Abhanga 1775
When you know you are trapped in a pattern that keeps pulling you down, it is honest and right to openly ask for rescue rather than pretend you can find the way alone.
The verse
आतां काढाकाढी करीं बा पंढरिराया । नाहीं तरी वांयां गेलों दास ॥१॥ जाणतां बैसलों दगडाचे नावे । तिचा धर्म घ्यावे प्राण हा चि ॥ध्रु.॥ मनाचा स्वभाव इंद्रियांचे ओढी । पतनाचे जोडी वरी हांव ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे जाली अंधळ्याची परी । आतां मज हरी वाट दावीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Now do the rescuing-and-extracting, bā Pandhari-rāyā — otherwise this dāsa has gone to waste. Knowingly I have sat in a stone-boat — its dharma is to take the prāṇa, this very. The manas's nature is the pull of the indriyas — with patana's pairing, I have piled up. Tuka says: I have become like a blind-man — now, Hari, show me the path.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| आतां काढाकाढी करीं बा पंढरिराया | "now — do the rescuing-and-extracting (kāḍhā-kāḍhī) — bā — Pandhari-rāyā" |
| नाहीं तरी वांयां गेलों दास | "otherwise — to waste — I have gone — (your) dāsa" |
| जाणतां बैसलों दगडाचे नावे | "knowingly — I have sat — in a stone-boat" |
| तिचा धर्म घ्यावे प्राण हा चि | "its dharma — to take — the prāṇa — this very" |
| मनाचा स्वभाव इंद्रियांचे ओढी | "the manas's nature — is the indriyas's pull" |
| पतनाचे जोडी वरी हांव | "with patana's pairing — I have piled-up (hāmva)" |
| तुका म्हणे जाली अंधळ्याची परी | "Tuka says — I have become — like a blind-man" |
| आतां मज हरी वाट दावीं | "now — to me — Hari — show the path" |
What it means
Cry-for-rescue-from-self-trap abhang. The desperate-cry that follows 1774's self-confession: now-rescue-me-Pandhari-rāyā, before-I-am-utterly-lost.
The opening: ātām kāḍhā-kāḍhī karīm bā Pandhari-rāyā — nāhīm tarī vāmyām gēlōm dāsa — now do the rescuing-and-extracting, bā Pandhari-rāyā — otherwise, this dāsa has gone to waste. Kāḍhā-kāḍhī = the act of pulling-out / rescuing-by-extraction; the bā is the folk-Marathi vocative-of-affection (= O Pandhari-rāyā). Vāmyām = to waste, in vain. If you don't rescue me now, I will be wasted.
The stone-boat image: jāṇatām baisalōm dagaḍācē nāvē — ticā dharma ghyāvē prāṇa hā chi — knowingly I have sat in a stone-boat — its dharma is to take the prāṇa. Dagaḍācē nāvē = in a stone-boat / a boat-made-of-stone (= that-which-cannot-float; a doomed-vessel); ticā dharma ghyāvē prāṇa = its dharma is to take the prāṇa (= to drown the rider). I knowingly-boarded a stone-boat (= a doomed-pursuit) — its very-nature is to drown me. (= aware-but-helpless; entered the trap with eyes-open.)
The manas-indriya line: manācā svabhāva indriyāñcē ōḍhī — patanācē jōḍī varī hāmva — the manas's nature is the indriyas's pull — with patana's pairing, I've piled up. Indriyāñcē ōḍhī = the pull-of-the-senses; patanācē jōḍī = the pairing-of-patana / the falling-coupling; hāmva = I have-built-up / piled-up. The manas naturally-follows-the-indriyas; thus, falling-after-falling, I have-piled-up the patana. (= the natural-trajectory of mind-following-senses leads to compound-fall.)
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē jālī andhaḷyācī parī — ātām maja Hari vāṭa dāvīm — Tuka says: I have become like a blind-man — now, Hari, show me the path. Andhaḷyācī parī = like a blind-man; vāṭa dāvīm = show the path. I have become like a blind-man — incapable of finding-the-path-on-my-own; now, Hari, you must show-me-the-way. (Echoes the ancient prārthanā-image of the blind-and-the-guide.)
The 1774-1775 pair forms a remarkable self-examination + cry-for-rescue cluster — Tuka, the great-sant, exhibiting his vulnerability publicly and appealing to Viṭhṭhal as the only-one-who-can-rescue him from the trap of fame-induced pride. Among the most-honest abhangs in the gatha.
[T]
For someone today
For today: now do the rescuing-and-extracting, bā Pandhari-rāyā — otherwise this dāsa has gone to waste; knowingly I sat in a stone-boat — its very nature is to take the prāṇa; the manas's nature is the indriyas' pull — with patana's pairing, I have piled up; Tuka says — I have become like a blind-man — now, Hari, show me the path.
Where this applies
- When you know you are repeating a harmful pattern but feel unable to stop it on your own
- When you realize you walked into a bad situation with full awareness and now need someone to pull you out
- When one small give-in to a craving or habit keeps leading to the next, and the falls are piling up
- When you finally admit you cannot see the way forward and need to ask someone for direction