Abhanga 1971
For today: stripped some — made them naked-(again) — didn't return here; for fear no one takes the pallav — making them issueless-and-bound; some bound, taking surety — people laugh at them; the finished he sends to Vaikuṇṭha — won't release this barter; Tuka says — we became knowing-yet-unknowing — we got caught in his hand.
The verse
नागवूनि एकें नागवीं च केली । फिरोनियां आलीं नाहीं येथें ॥१॥ भेणें सुती कोणी न घेती पालवीं । करूनियां गोवी निसंतान ॥ध्रु.॥ एकें तीं गोविलीं घेऊनि जमान । हांसतील जन लोक तयां ॥२॥ सरले तयांसी घाली वैकुंठीं । न सोडी हे साटी जीवें जाली ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे जालों जाणोनि नेणती । सांपडलों हातीं याचे आम्ही ॥४॥
Literal translation
English: Stripped some — made them naked-(again) — they didn't return here. For fear — no one takes the pallav — making them issueless-and-bound. Some were bound — taking surety — people will laugh at them. The finished he sends to Vaikuṇṭha — won't release this barter — has become jīva. Tuka says: we became knowing-yet-unknowing — we got caught in his hand.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| नागवूनि एकें नागवीं च केली | "stripped some — made them naked-(again)" |
| फिरोनियां आलीं नाहीं येथें | "they didn't return here" |
| भेणें सुती कोणी न घेती पालवीं | "for fear — no one takes the pallav" |
| करूनियां गोवी निसंतान | "making them issueless-and-bound" |
| एकें तीं गोविलीं घेऊनि जमान | "some were bound — taking surety" |
| हांसतील जन लोक तयां | "people will laugh at them" |
| सरले तयांसी घाली वैकुंठीं | "the finished he sends to Vaikuṇṭha" |
| न सोडी हे साटी जीवें जाली | "won't release this barter — has become jīva" |
| तुका म्हणे जालों जाणोनि नेणती | "Tuka says — we became knowing-yet-unknowing" |
| सांपडलों हातीं याचे आम्ही | "we got caught in his hand" |
What it means
Lord-strips-bhaktas-then-sends-them-to-Vaikuṇṭha abhang.
The opening: nāgavūni ēkē nāgavīm chi kēlī — phirōniyām ālīm nāhīm yēthē — stripped some — made them naked-(again) — they didn't return here. Nāgavī = naked, stripped. The Lord-stripped some-bhaktas-completely; they-never-came-back (= didn't-return-to-samsāra).
The pallav-fear: bhēṇē sutī kōṇī na ghētī pālavīm — karūniyām gōvī nisantāna — for fear — no one takes the pallav — making them issueless-and-bound. Pālavīm = the end of a sari/garment; nisantāna = issueless (without descendants). People-fear-the-Lord because he-makes-them-issueless (= no-children) — the wife's-fear-of-childlessness becomes-an-image-of-the-Lord's-stripping.
The surety-binding: ēkē tīm gōvilīm ghē'ūni jamāna — hāmsatīla jana lōka tayām — some were bound — taking surety — people will laugh at them. People-laugh at-those-bound-by-the-Lord.
The Vaikuṇṭha-route: saralē tayāmsī ghālī Vaikuṇṭhīm — na sōḍī hē sāṭī jīvē jālī — the finished he sends to Vaikuṇṭha — won't release this barter, has become jīva. The Lord sends-the-finished-bhaktas to-Vaikuṇṭha; the barter (= jīva-for-Vaikuṇṭha) doesn't release.
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē jālōm jāṇōni nēṇatī — sāmpaḍalōm hātīm yāchē āmhī — Tuka says: we became knowing-yet-unknowing — we got caught in his hand. Knowing-yet-not-knowing (jāṇōni-nēṇatī) we-got-caught.
Tukārām's terrifying-comfort to-his-wife: the Lord-strips-bhaktas-completely (= takes-everything-they-have, even-children) but-eventually-sends-them-to-Vaikuṇṭha.
[T]
For someone today
For today: stripped some — made them naked-(again) — didn't return here; for fear no one takes the pallav — making them issueless-and-bound; some bound, taking surety — people laugh at them; the finished he sends to Vaikuṇṭha — won't release this barter; Tuka says — we became knowing-yet-unknowing — we got caught in his hand.
Where this applies
- Lord-strips-bhaktas-they-don't-return.* Nāgavūni-phirōniyām-na-ālī.
- No-one-takes-pallav-fear-of-issueless.* Pālavīm-bhēṇē-gōvī-nisantāna.
- Bound-by-surety-people-laugh.* Gōvilīm-jamāna-hāmsatīla.
- Finished-sent-to-Vaikuṇṭha-barter-stuck.* Saralē-Vaikuṇṭhīm-sāṭī-jīvē.
- Knowing-yet-unknowing-caught-in-his-hand.* Jāṇōni-nēṇatī-sāmpaḍalōm-hātīm.