Abhanga 2235
For today: no knife on head, no blow on back — yet I caused you alarm; you divided yourself between me and the deep — no injury here or there; mothers-fathers take jīva for small wrongs — only you bore; Tuka says — kṛpāvanta, no dātā like you — speech exhausted.
The verse
नव्हती आली सीसा सुरी अथवा घाय पाठीवरी । तो म्यां केला हरी एवढा तुम्हां आकांत ॥१॥ वांटिलासी दोहीं ठायीं मजपाशीं आणि डोहीं । लागों दिला नाहीं येथें तेथें आघात ॥ध्रु.॥ जीव घेती मायबापें थोड्या अन्याच्या कोपें । हें तों नव्हे सोपें साहों तों चि जाणीतलें ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे कृपावंता तुज ऐसा नाहीं दाता । काय वाणूं आतां वाणी माझी कुंटली ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: No knife came on the head, nor blow on the back — yet I, Hari, caused you this much alarm. You divided yourself between two places — near me and in the deep — you didn't let injury fall here or there. Mothers-fathers take jīva for small wrongs in anger — this is not easy to bear — only you knew [how]. Tuka says: kṛpāvanta — there's no dātā like you — what shall I praise now — my speech is exhausted.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| नव्हती आली सीसा सुरी अथवा घाय पाठीवरी | "no knife came on the head, nor blow on the back" |
| तो म्यां केला हरी एवढा तुम्हां आकांत | "yet I, Hari, caused you this much alarm" |
| वांटिलासी दोहीं ठायीं मजपाशीं आणि डोहीं | "you divided yourself between two places — near me and in the deep" |
| लागों दिला नाहीं येथें तेथें आघात | "you didn't let injury fall here or there" |
| जीव घेती मायबापें थोड्या अन्याच्या कोपें | "mothers-fathers take jīva for small wrongs in anger" |
| हें तों नव्हे सोपें साहों तों चि जाणीतलें | "this is not easy to bear — only you knew [how]" |
| तुका म्हणे कृपावंता तुज ऐसा नाहीं दाता | "Tuka says — kṛpāvanta, there's no dātā like you" |
| काय वाणूं आतां वाणी माझी कुंटली | "what shall I praise now — my speech is exhausted" |
What it means
I-caused-no-real-wound-but-such-alarm + you-divided-yourself-between-me-and-the-deep abhang. Fifth abhang of the restoration-cluster — the Lord-divided-into-two image.
The opening — no-real-wound: navhatī ālī sīsā surī athavā ghāya pāṭhīvarī — tō myām kēlā Harī ēvaḍhā tumhām ākānta — no knife came on the head, nor blow on the back — yet I, Hari, caused you this much alarm. Sīsā surī = knife on the head. Ākānta = alarm, distress. No-actual-knife came-on-the-head, no-blow on-the-back; yet I-caused-you, Hari, this-much-alarm. (= the bhakta's-fast caused-distress to-Viṭhṭhal disproportionate to-the-actual-physical-threat.)
★ THE LORD-DIVIDED-INTO-TWO IMAGE ★: vāṇṭilāsī dōhīm ṭhāyīm majapāśīm āṇi ḍōhīm — lāgōm dilā nāhīm yēthē tēthē āghāta — you divided yourself between two places — near me and in the deep — you didn't let injury fall here or there. Vāṇṭilāsī = you divided/split yourself. Ḍōha = deep-pool, the depths-of-the-river. You divided-yourself between-two-places: near-me (on-the-bank) and in-the-deep (in-the-Indrāyaṇī-water with-the-manuscripts); you didn't-let injury-fall here-or-there. ★ A REMARKABLE THEOLOGICAL-IMAGE ★ — Viṭhṭhal simultaneously-present in-two-places: comforting-Tukārām on-the-bank AND preserving-the-manuscripts-in-the-deep. The Lord-as-omnipresent-protector-of-both.
The mothers-fathers contrast: jīva ghētī māya-bāpē thōḍyā anyāñchyā kōpē — hē tōm navhē sōpē sāhōm tōm chi jāṇītalē — mothers-fathers take jīva for small wrongs in anger — this is not easy to bear — only you knew [how]. Mothers-fathers (= ordinary-parents) take-jīva (kill, withdraw-affection) for-small-wrongs in-anger; this-(my-act) was-not-easy-to-bear, only-you knew-how (= only-you-could-bear-it-and-still-respond-with-kṛpā).
The closing — speech-exhausted: Tukā mhaṇē kṛpāvantā tuja aisā nāhīm dātā — kāya vāṇūm ātām vāṇī mājhī kuṇṭalī — Tuka says: kṛpāvanta — there's no dātā like you — what shall I praise now — my speech is exhausted. Kṛpāvanta (compassion-bearer), there's no-dātā like-you; what-shall-I-praise — my speech-is-exhausted (kuṇṭalī).
[T]
For someone today
For today: no knife on head, no blow on back — yet I caused you alarm; you divided yourself between me and the deep — no injury here or there; mothers-fathers take jīva for small wrongs — only you bore; Tuka says — kṛpāvanta, no dātā like you — speech exhausted.
Where this applies
- Caused-alarm-disproportionate-to-real-wound.* Navhatī-sīsā-surī-ghāya-pāṭhīvarī-ākānta.
- Lord-divided-between-bhakta-and-the-deep. Vāṇṭilāsī-dōhīm-ṭhāyīm-majapāśīm-ḍōhīm-āghāta.
- Only-you-bore-this-mothers-fathers-wouldn't.* Jīva-ghētī-māya-bāpē-anyāñchyā-kōpē-sāhōm.
- Kṛpāvanta-no-dātā-like-you-speech-exhausted.* Kṛpāvantā-dātā-vāṇī-kuṇṭalī.