Abhanga 2484
The verse
तेरा दिवस जाले नश्चिक्र करितां । न पवसी अनंता मायबापा ॥१॥ पाषाणांची खोळ घेउनि बैसलासी । काय हृषीकेशी जालें तुज ॥ध्रु.॥ तुजवरी आतां प्राण मी तजीन । हत्या मी घालीन पांडुरंगा ॥२॥ फार विठाबाईं धरिली तुझी आस । करीन जीवा नास पांडुरंगा ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे आतां मांडिलें निर्वाण । प्राण हा सांडीन तुजवरी ॥४॥
Literal translation
English: ★★★ 13 days have passed in fasting — you don't reach, Ananta, mother-father ★★★. ★★ You've put on stone-armor and sat — what's happened to you, Hṛṣīkēśa ★★. ★★★ I'll abandon prāṇa for you — I'll pin hatyā on you, Pāṇḍurangā ★★★. Viṭhābā'ī — held your hope for long — will destroy my life, Pāṇḍurangā. ★★ Tuka says: now nirvāṇa-extremity is set — will abandon prāṇa on you ★★.
What it means
★★★ THE 13-DAY-FAST + HATYĀ-THREAT ABHANG ★★★. Tukārām's most-celebrated protest-bhakti / fasting-strike text. Likely biographical.
★★★ THE OPENING ★★★: tērā divasa jālē naśchikra karitām — na pavasī Anantā māyabāpā — ★★★ 13 days have passed in fasting — you don't reach, Ananta, mother-father ★★★. Naśchikra = fasting-vow, abstention. ★★★ 13 days have-passed in-fasting; you-still-don't-arrive, Ananta-mother-father. ★★★ A biographical-claim of-a-specific-fast.
★★ THE STONE-ARMOR IMAGE ★★: pāṣāṇāñchī khōḷa ghē'uni baisalāsī — kāya Hṛṣīkēśī jālē tuja — ★★ you've put on stone-armor and sat — what's happened to you, Hṛṣīkēśa ★★. Khōḷa = armor, casing. ★★ You've-put-on-stone-armor and-sat-still; what-happened-to-you, Hṛṣīkēśa? ★★ A complaint that-the-Viṭhṭhal-image is-stone-not-responsive.
★★★ THE HATYĀ-THREAT ★★★: tujavarī ātām prāṇa mī tajīna — hatyā mī ghālīna Pāṇḍurangā — ★★★ I'll abandon prāṇa for you — I'll pin hatyā on you, Pāṇḍurangā ★★★. Hatyā = murder-blame, specifically the-moral-guilt of-causing-someone's-death. ★★★ I'll-abandon-prāṇa for-you; I'll-PIN-HATYĀ-ON-YOU, Pāṇḍurangā. ★★★ A direct moral-suicide-threat — if-Tukārām-dies-fasting, the-hatyā-of-his-death will-be-pinned-on-Pāṇḍurangā.
★★★ HISTORICAL-CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE ★★★: This abhang is a celebrated protest-bhakti text. The combination of-13-day-specific-count + hatyā-threat suggests-a-biographical-incident. The hatyā-threat is the extreme-bhakti-leverage — using-the-Lord's-moral-reputation against-the-Lord. Comparable to satyāgraha (truth-force) — bhakti-as-non-violent-pressure-on-the-divine.
Companion abhangs: 2485 continues-this — I-fell-at-Puṇḍalīka's-feet; run, Hṛṣīkēśa, embrace me. Together they form a fasting-protest mini-cluster.
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For someone today
For today: ★★★ 13-days fasting — you still don't come ★★★; ★★ stone-armor sitting — what happened? ★★; ★★★ I'll pin hatyā on you, Pāṇḍurangā ★★★; ★★ nirvāṇa is set — will abandon prāṇa ★★.
Where this applies
- 13-days-fasting-you-don't-come. Tērā-divasa-naśchikra-na-pavasī.
- Stone-armor-Viṭhṭhal-unresponsive. Pāṣāṇāñchī-khōḷa-baisalāsī.
- ★★★ Hatyā-pinned-on-Pāṇḍuranga ★★★. ★★★ Hatyā-ghālīna-Pāṇḍurangā ★★★.