Abhanga 1917
Raw anger and blunt complaint, spoken honestly to God, is itself a form of devotion, not a betrayal of it.
The verse
जोडी कोणांसाटीं । एवढी करितोसी आटी ॥१॥ जरी हें आम्हां नाहीं सुख । रडों पोरें पोटीं भूक ॥ध्रु.॥ करूनि जतन । कोणा देसील हें धन ॥२॥ आमचे तळमळे । तुझें होईंल वाटोळें ॥३॥ घेसील हा श्राप । माझा होऊनियां बाप ॥४॥ तुका म्हणे उरी । आतां न ठेवीं यावरी ॥५॥
Literal translation
For whose sake the gain — (you) do this much hardship? If there's no sukha for us — children weep with hunger in belly. Guarding (it) — to whom will you give this wealth? By our restlessness — yours will go to ruin. You will incur this curse — having become my father. Tuka says: don't keep any remainder beyond this.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| जोडी कोणांसाटीं | "for whose sake the gain" |
| एवढी करितोसी आटी | "(you) do this much hardship" |
| जरी हें आम्हां नाहीं सुख | "if there's no sukha for us" |
| रडों पोरें पोटीं भूक | "children weep — with hunger in belly" |
| करूनि जतन | "guarding (it)" |
| कोणा देसील हें धन | "to whom will you give this wealth" |
| आमचे तळमळे | "by our restlessness" |
| तुझें होईंल वाटोळें | "yours will go to ruin (vāṭōḷē)" |
| घेसील हा श्राप | "you will incur this curse" |
| माझा होऊनियां बाप | "having become my father" |
| तुका म्हणे उरी | "Tuka says — (don't keep) any remainder" |
| आतां न ठेवीं यावरी | "now — don't keep — beyond this" |
What it means
Threatening-letter-to-father — bhakta's-curse-on-the-Lord abhang. One of the cluster's strongest letter-fragments. Letter-sent-with-saints cluster.
The opening: jōḍī kōṇāsāṭīm — ēvaḍhī karitōsī āṭī — for whose sake the gain — (you) do this much hardship?. For-whom-do-you-amass-spiritual-wealth, undergoing-such-effort?.
The hungry-children line: jarī hē āmhām nāhīm sukha — raḍōm pōrē pōṭīm bhūka — if there's no sukha for us — children weep with hunger in belly. Children-weeping with-hunger while-the-Lord-amasses-his-wealth.
The bequest-question: karūni jatana — kōṇā dēsīla hē dhana — guarding (it) — to whom will you give this wealth?. You-guard-it, but to-whom-will-you-bequeath-it? — surely-to-the-bhaktas, then-why-make-them-wait-and-suffer?.
The ruin-warning: āmacē taḷamaḷē — tujhē hō'īla vāṭōḷē — by our restlessness — yours will go to ruin. Vāṭōḷē = destroyed, ruined. Our-restlessness will-bring-your-ruin (= the children's-suffering will-curse-the-parent's-house).
The bhakta's-curse: ghēsīla hā śrāpa — mājhā hō'ūniyām bāpa — you will incur this curse — having become my father. Śrāpa = curse. The bhakta-curses-the-Lord — having-become-my-father, you-will-incur-this-curse if-you-don't-respond. Striking — the bhakta-curses-the-Lord with-the-curse-of-a-suffering-child against-its-parent.
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē urī — ātām na ṭhēvīm yāvarī — Tuka says: don't keep any remainder beyond this. No-remainder/exception beyond-this (= no-more-delay; respond-now).
This is the strongest pressure-line in the entire letter-cluster — the bhakta-curses-the-Lord with-a-father-cursed-by-his-suffering-child.
[T]
For someone today
For today: for whose sake the gain — (you) do this much hardship?; if there's no sukha for us — children weep with hunger in belly; guarding (it) — to whom will you give this wealth?; by our restlessness — yours will go to ruin; you will incur this curse — having become my father; Tuka says — don't keep any remainder beyond this.
Where this applies
- When you feel abandoned by someone who has the means to help but hasn't used them
- When you're waiting on a promise and the delay feels unbearable
- When you want to express anger at God or life honestly instead of masking it with polite words
- When you feel your suffering should matter to someone with power over your situation