Abhanga 1429
English: Mine (= my family) have died many — why, Hari, are you jaisā taisā?
The verse
माझी मेलीं बहुवरिं । तूं कां जैसा तैसा हरी ॥१॥ विठो कैसा वांचलासि । आतां सांग मजपाशीं ॥ध्रु.॥ तुज देखतां चि माझा । बाप मेला आजा पणजा ॥२॥ आम्हां लागलेंसे पाठी । बालत्व तारुण्यें काठीं ॥३॥ तुज फावलें तें मागें । कोणी नसतां वादिलागें ॥४॥ तुका म्हणे तुझ्या अंगीं । मज देखिल लागलीं औघीं ॥५॥
Literal translation
English: Mine (= my family) have died many — why, Hari, are you jaisā taisā? Viṭho, how have you survived? — now tell me, near. In your very sight — my bāpa died, ājā, paṇajā. After us — bālatva and tāruṇya — at the kāṭhī. What fell to you in the past — no one was around to witness. Tuka says: in your anga — I have seen — each-and-every (death) has come.
मराठी: माझी — मेलीं — बहुवरिं; — तूं — कां — जैसा — तैसा — हरी? विठो — कैसा — वांचलासि? — आतां — सांग — मजपाशीं. तुज — देखतां — चि — माझा; — बाप — मेला — आजा — पणजा. आम्हां — लागलेंसे — पाठी; — बालत्व — तारुण्यें — काठीं. तुज — फावलें — तें — मागें; — कोणी — नसतां — वादि-लागें. Tukā म्हणे — तुझ्या — अंगीं; — मज — देखिल — लागलीं — औघीं.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| माझी मेलीं बहुवरिं | "mine — have died (mēlīm) — many (bahuvari)" |
| तूं कां जैसा तैसा हरी | "you — why (kām) — jaisā taisā (= just-as-you-were) — Hari" |
| विठो कैसा वांचलासि | "Viṭho — how (kaisā) — have you survived (vāñcalāsi)?" |
| आतां सांग मजपाशीं | "now — tell — to-me-near (maja-pāśīm)" |
| तुज देखतां चि माझा | "in your very (chi) — sight (dēkhatām) — my" |
| बाप मेला आजा पणजा | "bāpa (father) — died — ājā (grandfather) — paṇajā (great-grandfather)" |
| आम्हां लागलेंसे पाठी | "after us (āmhām) — has been (lāgalēmsē) — on the back (pāṭhī)" |
| बालत्व तारुण्यें काठीं | "bālatva (childhood) — tāruṇya (youth) — at the kāṭhī (= edge / banks / staff)" |
| तुज फावलें तें मागें | "what fell-to-you (phāvalēm) — past (māgēm)" |
| कोणी नसतां वादिलागें | "when no one was (kōṇī nasatām) — to-witness (vādī-lāgēm)" |
| तुका म्हणे तुझ्या अंगीं | "Tuka says — in your anga (body)" |
| मज देखिल लागलीं औघीं | "I — have seen (dēkhila) — has come (lāgalīm) — aughīm (= each-and-every)" |
What it means
My-family-died-but-you-Hari-survived abhang. A striking, almost-aggressive Hari-tāḍ. The opening: mājhī mēlīm bahuvarī — tūm kām jaisā taisā Harī — mine (= my whole family-line) — have died — many; — why, Hari, are you jaisā taisā (= just-as-you-were)? The bhakta confronts Hari with mortality-asymmetry: my whole family-line has died; you alone are unchanged. (Compare 1416's avaghā-ākāra-grāsiyēlā-kāḷē — all-form-swallowed-by-Time; here Hari is the only-form-Time-couldn't-swallow, and Tuka asks how.)
The pointed question: Viṭhō kaisā vāñcalāsi — ātām sānga maja-pāśīm — Viṭho — how have you survived? — now — tell me — near. Tell me, in private, your secret of survival. (= the bhakta wants the immortality-trick from Hari himself.)
The reckoning: tuja dēkhatām chi mājhā — bāpa mēlā ājā paṇajā — in your very (chi) sight — my (people) — bāpa (father), ājā (grandfather), paṇajā (great-grandfather) — died. In your sight — my father, grandfather, great-grandfather all died; you witnessed them all.
The autobiographical: āmhām lāgalēmsē pāṭhī — bālatva tāruṇyēm kāṭhīm — after us — bālatva (childhood) and tāruṇya (youth) — has been (chasing) — at the kāṭhī (= edge / banks / staff). Childhood and youth are chasing-after-us (= we're now past them, they're behind on the bank). (= I'm aging too; only you don't.)
The accusation: tuja phāvalēm tēm māgēm — kōṇī nasatām vādī-lāgēm — what fell-to-you in the past — when no one was — to-witness. The strange, dark line: whatever you got-away-with in the past, no one was around to bear witness against you. (= you survived in the gap when there were no witnesses, with strong implication of something irregular about Hari's surviving.)
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē tujhyā angīm — maja dēkhila lāgalīm aughīm — Tuka says — in your anga (body); — I have seen — has come (lāgalīm) — aughīm (= each-and-every). I see in your body — every death (of my family) has come to rest. (= all our deaths show on you — striking inversion: Hari carries the family-deaths in his body even while himself unchanged.)
[T]
For someone today
For today: my whole family-line has died — Hari, you alone stay unchanged; how have you survived? — tell me close; my father-grandfather-great-grandfather died in your sight; in your body I see all our deaths gathered.
Where this applies
- My-family-died-but-you-stay-same.* Mājhī-mēlīm-jaisā-taisā.
- How-have-you-survived-tell-me-near.* Viṭho-vāñcalāsi-sānga-maja-pāśīm.
- Family-deaths-witnessed-by-you.* Bāpa-ājā-paṇajā-dēkhatām.
- I-see-all-our-deaths-in-your-body.* Tujhyā-angīm-aughīm-lāgalīm.