physical and spiritual-metaphor simultaneously. Whether one's body is literally burning or one's life is in spiritual agni, the cry is the same.
[T]
For someone today
For today: when the body / life is burning beyond control — dhāmvē rē Kēśavā mayabāpā — you are my jananī, who else in nirvāṇa will save?*
Where this applies
- Body-burning-vōṇavā.* Jaḷē-kāyā-vōṇavā.
- Run-Kēśava-mayabāpa.* Dhāmvē-rē-Kēśavā-mayabāpā.
- Skin-and-hair-aflame.* Sakaḷa-kānti-rōmāvalī.
- Heart-bursting-in-two.* Phuṭōniyām-dōnnhī-bhāga.
- Run-bring-jīvana.* Ghē'ūnī-jīvana-lavalāhīm.
- You-are-my-jananī.* Tūm-hōsī-jananī.