Abhanga 1798
The same protecting power shows up again and again in different forms throughout life, gentle to those who trust it and unyielding toward those who do harm.
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
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
- When you feel like trouble keeps finding you and you wonder if you will ever be safe
- When you look back and realize you have been helped through crises in very different ways at different times
- When you need reassurance that protection can come in whatever form the moment requires, big or small
- When you want confidence that kindness toward the sincere and firmness toward wrongdoers are two sides of the same care