Abhanga 1535
Honest prayer can be impatient and needy, like a lost fawn crying for its mother, and still be true devotion, because only that one bond can truly ease your pain.
The verse
तुज म्हणतील कृपेचा सागर । तरि कां केला धीर पांडुरंगा ॥१॥ आझुनि कां नये तुज माझी दया । काय देवराया पाहातोसि ॥ध्रु.॥ आळवितों जैसें पाडस कुरंगिणी । पीडिलिया वनीं तानभूक ॥२॥ प्रेमरसपान्हा पाजीं माझे आई । धांवें वो विठाईं वोरसोनि ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे माझें कोण हरी दुःख । तुजविण एक पांडुरंगा ॥४॥
Literal translation
They call you kṛpā-sāgara — then why dhīra, Pāṇḍurangā? Still, why doesn't my dayā come to you — Devarāyā, what are you watching for? I cry like fawn for kurangiṇī — tormented in vana, thirst-and-hunger. Prēma-rasa-pānhā, give to me, my āī — run, Viṭhāī, vōrasōnī. Tuka says: my duḥkha, who removes? — except you alone, Pāṇḍurangā.
मराठी: तुज — म्हणतील — कृपेचा — सागर; — तरि — कां — केला — धीर — पांडुरंगा? आझुनि — कां — नये — तुज — माझी — दया? — काय — देवराया — पाहातोसि? आळवितों — जैसें — पाडस — कुरंगिणी; — पीडिलिया — वनीं — तान-भूक. प्रेम-रस-पान्हा — पाजीं — माझे — आई; — धांवें — वो — विठाईं — वोरसोनि. Tukā म्हणे — माझें — कोण — हरी — दुःख? — तुज-विण — एक — पांडुरंगा.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| तुज म्हणतील कृपेचा सागर | "you — they call (mhaṇatīla) — kṛpā-sāgara (ocean of grace)" |
| तरि कां केला धीर पांडुरंगा | "then — why — have made — dhīra (= delay / patience) — Pāṇḍurangā?" |
| आझुनि कां नये तुज माझी दया | "still (āzhuni) — why — to you — my — dayā — does not come (na yē)?" |
| काय देवराया पाहातोसि | "what — Devarāyā — are you watching for (pāhātōsi)?" |
| आळवितों जैसें पाडस कुरंगिणी | "I cry-out (āḷavitōm) — like — fawn (pāḍasa) — kurangiṇī (mother-deer)" |
| पीडिलिया वनीं तानभूक | "tormented — in forest (vana) — thirst-and-hunger" |
| प्रेमरसपान्हा पाजीं माझे आई | "prēma-rasa-pānhā (milk-of-love-rasa) — give-to-drink (pājīm) — my mother (āī)" |
| धांवें वो विठाईं वोरसोनि | "run — vō — Viṭhāī — vōrasōnī (= having gushed / flowed-out)" |
| तुका म्हणे माझें कोण हरी दुःख | "Tuka says — my — who — removes (harī) — duḥkha?" |
| तुजविण एक पांडुरंगा | "except you alone — Pāṇḍurangā" |
What it means
Cry-like-fawn-for-mother-deer abhang. Continues 1534's mother-Hari register with the fawn-and-doe image. The opening protest: tuja mhaṇatīla kṛpēcā sāgara — tarī kām kēlā dhīra Pāṇḍurangā — theycallyoukṛpā-sāgara(ocean of grace); — thenwhythisdhīra(= delay / patience-keeping)? The classical-protest: if you're the ocean-of-grace, why are you keeping me waiting?
The fawn-image: āḷavitōm jaisēm pāḍasa kurangiṇī — pīḍiliyā vanīm tāna-bhūka — Icry-out— like — afawn— for itskurangiṇī(= mother-deer); —tormented— in theforest— bythirst-and-hunger. Beautiful image: fawn lost-in-the-forest, thirsty-and-hungry, crying for the mother-doe. (Compare Bhāgavata-Purāṇa — gopa-lost-from-Kṛṣṇa imagery; same intensity.)
The mother-prayer: prēma-rasa-pānhā pājīm mājhē āī — dhāvēm vō Viṭhāī'm vōrasōnī — themilk-let-down of prēma-rasa (love-juice) — give to drink — my mother; — run, O Viṭhāī — having gushed (vōrasōnī).Pānhā— themilk-let-downof a nursing-mother (when she sees/hears her child);Viṭhāī's pānhā should let-down at her child's cry.Vōrasōnī—gushed-out / overflowed;come running, with the milk gushing out. (Strong-mother-image.)
The closing-claim: Tukā mhaṇē mājhēm kōṇa harī duḥkha — tuja-vīṇa ēka Pāṇḍurangā — Tuka says — myduḥkha—who removes?; —except you alone—Pāṇḍurangā. Only you can remove my duḥkha.
[T]
For someone today
For today: they call you the ocean of grace — why this delay?; still, why doesn't your compassion come — what are you watching for?; I cry like a fawn for its mother-deer, tormented in the forest by thirst and hunger; mother Viṭhāī, run with the love-rasa-milk gushing; only you, Pāṇḍurangā, can remove my suffering.
Where this applies
- When you feel like you have been waiting far too long for relief and want to say so honestly
- When you feel small, scared, and lost, the way a child is lost without a parent nearby
- When you need comfort so badly that you would ask, plainly and without shame, for someone to hurry to you
- When you realize that only one particular person or practice can actually ease what you are going through