संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 1545 of 4582

Abhanga 1545

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.

When you'd be the chick-with-beak-open at mother-Hari — come, Pāṇḍurange, give the love-milk-let-down; we are petted-pampered children

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

English: 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 "howsweetuttara (replies)"
यें वो यें वो पांडुरंगे "come, oh — come, oh — Pāṇḍurangē"
प्रेमपान्हा मज दें गे "prēma-pānhāto megive (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 "welaḍivāḷē (= 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 uttarēI will cry-out — with svarē (notes); — howsweet — would the replies be? I'll cry out musically — and how sweet your replies will sound.

The mother-call: yē vō yē vō Pāṇḍurangē — prēma-pānhā maja dē gēcome, oh, come, oh, Pāṇḍurangēprēma-pānhā (= the milk-let-down of love) — give me, ! The , — feminine-vocative-particles — Pāṇḍurangē addressed as mother. Pānhāthe 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 karuṇēcīspreading the cōñcī (= beak); — this vacana — of karuṇā (= 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 āḷīmTuka says — baḷī (= by strong-cry); — welaḍivāḷē (= petted-pampered) — by āḷī (= persistent-nagging). We are petted-pampered children who get-our-way-by persistent-nagging. (Striking-self-claim: the bhakta is a spoiled-and-pampered child who nags-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

Related verses