Abhanga 2428
Even a devotee's bold complaint to God, arguing that suffering reflects badly on the Lord, must end in humble acceptance of whatever life still brings.
The verse
विष्णुदासां भोग । जरी आम्हां पीडी रोग ॥१॥ तरि हें दिसे लाजिरवाणें । काय तुम्हांसी सांगणें ॥ध्रु.॥ आम्हां काळें खावें । बोलिलें तें वांयां जावें ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे दास । आम्ही भोगूं गर्भवास ॥३॥
Literal translation
Viṣṇu-dāsas' bhoga — if disease afflicts us. This looks shameful — what to tell you. Let kāḷa devour us — what is said goes in vain. Tuka says: servants — we'll endure garbha-vāsa.
What it means
THE DISEASE-ON-BHAKTA-LOOKS-SHAMEFUL ABHANG.
The argument: jarī āmhām pīḍī rōga — tari hē disē lājiravāṇē — if disease afflicts us, this looks shameful. The bhakta's-leverage: a-Viṣṇu-dāsa's-suffering reflects-shamefully on-the-Lord. A complaint-bhakti-tactic — invoking-the-Lord's-reputation.
[T]
For someone today
For today: disease on a bhakta looks shameful to the Lord; let kāḷa devour us; servants endure garbha-vāsa.
Where this applies
- When you feel angry or disappointed with God or life during illness or hardship and want to voice that honestly.
- When you use your closeness with someone you trust deeply to hold them accountable, half in love and half in protest.
- When your prayers or protests seem to go unanswered and you must accept the outcome anyway.
- When you're worn down by repeated suffering but choose quiet endurance over despair.