Abhanga 1814
For today: without the mother, the child — no other festivity satisfies; thus is my chitta — without you, Pandhari-nātha; the cātaka waits for the cloud's drop — refuses river or ocean; the sārasa at night meditates on the sun's light; fish without water, calf to the cow, pativratā by the husband's news, the miser by his greed-of-wealth; Tuka says — what — without you, does the prāṇa stay?.
The verse
मातेविण बाळा । आणिक न माने सोहळा ॥१॥ तैसें जालें माझ्या चित्ती । तुजविण पंढरिनाथा ॥ध्रु.॥ वाट पाहेमेघा बिंदु । नेघे चातक सरिता सिंधू ॥२॥ सारसांसी निशीं । ध्यानरवीच्या प्रकाशीं ॥३॥ जीवनाविण मत्स्य । जैसें धेनूलागीं वत्स ॥४॥ पतिव्रते जिणें । भ्रताराच्या वर्त्तमानें ॥५॥ कृपणाचें धन । लोभालागीं जैसें मन ॥६॥ तुका म्हणे काय । तुजविण प्राण राहे ॥७॥
Literal translation
English: Without the mother, the child — no other festivity satisfies. Thus has become my chitta — without you, Pandhari-nātha. The cātaka waits for the cloud's drop — does not take from sarita or sindhū. To the sārasa-bird at night — the dhyāna of the ravi's light. Fish without water — as the calf to the cow. The pati-vratā's life — by the husband's news. The miser's wealth — as the mind for greed. Tuka says: what — without you, does the prāṇa stay?.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| मातेविण बाळा | "without the mother — the child" |
| आणिक न माने सोहळा | "no other — festivity satisfies" |
| तैसें जालें माझ्या चित्ती | "thus has become — to my chitta" |
| तुजविण पंढरिनाथा | "without you — Pandhari-nātha" |
| वाट पाहे मेघा बिंदु | "waits for the cloud's drop" |
| नेघे चातक सरिता सिंधू | "the cātaka doesn't take — from sarita or sindhū (river or ocean)" |
| सारसांसी निशीं | "to the sārasa-bird at night" |
| ध्यानरवीच्या प्रकाशीं | "the dhyāna — of the ravi's prakāśa (sun's light)" |
| जीवनाविण मत्स्य | "fish without water (jīvana)" |
| जैसें धेनूलागीं वत्स | "as the calf to the cow" |
| पतिव्रते जिणें | "the pati-vratā's life" |
| भ्रताराच्या वर्त्तमानें | "by the husband's news / state" |
| कृपणाचें धन | "the miser's wealth" |
| लोभालागीं जैसें मन | "as the mind — for greed" |
| तुका म्हणे काय | "Tuka says — what" |
| तुजविण प्राण राहे | "without you — does the prāṇa stay" |
What it means
Seven-fold yearning-similes for-without-you-Pandhari-nātha abhang. One of the most-quoted yearning-abhangs in the gatha — a classical seven-similes register.
Simile 1 — Mother and child: mātēvīṇa bāḷā — āṇika na mānē sōhaḷā — without the mother, the child — no other festivity satisfies. The foundational maternal-yearning. (Vārkarī's mother-Hari register.)
The application: taisē jālē mājhyā chittī — tujavīṇa Pandhari-nāthā — thus my chitta — without you, Pandhari-nātha.
Simile 2 — Cātaka and cloud-drop: vāṭa pāhē mēghā bindu — nēghē cātaka saritā sindhū — the cātaka waits for the cloud's drop — doesn't take from sarita or sindhū. The cātaka-bird drinks-only-the-monsoon-cloud's-drop, refusing-river-water-and-ocean-water. (= exclusive-source-of-life.)
Simile 3 — Sārasa at night: sārasānsī niśīm — dhyāna-ravīcyā prakāśīm — to the sārasa-bird at night — the dhyāna of the sun's light. The sārasa (= a kind of crane) at-night yearns-for-the-day-light (= waits-for-the-sun-to-rise; meditates-on-its-coming).
Simile 4 — Fish without water; calf and cow: jīvanāvīṇa matsya — jaisē dhēnū-lāgīm vatsa — fish without water — as the calf to the cow. Two-fold: fish-without-water dies; calf-without-mother-cow yearns.
Simile 5 — Pativratā and husband: pati-vratē jiṇē — bhratārācyā vartamānē — the pativratā's life — by the husband's news. The faithful-wife's life-and-vitality is-determined by-news-of-the-husband's-state.
Simile 6 — Miser and wealth: kṛpaṇācē dhana — lōbhā-lāgīm jaisē mana — the miser's wealth — as the mind for greed. The miser's-mind-clings-to-wealth as-greed-clings-to-its-object.
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē kāya — tujavīṇa prāṇa rāhē — Tuka says: what — without you, does the prāṇa stay?. The summary: seven-fold-yearning, all-yielding to: without-you, the prāṇa cannot-stay.
This abhang is foundational for Vārkarī kīrtana ekānta-mood. The seven-similes (māta-bāḷa, cātaka-mēgha, sārasa-ravi, matsya-jala, dhēnū-vatsa, pati-vratā-bhratāra, kṛpaṇa-dhana) recur-in-other-abhangs but here-stacked-tight. Among the most-recited bhakta-yearning-portraits in the gatha.
[T]
For someone today
For today: without the mother, the child — no other festivity satisfies; thus is my chitta — without you, Pandhari-nātha; the cātaka waits for the cloud's drop — refuses river or ocean; the sārasa at night meditates on the sun's light; fish without water, calf to the cow, pativratā by the husband's news, the miser by his greed-of-wealth; Tuka says — what — without you, does the prāṇa stay?.
Where this applies
- Mother-and-child-no-other-festivity.* Māta-bāḷa-sōhaḷā-na.
- Cātaka-only-cloud-drop-not-river-ocean.* Cātaka-mēgha-saritā-sindhū-na.
- Sārasa-at-night-meditates-on-sun.* Sārasa-niśī-dhyāna-ravī.
- Matsya-fish-water-calf-cow-pativratā-husband-miser-wealth.* Matsya-vatsa-pati-vratā-kṛpaṇa.
- Without-you-does-the-prāṇa-stay.* Tujavīṇa-prāṇa-rāhē.