Abhanga 1482
For today: however we are, we are your refugees, Hari; don't let your reputation become false; my mind isn't pure but I call myself a bhakta; who asks the poor wretch? — Tuka speaks your name.
The verse
जैसीं तैसीं तरी । शरणागतें तुझीं हरी ॥१॥ आतां न पाहिजे केलें । ब्रीद लटिकें आपुलें ॥ध्रु.॥ शुद्ध नाहीं चित्त । परी म्हणवितों भक्त ॥२॥ मज कोण पुसे रंका । नाम सांगे तुझें तुका ॥३॥
Literal translation
Jaisīm-taisīm — yet, your śaraṇāgata, Harī. Now, should not be made — your brīda — laṭikā. Citta is not śuddha — but I call myself bhakta. To me, the ranka, who would ask? — Tuka speaks your nāma.
मराठी: जैसीं — तैसीं — तरी; — शरणागतें — तुझीं — हरी. आतां — न — पाहिजे — केलें; — ब्रीद — लटिकें — आपुलें. शुद्ध — नाहीं — चित्त; — परी — म्हणवितों — भक्त. मज — कोण — पुसे — रंका? — नाम — सांगे — तुझें — Tukā.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| जैसीं तैसीं तरी | "however (we are) — jaisīm-taisīm (just-as-such) — yet (tarī)" |
| शरणागतें तुझीं हरी | "śaraṇāgatas — yours — Harī" |
| आतां न पाहिजे केलें | "now — should not (na pāhijē) — be made (kēlēm)" |
| ब्रीद लटिकें आपुलें | "brīda (= reputation / pledge / herald-cry) — laṭikēm (false) — your own (āpulēm)" |
| शुद्ध नाहीं चित्त | "citta — is not — śuddha" |
| परी म्हणवितों भक्त | "but (parī) — I call myself (mhaṇavitōm) — bhakta" |
| मज कोण पुसे रंका | "to me (maja) — who would ask (pusē) — ranka (= poor wretch)?" |
| नाम सांगे तुझें तुका | "nāma — speaks — your — Tuka" |
What it means
However-we-are-we-are-your-refugees abhang. A dīna-prayer. The opening: jaisīm taisīm tarī — śaraṇāgatēm tujhīm Harī — however we are —yet—yours, the refugees. The however-we-are concession; Hari, we're yours, even imperfect. (Strong dīna-bhāva.)
The reputation-argument: ātām na pāhijē kēlēm — brīda laṭikēm āpulēm — now — should not be made —your—brīda(= public-cry / reputation) —laṭikēm(false). Brīda — the herald's-cry / standing-pledge / dharma-shout. Hari's brīda is bhakta-vatsala (= protector-of-bhaktas). If he abandons us, his own brīda becomes false. (Classical bhakti-tactic: appeal to Hari's self-interest in his own reputation.)
The honest-confession: śuddha nāhīm citta — parī mhaṇavitōm bhakta — citta is not pure; — but — Icall myself—bhakta. No claim of pure-citta — yet I call myself a bhakta. (= claiming the title as a kind of vow / reputation-grasp on Hari.)
The closing: maja kōṇa pusē rankā — nāma sāngē tujhē Tukā — who would ask me, theranka(= poor wretch)?; —Tukaspeaks yournāma. No one notices the poor wretch — but Tuka speaks your name (= his only-claim-to-recognition is uttering Hari's nāma). (Striking-humble close: I'm a poor wretch, but I speak your nāma. Pairs with 1413's Tukā mhaṇē mī akṣara — same self-claim-via-nāma, here humbler.)
[T]
For someone today
For today: however we are, we are your refugees, Hari; don't let your reputation become false; my mind isn't pure but I call myself a bhakta; who asks the poor wretch? — Tuka speaks your name.
Where this applies
- When you feel like your faith is too imperfect or your mind too scattered to really count as devotion
- When you're tempted to think you need to earn belonging before you can call out to God
- When you feel invisible or unimportant, like nobody would notice if you disappeared
- When you're relying on someone's promise or reputation to keep them accountable to caring for you