Abhanga 2709
Without (the danger) being real, bhēva (fear) was dāunī (shown); the jīva was made himpuṭī (drained, shrunken).
The verse
नसता चि दाउनि भेव । केला जीव हिंपुटी ॥१॥
जालों तेव्हां कळलें जना । वाउगा हा आकांत ॥ध्रु.॥
गंवसिलों पुढें मागें लागलागे पावला ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे केली आणि । सलगीच्यांनी सन्मुख ॥३॥
Literal translation
Without (the danger) being real, bhēva (fear) was dāunī (shown); the jīva was made himpuṭī (drained, shrunken). When it became (was known), people kaḷalē (understood) — this was vāūgā ākānta (futile-uproar). I was gamvasilōm (encircled) in front, behind — those running-after (lāgalāgē) caught up. Tukā says: it was done facing-me by salagī-cyāñcēm (those-who-were-companions, the close-ones).
What it means
A short false-alarm aftermath verse. Nasatā chi dāunī bhēva — kelā jīva himpuṭī — without (anything) being real, fear was shown — the jīva was made drained-shrunken. The phenomenon named: a false-show of fear that nonetheless drains the jīva. The danger wasn't real; the drain was.
The dhrūpada: jālōm tēvhām kaḷalē janā — vāūgā hā ākānta — when it became (clear), people understood — this was a futile-uproar. Ākānta (uproar, panic-noise) — eventually-recognized as vāūgā (futile, baseless). The recognition comes after the cost has already been borne.
The second verse: gamvasilōm puḍhē māgē — lāgalāgē pāvalā — I was encircled front-and-back; those running-after caught up. The geometric-image: encircled from front and back, with pursuers closing the distance. The bhakta was caught in a complete circle.
The close names who did the encircling: kelī āṇi — salagī-cyāñcēm sanmukha — it was done facing-me, by those who were close-companions. Salagī — close-association, intimacy. The salagī-of-companions turned against the bhakta. This is one of Tukārām's quiet acknowledgments of social-betrayal — the close-ones doing the encircling.
For someone today
The verse offers the language for after-a-false-alarm aftermath. Without anything being real, fear was shown — the jīva was drained. Eventually people understood it was a futile-uproar. But I had been encircled front-and-back; the pursuers caught up. And it was the close-companions who did it. The honest-acknowledgment: companions sometimes do the work of enemies. The bhakta does not have to pretend otherwise. The vāūgā ākānta recognition comes after, but the cost has already been borne by the himpuṭī jīva (drained-shrunken life-force).
Where this applies
- After-the-fact recognition that fear was not real, but jīva paid the cost
- Recognizing when companions sometimes do the work of enemies
- The honest vāūgā ākānta (futile-uproar) post-mortem
- The somatic image of jīva-himpuṭī (jīva drained-shrunken) by false-fear