संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 1611 of 4582

Abhanga 1611

English: Where are you stuck, Dvārakā-king?

When you'd cry to the Dvārakā-king as Draupadī did — uphold your dīna-nātha-patita-pāvana titles; come to me as you came to Draupadī

The verse

कोठे गुंतलासी द्वारकेच्या राया । वेळ कां सखया लावियेला ॥१॥ दिनानाथ ब्रीद सांभाळीं आपुले । नको पाहों केलें पापपुण्य ॥ध्रु.॥ पतितपावन ब्रीदें चराचर । पातकी अपार उद्धरिले ॥२॥ तुकयाबंधु म्हणे द्रौपदीचा धांवा । केला तैसा मला पावें आतां ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: Where are you stuck, Dvārakā-king? — why have you delayed, sakhā? Uphold your own dīna-nātha biruda — don't look at my pāpa-puṇya. The patita-pāvana biruda throughout carā-cara (= moving-and-still creation) — countless sinners uplifted. Tukayā-bandhu says: Draupadī's dhāvā — as you came-then, come to me now.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
कोठे गुंतलासी द्वारकेच्या राया "where — are you stuck — O Dvārakā-king?"
वेळ कां सखया लावियेला "timewhy — O sakhā — have you delayed?"
दिनानाथ ब्रीद सांभाळीं आपुले "dīna-nāthabirudauphold — your own"
नको पाहों केलें पापपुण्य "don't look — at what's been donepāpa-puṇya"
पतितपावन ब्रीदें चराचर "patita-pāvanabirudathroughout the moving-and-still"
पातकी अपार उद्धरिले "countless sinners — have been uplifted"
तुकयाबंधु म्हणे द्रौपदीचा धांवा "Tukayā-bandhu — says — Draupadī's dhāvā (cry-for-help)"
केला तैसा मला पावें आतां "as (you) came-thencome to menow"

What it means

Tukayā-bandhu Draupadī-dhāvā abhang. This abhang carries the Tukayā-bandhu signature — the voice of Tuka's-brother (= Sāvajī, Tukaram's elder-brother, also a bhakti-poet). Joins the 1568+1569+1573 set of Tukayā-bandhu compositions in this gatha.

The opening cry: kōṭhē guṇtalāsī Dvārakēcyā rāyā — vēḷa kām sakhayā lāviyēlāwhere are you stuck, Dvārakā-king? — why have you delayed, sakhā? The intimate-friend-mode (sakhā); the Dvārakā-king (= Kṛṣṇa). Where have you got stuck — why this delay?

The biruda-invocation: dīna-nātha brīda sāmbhāḷīm āpulē — nakō pāhōm kēlēm pāpa-puṇyauphold your own dīna-nātha biruda — don't look at my pāpa-puṇya. Biruda = honorific-title / heralded-epithet (a king's birudāvalī lists his glorifying-titles). The Lord's birudas (= dīna-nātha = Lord-of-the-Distressed; patita-pāvana = Purifier-of-the-Fallen) are invoked-as-binding on him. Don't look at my pāpa-puṇya record — uphold your own title.

The patita-pāvana-precedent: patita-pāvana brīdēm carā-cara — pātakī apāra uddhārilēthe patita-pāvana biruda — throughout carā-cara, countless sinners have been uplifted. Cite the precedent: throughout moving-and-still creation, countless sinners have been uplifted by your patita-pāvana biruda.

The signature-line: Tukayā-bandhu mhaṇē Draupadīcā dhāvā — kēlā taisā malā pāvēm ātāmTukayā-bandhu says: Draupadī's dhāvā — as you came-then, come to me now. Draupadīcā dhāvā = Draupadī's cry-for-help — refers to the cīra-haraṇa scene of the Mahābhārata (Draupadī's-disrobing in the Kaurava-court): when Draupadī cried out to Kṛṣṇa ("Hari!"), Kṛṣṇa miraculously extended her sari endlessly so it could not be removed. As you came to that dhāvā, come to me now.

Note on Tukayā-bandhu: Sāvajī Tukārām, the elder-brother, is mentioned in the traditional Tukārām-biographies as one who also composed bhakti-poetry; some abhangs in the traditional-Tukārām-corpus are attributed to him under this Tukayā-bandhu signature. The transliteral.org gatha includes these compositions within the main-corpus, marking them by signature only.

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For someone today

For today: where are you stuck, Lord of Dvārakā? — why have you delayed, my friend? — uphold your title of "Lord-of-the-Distressed", don't look at the pāpa-puṇya I've accumulated; your title "Purifier-of-the-Fallen" is heralded throughout creation — countless sinners have been uplifted by it; Tukayā-bandhu says — as you came running to Draupadī's cry, come to me now.

Where this applies

Related verses