Abhanga 2688
A useful pressure-petition for when no answer has come and your own standing is at stake. Run quickly, or accept my prostration; your reputation is going; we are becoming low-honored; don't hold patience — run, don't walk steadily; my voice is shamed in the company of the qualified-ones. The argument-structure is: my hīnatā reflects on your baḍivāra. This is permitted in genuine-relationship: pointing out to the protector that the bhakta's-shame is also the protector's-issue. The half-playful tone keeps the relationship intact while the substance is real.
The verse
धांवा शीघ्रवत । किंवा घ्यावें दंडवत ॥१॥
तुमचा जातो बडिवार । आम्हीं होतों हीनवर ॥ध्रु.॥
न धरावा धीर । धांवा नका चालों स्थिर ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे वाणी । माझी लाजली जी गुणीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Run śīghravat (quickly) — or take (i.e., accept) my daṇḍavata (prostration). Your baḍivāra (reputation, banner-of-pride) is going; we are becoming hīnavara (low-honored, of-low-position). Don't hold patience — run, don't walk sthira (steadily, calmly). Tukā says: my vāṇī (voice) is lājalī (shamed) in the guṇī (company of the qualified-ones).
What it means
A short half-playful pressure-prayer. Dhāmvā śīghravat — kimvā ghyāvē daṇḍavata — run quickly — or take my prostration. The two-option petition: either run, or at least accept the daṇḍavata I am making. The bhakta will not be ignored.
The dhrūpada applies the reputational-pressure: tumchā jātō baḍivāra — āmhī hōtōm hīnavara — your baḍivāra (banner of pride, reputation) is going; we are becoming hīnavara (low-honored). The argument: my low-standing reflects on your reputation. If I look hīna (low), it suggests your baḍivāra is going.
The second verse extends the pressure: na dharāvā dhīra — dhāmvā nakā chālōm sthira — don't hold patience — run, don't walk steadily. Sthira chālaṇē (walking steadily, calmly) — the protector's calm-walking is not what's needed; running is.
The close names the source of the embarrassment: mājhī vāṇī lājalī jī guṇīm — my voice is shamed in the company of the qualified-ones. Guṇī — those-with-qualifications — the formal religious-class. Tukārām is being shamed in their company; the Lord's not-running has put his vāṇī (voice, public-speaking-position) in lajjā (shame). This is the social-pressure that justifies the running-request.
For someone today
A useful pressure-petition for when no answer has come and your own standing is at stake. Run quickly, or accept my prostration; your reputation is going; we are becoming low-honored; don't hold patience — run, don't walk steadily; my voice is shamed in the company of the qualified-ones. The argument-structure is: my hīnatā reflects on your baḍivāra. This is permitted in genuine-relationship: pointing out to the protector that the bhakta's-shame is also the protector's-issue. The half-playful tone keeps the relationship intact while the substance is real.
Where this applies
- Half-playful pressure-prayer when the protector seems to walk-too-slowly
- The argument: my low-standing reflects on your reputation
- Don't walk steady — run — the urgency-petition
- Recognizing the guṇī-company shame as legitimate-pressure