Abhanga 1798
For today: kāga, baga, riṭhā — killed in childhood — the entire daitya-mine was sunk; show me him, show me him — Nanda-nandana, beloved of the jīva; Govardhana mountain — lifted in (one) hand — Gokul preserved inside; killing Bhaumāsura — the gōpānganās were brought back — the rule of Mathurā given to Ugrasēna; the Pāṇḍavas saved by skill in the lac-house — led through the underground-passage; Tuka says — this one is kṛpāḷa to the bhaktas — kāḷa to the wicked — Nārāyaṇa.
The verse
काग बग रिठा मारिले बाळपणीं । अवघी दैत्यखाणी बुडविली ॥१॥ तो मज दावा तो मज दावा । नंदनंदन जीवा आवडे तो ॥ध्रु.॥ गोवर्धन गिरी उचलिला करीं । गोकुळ भीतरी राखियेलें ॥२॥ बघुनि भौमासुरा आणिल्या गोपांगना । राज्य उग्रसेना मथुरेचें ॥३॥ पांडव जोहरीं राखिले कुसरी । विवराभीतरीं चालविले ॥४॥ तुका म्हणे हा भक्तांचा कृपाळ । दुष्टजना काळ नारायण ॥५॥
Literal translation
English: Kāga, baga, riṭhā — killed in childhood — the entire daitya-mine was sunk. Show me him, show me him — Nanda-nandana, the beloved of the jīva. Govardhana mountain — lifted in (one) hand — Gokul preserved inside. Killing Bhaumāsura — the gōpānganās were brought back — the rule of Mathurā (given) to Ugrasēna. The Pāṇḍavas — in the jōhara — saved by skill — through the underground-passage led. Tuka says: this one is kṛpāḷa to the bhaktas — kāḷa to the duṣṭa-jana — Nārāyaṇa.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| काग बग रिठा मारिले बाळपणीं | "kāga, baga, riṭhā (= the daitya-bird-demons) — killed — in childhood" |
| अवघी दैत्यखाणी बुडविली | "the entire daitya-mine — was sunk" |
| तो मज दावा तो मज दावा | "show me him, show me him" |
| नंदनंदन जीवा आवडे तो | "Nanda-nandana — to the jīva — the beloved-one" |
| गोवर्धन गिरी उचलिला करीं | "Govardhana mountain — lifted in (one) hand" |
| गोकुळ भीतरी राखियेलें | "Gokul — inside — was preserved" |
| बघुनि भौमासुरा आणिल्या गोपांगना | "killing Bhaumāsura — the gōpānganās were brought" |
| राज्य उग्रसेना मथुरेचें | "the rule of Mathurā — (given) to Ugrasēna" |
| पांडव जोहरीं राखिले कुसरी | "the Pāṇḍavas — in the jōhara (lac-house) — saved by kusarī (skill / cunning)" |
| विवराभीतरीं चालविले | "through the underground-passage — led / made-to-walk" |
| तुका म्हणे हा भक्तांचा कृपाळ | "Tuka says — this one — kṛpāḷa — to the bhaktas" |
| दुष्टजना काळ नारायण | "kāḷa (death) — to the duṣṭa-jana (wicked-people) — Nārāyaṇa" |
What it means
Krishna-rescue-catalogue + Nanda-nandana-show-me abhang.
The opening: kāga baga riṭhā mārilē bāḷa-paṇīm — avaghī daitya-khāṇī buḍavilī — kāga, baga, riṭhā — killed in childhood — the entire daitya-mine was sunk. Kāga = Bakāsura (the heron-demon); baga = another bird-demon, possibly Pūtanā or Bagāsura; riṭhā = Riṭhāsura (the calf-demon Vatsāsura). Daitya-khāṇī = the daitya-mine / quarry (= the source-of-demons). Krishna's childhood-deeds = killing the line-of-daityas.
The petition: tō maja dāva tō maja dāva — Nanda-nandana jīvā āvaḍē tō — show me him, show me him — Nanda-nandana, the beloved of the jīva. Doubled-show-me for emphatic-yearning. Nanda-nandana = Krishna as Nanda's son. The bhakta yearns to see this beloved-one.
The Govardhana exploit: gōvardhana giri ucalilā karīm — gōkuḷa bhītarī rākhiyēlēm — Govardhana mountain lifted in hand — Gokul preserved inside. (Krishna lifted the mountain for seven days to shelter the cowherds from Indra's storm.)
The Bhaumāsura-Ugrasēna exploit: baghuni Bhaumāsurā āṇilyā gōpānganā — rājya Ugrasēnā Mathurēcēm — killing Bhaumāsura — brought back the gōpānganās — the rule of Mathurā (given) to Ugrasēna. (Bhaumāsura had captured 16,000 gōpānganās; Krishna killed him and freed them. After killing Kamsa, Krishna restored the rule to his maternal-grandfather Ugrasēna.)
The Pāṇḍava-jōhara exploit: Pāṇḍava jōharīm rākhilē kusarī — vivarābhītarīm cālavilē — the Pāṇḍavas saved in the jōhara by skill — led through the underground-passage. (When Duryodhana built the lākṣā-gṛha (lac-house) to burn the Pāṇḍavas, Vidura's-message + Krishna's-counsel led them through a vivara (= secret-tunnel) to safety.)
The closing-verdict: Tukā mhaṇē hā bhaktāñcā kṛpāḷa — duṣṭa-janā kāḷa Nārāyaṇa — Tuka says: this one is kṛpāḷa to the bhaktas — kāḷa to the duṣṭa-jana — Nārāyaṇa. The double-aspect of Nārāyaṇa: kṛpāḷa-to-bhaktas + kāḷa-to-the-wicked. (Foundational liturgical-formula in the Vārkarī tradition.)
This abhang is one of the canonical Krishna-līlā recitation-abhangs — pairs with abhang 1779 (Pāṇḍurange-mother bhakta-rescue catalogue).
[T]
For someone today
For today: kāga, baga, riṭhā — killed in childhood — the entire daitya-mine was sunk; show me him, show me him — Nanda-nandana, beloved of the jīva; Govardhana mountain — lifted in (one) hand — Gokul preserved inside; killing Bhaumāsura — the gōpānganās were brought back — the rule of Mathurā given to Ugrasēna; the Pāṇḍavas saved by skill in the lac-house — led through the underground-passage; Tuka says — this one is kṛpāḷa to the bhaktas — kāḷa to the wicked — Nārāyaṇa.
Where this applies
- Childhood-killings-daitya-mine-sunk.* Kāga-baga-riṭhā-daitya-khāṇī.
- Show-me-Nanda-nandana-beloved.* Tō-maja-dāva-Nanda-nandana.
- Govardhana-lifted-Gokul-preserved.* Govardhana-Gokul.
- Bhaumāsura-killed-gōpānganās-Ugrasēna-rule.* Bhaumāsura-Ugrasēna.
- Pāṇḍava-jōhara-rescue-vivara-passage.* Pāṇḍava-jōhara-vivara.
- Kṛpāḷa-to-bhaktas-kāḷa-to-the-wicked.* Bhaktāñcā-kṛpāḷa-duṣṭa-kāḷa.