Abhanga 1668
For today: does a mother forget her child? — only the surge of love; with longing she embraces him at the neck — places him, lifts him, seats him; she runs to put her mouth to the breast — no thought of separation comes to her mind; she shows him the sibling's bowl and attaches her own milk to it equally; my request is small, his granting is much — this back-and-forth keeps growing; Tuka says — Nārāyaṇa, you know how to soothe.
The verse
काय माता विसरे बाळा । कळवळा प्रीतीचा ॥१॥ आवडीनें गळां मिठी । घाली उठी बैसवी ॥ध्रु.॥ लावूं धांवे मुख स्तना । नये मना निराळें ॥२॥ भावंडाचें भातें दावी । आपुलें लावी त्यास जी ॥३॥ माझें थोडें त्याचें फार । उत्तर हें वाढवी ॥४॥ तुका म्हणे नारायणा । तुम्ही जाणां बुझावूं ॥५॥
Literal translation
English: Does the mother forget the child? — surge of love. With longing, embrace at neck — places, lifts, seats. Runs to put mouth to breast — no thought of separation comes to mind. Shows sibling's bowl, attaches own to that one. My (request) small, his (granting) much — this uttara increases. Tuka says: Nārāyaṇa, you know how to soothe.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| काय माता विसरे बाळा | "does mother — forget — the child?" |
| कळवळा प्रीतीचा | "surge — of love" |
| आवडीनें गळां मिठी | "with longing — at neck — embrace" |
| घाली उठी बैसवी | "places, lifts, seats" |
| लावूं धांवे मुख स्तना | "to put mouth — runs — to breast" |
| नये मना निराळें | "doesn't come — to mind — separate" |
| भावंडाचें भातें दावी | "sibling's bowl — shows" |
| आपुलें लावी त्यास जी | "attaches own — to that one" |
| माझें थोडें त्याचें फार | "my — small; — his — much" |
| उत्तर हें वाढवी | "this uttara — increases" |
| तुका म्हणे नारायणा | "Tuka says — Nārāyaṇa" |
| तुम्ही जाणां बुझावूं | "you — know — how to soothe" |
What it means
Mother-Hari + mother-and-child-feeding-image abhang. Continues the jananī-Pāṇḍuranga register from 1658.
The opening: kāya mātā visarē bāḷā — kaḷavaḷā prītīcā — does the mother forget the child? — surge of love. The rhetorical-no-mother-forgets — naturally surges-with-love.
The bodily-affection: āvaḍīnē gaḷām miṭhī — ghālī uṭhī baisavī — with longing, embrace at neck — places, lifts, seats. The gaḷā-miṭhī (neck-embrace), uṭhī-baisavī (lifts-and-seats) — standard child-care-actions.
The breast-feeding: lāvūm dhāvē mukha stanā — na yē manā nirāḷēm — runs to put mouth to breast — no thought of separation. The mother-runs-to-feed; no-distance-thought.
The sibling-bowl: bhāvamḍācēm bhātēm dāvī — āpulēm lāvī tyāsa — shows sibling's bowl — attaches own to that one. The jealous-child-thinking-the-other-sibling-has-more: the mother shows the sibling's bowl alongside, then attaches her-own (= her own milk / the same milk) to that bowl too — to-reassure-the-jealous-child that all is equal. (Striking-domestic-image of child-jealousy and motherly-equalization.)
The asymmetric-exchange: mājhēm thōḍēm tyācēm phāra — uttara hēm vāḍhavī — my (request) small, his (granting) much — this uttara increases. Whatever I ask is small; what he gives is much; the back-and-forth keeps growing.
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē Nārāyaṇā — tumhī jāṇām bujhāvūm — Tuka says: Nārāyaṇa, you know how to soothe. You know how to soothe (a complaining-child).
[T]
For someone today
For today: does a mother forget her child? — only the surge of love; with longing she embraces him at the neck — places him, lifts him, seats him; she runs to put her mouth to the breast — no thought of separation comes to her mind; she shows him the sibling's bowl and attaches her own milk to it equally; my request is small, his granting is much — this back-and-forth keeps growing; Tuka says — Nārāyaṇa, you know how to soothe.
Where this applies
- Mother-doesn't-forget-child-surge-of-love.* Mātā-bāḷa-na-visarē-kaḷavaḷā.
- Embrace-lift-seat-feed-at-breast.* Gaḷā-miṭhī-uṭhī-stana-mukha.
- Sibling's-bowl-own-attached.* Bhāvamḍa-bhātēm-āpulēm-lāvī.
- My-small-his-much-uttara-grows.* Mājhēm-thōḍēm-tyācēm-phāra-vāḍhavī.
- Nārāyaṇa-knows-how-to-soothe.* Nārāyaṇā-jāṇām-bujhāvūm.