Abhanga 2714
You came here on the strength of others' testimony, and now you simply ask to be treated the same way as those who came before you, with nothing else to fall back on if that trust breaks.
The verse
ऐकिली कीर्ति संतांच्या वदनीं । तरि हें ठाकोनि आलों स्थळ ॥१॥
मागिला पुढिला करावें सारिखें । पालटों पारिखें नये देवा ॥ध्रु.॥
आम्हासी विश्वास नामाचा आधार । तुटतां हे थार उरी नाहीं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे येथें नसावें चि दुजें । विनंती पंढरिराजें परिसावी हे ॥३॥
Literal translation
I heard the kīrti (fame, glory) in the sants' mouths — therefore I have arrived at this sthaḷa (place). Treat the māgila (previous) and puḍhila (future) alike — don't switch and pālaṭōm pārikhē (turn-and-become-alien), Deva. We have viśvāsa — the Name as our ādhāra (support); if it tuṭatām (breaks), no thāra (foothold) remains. Tukā says: let there not be a second (dujē) here; let vinatī (petition) be heard by Paṇḍharī-rāja.
What it means
A short consistency-and-trust verse. Aikilī kīrti santāñcyā vadanīm — tari hē ṭhākōnī ālōm sthaḷa — I heard the kīrti in the sants' mouths — therefore I have arrived at this place. The bhakta states the route by which he arrived: the sants' testimony brought me here. He didn't come on his own initiative; he came on the strength of others' testimony.
The dhrūpada: māgilā puḍhilā karāve sāriñke — pālaṭōm pārikhē nayē Devā — treat the previous and the future alike — don't switch and become alien, Deva. The petition: consistency between past-treatment-of-others and future-treatment-of-me. Pālaṭōm pārikhē — switch and become alien — would mean treating-me-differently than the sants reported. The bhakta asks the Lord not to make a special-exception against him.
The second verse names the structural-condition: āmhāsī viśvāsa nāmācā ādhāra — tuṭatām hē thāra urī nāhī — our trust — the Name-as-support; if it breaks, no foothold remains. The Name is the ādhāra (support); the thāra (foothold) depends on it. If the Name fails as support, there is no further foothold to fall-back-on.
The close: yēthē nasāve chi dujē — vinatī Paṇḍharī-rājē parisāvī hē — let there not be asecondhere; let the petition be heard by Paṇḍharī-rāja. Dujē — second-thing, alternative — let no alternative arise; let the petition be heard.
For someone today
A useful pattern of petition for anyone who came to a refuge on the strength of others' testimony. I heard your fame in the sants' mouths — that's why I came. Now treat me consistently with how you've treated the previous ones; don't switch and become alien. Our trust rests on the Name as our support; if that breaks, we have no foothold left. Let there be no alternative — listen to this petition. The verse names the structural condition of trust: the Name as the only ādhāra. The petition is for consistency, not for special favor.
मराठी: जे इतरांच्या साक्षीच्या बळावर एखाद्या आश्रयाकडे आले आहेत, त्यांच्यासाठी ही विनंतीची एक उपयुक्त पद्धत आहे. संतांच्या तोंडून तुझी कीर्ती ऐकली — म्हणून मी इथे आलो. आता आधीच्या भक्तांशी जसे वागलास तसेच माझ्याशीही वाग; बदलून परका होऊ नकोस. आमचा विश्वास नामाच्या आधारावर उभा आहे; तो तुटला तर आम्हाला कुठलाच आधार उरणार नाही. यात दुसरा पर्याय नसावा — ही विनंती ऐकून घे. हा अभंग विश्वासाची मूळ अट सांगतो: नाम हाच एकमेव आधार. ही विनंती खास कृपेची नाही, तर सातत्याची आहे.
Where this applies
- Coming to a refuge on the strength of others' testimony — and asking for consistency
- The Name-as-support — if it breaks, no foothold remains
- Petitioning that the protector not become alien by switching-treatment
- No-second-here — refusing alternative-resolutions