Abhanga 1545
Honest devotion can be as simple as a hungry child's cry for love, and there is no shame in persistently asking the divine for comfort.
The verse
आळवीन स्वरें । कैशा मधुरा उत्तरें ॥१॥ यें वो यें वो पांडुरंगे । प्रेमपान्हा मज दें गे ॥ध्रु.॥ पसरूनि चोंची । वचन हें करुणेची ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे बळी । आम्ही लडिवाळें आळीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
I will āḷavīna with svarē — how madhura uttarē! Come, oh, come, oh, Pāṇḍurangē — prēma-pānhā give to me, gē. Pasarūnī cōñcī — this karuṇā-vacana. Tuka says: by baḷī — we are laḍivāḷē-children by āḷī.
मराठी: आळवीन — स्वरें; — कैशा — मधुरा — उत्तरें. यें — वो — यें — वो — पांडुरंगे; — प्रेम-पान्हा — मज — दें — गे. पसरूनि — चोंची; — वचन — हें — करुणेची. Tukā म्हणे — बळी; — आम्ही — लडिवाळें — आळीं.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| आळवीन स्वरें | "I will cry-out (āḷavīna) — by svarā (notes / tones)" |
| कैशा मधुरा उत्तरें | "how — sweet — uttara (replies)" |
| यें वो यें वो पांडुरंगे | "come, oh — come, oh — Pāṇḍurangē" |
| प्रेमपान्हा मज दें गे | "prēma-pānhā — to me — give — gē (vocative-particle)" |
| पसरूनि चोंची | "spreading — (the) cōñcī (beak)" |
| वचन हें करुणेची | "this vacana — of karuṇā (compassion-cry)" |
| तुका म्हणे बळी | "Tuka says — baḷī (= mighty / by-strong-cry)" |
| आम्ही लडिवाळें आळीं | "we — laḍivāḷē (= petted-pampered) — by āḷī (= persistent-cry / nagging)" |
What it means
Baby-bird-with-spread-beak abhang. Continues the bhakta-as-infant / petted-child register from 1534-1535. The opening: āḷavīna svarē — kaiśā madhurā uttarē — I willcry-out— withsvarē(notes); —how—sweet— would therepliesbe? I'll cry out musically — and how sweet your replies will sound.
The mother-call: yē vō yē vō Pāṇḍurangē — prēma-pānhā maja dē gē — come, oh, come, oh,Pāṇḍurangē—prēma-pānhā(= the milk-let-down of love) — give me,gē! The vō, gē — feminine-vocative-particles — Pāṇḍurangē addressed as mother. Pānhā — the milk-let-down at the cry of one's child; the love-milk-let-down. (Compare 1535's prēma-rasa-pānhā-pājīm-Viṭhāī-vōrasōnī — same image, here as fresh prayer.)
The bird-image: pasarūnī cōñcī — vacana hēm karuṇēcī — spreading thecōñcī(= beak); — thisvacana— ofkaruṇā(= compassion-cry). Like a baby-bird-with-beak-open, this is my cry-of-compassion-pleading. (Striking-image: bhakta-as-chick-in-nest with open beak waiting to be fed. Distinctive image from 1534-1535's fawn / infant — here baby-bird. Three-related-images for the helpless-bhakta-needing-feeding.)
The closing-self-image: Tukā mhaṇē baḷī — āmhī laḍivāḷē āḷīm — Tuka says —baḷī(= by strong-cry); —we—laḍivāḷē(= petted-pampered) — byāḷī(= persistent-nagging). We are petted-pampered children who get-our-way-by persistent-nagging. (Striking-self-claim: the bhakta is aspoiled-and-pampered childwhonags-mother-until-she-gives-in. Pattern P9 (transvalued-slur) — turning being-spoiled-by-mother into bhakti-virtue.)
[T]
For someone today
For today: I'll cry out with sweet notes — how sweet the reply will be; come, oh, come, Pāṇḍurangē — give me the milk-let-down of love; spreading my beak like a chick, this cry of compassion; we are petted-pampered children getting-our-way by persistent-nagging.
Where this applies
- When you feel too embarrassed to ask directly for comfort and love
- When you are going through something hard and just want to cry out for help without pretense
- When you keep returning to prayer again and again instead of giving up
- When you feel small and helpless and need someone to take care of you