Abhanga 1779
For today: compassionate, merciful, tender to the bhakta — you made Gajendra's rescue, Viṭhāī; Pāṇḍurange, come — dearest of the jīva, come, Pāṇḍurange; for the bhakta's defense you toiled, took ten births for Ambaṛṣi, incarnated in the pillar for Prahlāda and fed prema-milk, ran swiftly for Upamanyu in the kṣīra-sāgara, became the cloth-mother for Pāñcālī, ran with the leaf-stem for Dharma against Durvāsa; compassionate mother, store of bhukti and mukti — accept me, Tuka says, Viṭhṭhalē.
The verse
कनवाळू कृपाळू भक्तांलागीं मोही । गजेंद्राचा धांवा तुवां केला विठाईं ॥१॥ पांडुरंगे ये वो पांडुरंगे । जीवाचे जिवलगे ये वो पांडुरंगे ॥ध्रु.॥ भक्तांच्या कैवारें कष्टलीस विठ्ठले । आंबॠषीकारणें जन्म दाहा घेतले ॥२॥ प्रल्हादाकारणें स्तंभीं अवतार केला । विदारूनि दैत्य प्रेमपान्हा पाजिला ॥३॥ उपमन्याकारणें कैसी धांवसी लवलाहीं । पाजी प्रेमपान्हा क्षीरसागराठायीं ॥४॥ कौरवीं पांचाळी सभेमाजी आणिली । वस्त्रहरणीं वस्त्रें कैसी जाली माउली ॥५॥ दुर्वास पातला धर्मा छळावया वनीं । धांवसी लवलाहीं शाखादेठ घेऊनि ॥६॥ कृपाळू माउली भुक्तिमुक्तिभांडार । करीं माझा अंगीकार तुका म्हणे विठ्ठले ॥७॥
Literal translation
English: Compassionate, merciful, tender to the bhakta — you made Gajendra's rescue, Viṭhāī. Pāṇḍurange come — Pāṇḍurange — the dearest of the jīva — come, Pāṇḍurange. For the bhakta's defense, you toiled, Viṭhṭhalē — for Ambaṛṣi's sake, you took ten births. For Prahlāda's sake, you incarnated in the pillar — tearing the daitya, you fed prema-milk. For Upamanyu's sake, how swiftly you ran — fed prema-milk in the kṣīra-sāgara. The Kauravas brought Pāñcālī into the assembly — at the vastra-haraṇa, how you became the cloth-mother. Durvāsa came to oppress Dharma in the forest — you ran swiftly with the leaf-stem. Compassionate mother — the store of bhukti-and-mukti — accept me, Tuka says, Viṭhṭhalē.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| कनवाळू कृपाळू भक्तांलागीं मोही | "compassionate, merciful — tender to the bhakta" |
| गजेंद्राचा धांवा तुवां केला विठाईं | "Gajendra's run (= rescue) — you made — Viṭhāī (vocative-fem.)" |
| पांडुरंगे ये वो पांडुरंगे | "Pāṇḍurange come — Pāṇḍurange (vocative)" |
| जीवाचे जिवलगे ये वो पांडुरंगे | "of the jīva — the dearest — come, Pāṇḍurange" |
| भक्तांच्या कैवारें कष्टलीस विठ्ठले | "for the bhakta's defense — you toiled — Viṭhṭhalē" |
| आंबॠषीकारणें जन्म दाहा घेतले | "for Ambaṛṣi's sake — ten births — (you) took" |
| प्रल्हादाकारणें स्तंभीं अवतार केला | "for Prahlāda's sake — in the stambha (pillar) — you incarnated" |
| विदारूनि दैत्य प्रेमपान्हा पाजिला | "tearing the daitya — you fed — prema-pānhā (prema-milk)" |
| उपमन्याकारणें कैसी धांवसी लवलाहीं | "for Upamanyu's sake — how you ran — swiftly" |
| पाजी प्रेमपान्हा क्षीरसागराठायीं | "you fed prema-milk — in the kṣīra-sāgara (= ocean-of-milk)" |
| कौरवीं पांचाळी सभेमाजी आणिली | "the Kauravas — brought Pāñcālī — into the assembly" |
| वस्त्रहरणीं वस्त्रें कैसी जाली माउली | "at the vastra-haraṇa — with the cloth — how you became — the mā'ulī (mother)" |
| दुर्वास पातला धर्मा छळावया वनीं | "Durvāsa came — to oppress Dharma — in the forest" |
| धांवसी लवलाहीं शाखादेठ घेऊनि | "you ran swiftly — taking the leaf-stem (śākhā-dēṭha)" |
| कृपाळू माउली भुक्तिमुक्तिभांडार | "compassionate mother — the bhukti-mukti-store" |
| करीं माझा अंगीकार तुका म्हणे विठ्ठले | "accept me — Tuka says — Viṭhṭhalē" |
What it means
Pāṇḍurange-mother + bhakta-rescue-catalogue abhang. A liturgical-style invocation — Pāṇḍurange-as-mother + catalogue of past-rescues + appeal-to-be-accepted.
The opening invocation: Pāṇḍurange yē vō Pāṇḍurange — jīvācē jivalagē yē vō Pāṇḍurange — Pāṇḍurange come, Pāṇḍurange — the dearest of the jīva, come, Pāṇḍurange. (The yē vō is a Marathi-folk-feminine vocative — like calling a beloved-mother.)
The catalogue of rescues (canonical Vaiṣṇava-bhakta-stories):
- Gajendra-mokṣa: kanavāḷū kṛpāḷū bhaktāmlāgīm mōhī — Gajēndrācā dhāmvā tuvām kēlā — Viṭhāī, you made the Gajendra-rescue (when the elephant Gajendra was caught by the crocodile and cried out, Viṣṇu came swiftly).
- Ambaṛṣi: bhaktāñcyā kaivārēm — Amba-ṛṣīkāraṇē janma dāhā ghētalē — for Ambaṛṣi's sake, you took ten births (when Durvāsa cursed Ambaṛṣi, the sudarśana-cakra of Viṣṇu defended him; Viṣṇu took ten incarnations to honor the curse).
- Prahlāda + Stambha-avatāra: Pralhādākāraṇē stambhīm avatāra kēlā — vidārūni daitya prēma-pānhā pājilā — for Prahlāda's sake, you incarnated in the pillar — tearing the daitya, you fed prema-milk (Narasimha emerged from the pillar, tore Hiraṇyakaśipu, then fed Prahlāda prema-pānhā — the milk-of-love).
- Upamanyu + Kṣīra-sāgara: Upamanyākāraṇē kaisī dhāmvasī lavalāhīm — pājī prēma-pānhā kṣīra-sāgarā-ṭhāyīm — for Upamanyu's sake, how swiftly you ran — fed prema-milk in the kṣīra-sāgara (when Upamanyu performed tapasyā for milk-as-offering, Śiva-Viṣṇu gave him the kṣīra-sāgara itself).
- Pāñcālī-vastra-haraṇa: Kauravīm Pāñcāḷī sabhē-mājīm āṇilī — vastra-haraṇīm vastrēm kaisī jālī mā'ulī — the Kauravas brought Pāñcālī into the assembly — at the vastra-haraṇa, with the cloth, how you became the mother (when Draupadī was being disrobed, Kṛṣṇa became the endless-cloth that protected her — vastra-mā'ulī, the cloth-mother).
- Durvāsa-Dharma: Durvāsa pātalā Dharmā chaḷāvayā vanīm — dhāmvasī lavalāhīm śākhā-dēṭha ghē'ūni — Durvāsa came to oppress Dharma in the forest — you ran swiftly with the leaf-stem (when Durvāsa came to test Yudhiṣṭhira, Kṛṣṇa accepted a single leaf-stem from Draupadī's pot and was satisfied — Durvāsa was satisfied too).
The closing: kṛpāḷū mā'ulī bhukti-mukti-bhāṇḍāra — karīm mājhā angīkāra Tukā mhaṇē Viṭhṭhalē — compassionate mother, store of bhukti-and-mukti — accept me, Tuka says, Viṭhṭhalē. Bhukti = worldly-enjoyment / experience; mukti = liberation; bhāṇḍāra = storehouse. You-who-have-the-storehouse-of-both-bhukti-and-mukti — accept me.
This is one of the foundational catalogue-of-rescue abhangs in the gatha — invokes the past-rescues to invite the present-rescue. The Pāṇḍurange-as-mother register is among Tuka's most-tender.
[T]
For someone today
For today: compassionate, merciful, tender to the bhakta — you made Gajendra's rescue, Viṭhāī; Pāṇḍurange, come — dearest of the jīva, come, Pāṇḍurange; for the bhakta's defense you toiled, took ten births for Ambaṛṣi, incarnated in the pillar for Prahlāda and fed prema-milk, ran swiftly for Upamanyu in the kṣīra-sāgara, became the cloth-mother for Pāñcālī, ran with the leaf-stem for Dharma against Durvāsa; compassionate mother, store of bhukti and mukti — accept me, Tuka says, Viṭhṭhalē.
Where this applies
- Compassionate-merciful-tender-mother-Gajendra-rescue.* Kanavāḷū-kṛpāḷū-bhakta-mōhī-Gajendra.
- Pāṇḍurange-come-dearest-of-jīva.* Pāṇḍurange-yē-vō-jivalagē.
- Ten-births-Ambaṛṣi-stambha-Prahlāda-prema-pānhā.* Ambaṛṣi-Pralhāda-prema-pānhā.
- Upamanyu-kṣīra-sāgara-Pāñcālī-vastra-mother.* Upamanyu-kṣīra-Pāñcālī-vastra.
- Durvāsa-Dharma-leaf-stem.* Durvāsa-Dharma-śākhā-dēṭha.
- Bhukti-mukti-storehouse-accept-me.* Bhukti-mukti-bhāṇḍāra-angīkāra.