Abhanga 2710
Is this the gift of our service — to see the suffering of difficulty? Preserve your vow-of-honor — why have you become like Kali-age? I have seen this calmness — refuge-takers in the enemy's hand. Tukā: I wish for meeting — the feet have turned upside-down toward my belly.
The verse
हें का आम्हां सेवादान । देखों सीण विषमाचा ॥१॥
सांभाळा जी ब्रीदावळी । तुम्हीं कां कळीसारिखे ॥ध्रु.॥
शरणागत वैर्या हातीं । हे निश्चिंती देखिली ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे इच्छीं भेटी । पाय पोटीं उफराटे ॥३॥
Literal translation
Is this the sēvā-dāna (gift-of-service) for us — to dekhō sīṇa viṣamāñcā (see the suffering of difficulty)? Sāmbhāḷā jī brīdāvaḷī — preserve your vow-of-honor; tumhī kām kaḷī-sārikhē — why have you become like the Kali (the dark age)? The śaraṇāgata (refuge-takers) in the vairyāñcyā hātīm (enemies' hands) — I have seen this niścintī (calmness, unconcern). Tukā says: I wish for meeting — the pāya pōṭīm upharāṭē (the feet are upside-down in my belly).
What it means
A candid-protest verse. Hē kā āmhām sēvā-dāna — dekhōm sīṇa viṣamāñcā — is this the gift-of-our-service — to see the suffering of difficulty? The bhakta asks: I have done service; is this what I get in return — to watch the difficult suffering of others (and my own)? The question is sharp.
The dhrūpada delivers the strongest line: sāmbhāḷā jī brīdāvaḷī — tumhī kām kaḷī-sārikhē — preserve your vow-of-honor — why have you become like the Kali (age)? Brīdāvaḷī — the banner-of-vow, the promised-honor. Kaḷī-sārikhē — like Kali — i.e., behaving like the Dark-Age itself rather than as its-conqueror. This is a strong accusation. The Lord's reputation is supposed to be Kali-haraṇa (Kali-remover); Tukārām says: you have become like Kali yourself.
The second verse names the observation: śaraṇāgata vairyāñcyā hātīm — hē niścintī dekhilī — I have seen this calmness: refuge-takers in the enemies' hands. The niścintī (unworried-calmness) of the protector while his śaraṇāgatas are in the enemies' hands — this is what Tukārām is naming. The accusation is precise.
The close gives a peculiar image: icchīm bhēṭī — pāya pōṭīm upharāṭē — I wish for meeting — the feet are upside-down in my belly. The pāya-pōṭīm-upharāṭē image is unusual. Pāya-pōṭīm — feet in the belly; upharāṭē — upside-down. The internal-overturning that the bhakta is experiencing: the desire-for-meeting is so intense that feet are upside-down in my belly — an inverted, twisting, knot-of-longing inside.
For someone today
The verse offers the language for the strongest candid protest. Is this the gift of our service? Preserve your vow of honor; why have you become like the dark age itself? I have seen the calmness of those who take refuge being in enemies' hands. I wish for the meeting — there is an inverted knot of longing inside. The bhakti relationship is strong enough to hold this accusation. The kaḷī-sārikhē (you have become like Kali) line is among Tukārām's boldest — addressed to the very Lord whose name is Kali-haraṇa. The reversal is rhetorical force, not abandonment of relationship.
मराठी: हा अभंग सर्वात धीट तक्रारीची भाषा देतो. आमची सेवा हीच का मिळणारी भेट आहे? आपला मान-वचन सांभाळा; तुम्हीच कलियुगासारखे का झालात? शरण आलेले वैऱ्यांच्या हातात असताना मी हे निवांतपण, ही बेफिकिरी पाहिली आहे. मला भेटीची ओढ आहे — आतमध्ये तळमळीची उलटी गाठ बसली आहे. ही भक्तीची नाती इतकी घट्ट आहे की ती हा आरोप पेलू शकते. 'कळी-सारिखे' (तू कलीसारखा झालास) ही ओळ तुकारामांच्या सर्वात धाडसी ओळींपैकी एक आहे — ज्या परमेश्वराचे नावच 'कलिहरण' आहे त्यालाच उद्देशून. हा उलटफेर म्हणजे नाते तोडणे नव्हे, तर बोलण्यातला जोर आहे.
Where this applies
- When you feel let down by God, a leader, or an institution that was supposed to protect you
- When you need to voice anger or protest honestly instead of suppressing it out of piety or politeness
- When you witness people who trusted someone suffering while that person seems unbothered
- When intense longing for closeness coexists with real anger at being let down