Abhanga 2215
When the one you trust seems to withdraw, both your sense of comfort and your capacity to speak or act meaningfully suffer along with it.
The verse
नव्हे तुम्हां सरी । येवढें कारण मुरारी ॥१॥ मग जैसा तैसा काळ । दाट सारावा पातळ ॥ध्रु.॥ स्वामींचें तें सांडें । पुत्र होतां काळतोंडें ॥२॥ शब्दा नाहीं रुची । मग कोठें तुका वेची ॥३॥
Literal translation
There's no equal to you — that much is the cause, Murārī. Then whatever the time — dense should pass as thin. What the master discards — his sons have black-face. There's no taste in words — then where does Tukā spend [them]?
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| नव्हे तुम्हां सरी | "there's no equal to you" |
| येवढें कारण मुरारी | "that much is the cause, Murārī" |
| मग जैसा तैसा काळ | "then whatever the time" |
| दाट सारावा पातळ | "dense should pass as thin" |
| स्वामींचें तें सांडें | "what the master discards" |
| पुत्र होतां काळतोंडें | "his sons have black-face (disgrace)" |
| शब्दा नाहीं रुची | "there's no taste in words" |
| मग कोठें तुका वेची | "then where does Tukā spend [them]" |
What it means
No-equal-to-you + master-discards-sons-have-black-face abhang. Fifth abhang of the niḍrā-cluster — the master-discards-bhakta-suffers-disgrace plea.
The opening — no-equal: navhē tumhām sarī — yēvaḍhē kāraṇa Murārī — there's no equal to you — that much is the cause, Murārī. You-have-no-equal — that much is-the-(stated)-cause, Murārī.
The dense-and-thin time: maga jaisā taisā kāḷa — dāṭa sārāvā pātaḷa — then whatever the time — dense should pass as thin. Whatever-the-time, even-dense should-pass as-thin (= even-thick-distress should-thin-out, but-it-hasn't).
The master-discards image: svāmīñchē tē sāṇḍē — putra hōtām kāḷa-tōṇḍē — what the master discards — his sons have black-face. Svāmī = master, owner, Lord. Sāṇḍē = discards, abandons. Kāḷa-tōṇḍē = black-face (= disgrace). What-the-master-discards: his-sons (= dependents) come-to-have-black-faces (= public-disgrace). The poignant image — when the Master (Viṭhṭhal) discards-the-bhakta (Tukārām), the bhakta's-public-status is-ruined.
The taste-less-words: śabdā nāhīm ruchī — maga kōṭhē Tukā vēchī — there's no taste in words — then where does Tukā spend [them]. There's no-taste in-words; where then would Tukā-spend-them? (= if-poetry-is-tasteless-without-Lord's-presence, where-is-the-bhakta-to-direct-it?)
The historical-resonance: this abhang resonates with the kavitvā-buḍavaṇē and the persecution-of-Tukārām — the public-disgrace (kāḷa-tōṇḍa) inflicted by-his-detractors is-here-attributed to the Lord's-(temporary)-discarding.
[T]
For someone today
For today: no equal to you — that's the cause, Murārī; whatever the time — dense passes as thin; master discards — sons have black face; no taste in words — where does Tukā spend.
Where this applies
- When you stay loyal to someone or something because nothing else compares, even when it's hard
- When a difficulty you expected to ease with time has instead stayed just as heavy
- When you watch someone's family or community bear the shame of a falling-out that wasn't fully their doing
- When you lose your words or your motivation because the closeness that fueled them is missing