Abhanga 2709
Even a false alarm can drain you, and it is honest to admit when the people who surrounded you in that crisis were your own close companions.
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 the aftermath of a false alarm. 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 theclose-companionswho 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).
मराठी: खोट्या धोक्यानंतरच्या अवस्थेसाठी हा अभंग शब्द देतो. काहीही खरे नसतानाही भीती दाखवली गेली — त्यामुळे जीव खंगला, शुष्क झाला. शेवटी लोकांच्या लक्षात आले की हा सगळा व्यर्थ गोंधळ होता. पण तोपर्यंत मला पुढून-मागून घेरले गेले होते; पाठलाग करणारे जवळ येऊन पोहोचले होते. आणि हे केले होते तेच जे जवळचे साथीदार होते. यातील प्रामाणिक कबुली अशी: कधीकधी साथीदारच शत्रूचे काम करतात. भक्ताला हे नाकारण्याची गरज नाही. 'हा व्यर्थ गोंधळ होता' ही जाणीव नंतर होते, पण तोपर्यंत खंगलेल्या, शुष्क झालेल्या जीवाने त्याची किंमत आधीच मोजलेली असते.
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