Abhanga 2748
A useful template for the protest prayer that calls out the silence. We are calling out — why have you gone mute? You don't speak; you are now known as one who takes no action. First let's go to public arbitration; then drop the burden of modesty. In the end — let us cause a break between us. The verse permits combative protest within the relationship. The threat of tuṭī (break) is not abandoning the relationship; it is a high-stakes warning within it. Compare 2710's line about why you have become like the Kali age — the same register of combative, relational protest.
The verse
आम्हीं देतों हाका । कां रे जालासी तूं मुका ॥१॥
न बोलसी नारायणा । कळलासी क्रियाहीना ॥ध्रु.॥
आधीं करूं चौघाचार। मग सांडूं भीडभार ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे सेवटीं । तुम्हां आम्हां घालूं तुटी ॥३॥
Literal translation
Āmhī dētōm hākā — we are giving (calling-out) hākā (calls); kā re jālāsī tūm mukā — why have you becomemukā(mute)? Na bōlasī Nārāyaṇā — you don't speak, Nārāyaṇa; kaḷalāsī kriyā-hīnā — you have been known askriyā-hīna(action-less). Ādhīm karūm chaughāchāra — first let us do thechaughāchāra(four-corners-investigation, public-arbitration); mag sāṇḍūm bhīḍa-bhāra — then drop thebhīḍa-bhāra(burden of modesty). Tukā says: sēvaṭīm — tumhām āmhām ghālūm tuṭī — in the end — between you and us, let usghālūm tuṭī(cause-a-break).
What it means
A combative protest-verse. Āmhī dētōm hākā — kā re jālāsī tūm mukā — we are calling out — why have you gone mute? The protest: the bhakta is calling; the Lord is silent. Kā re (hey, why) — the familiar-but-edgy tone of the protest.
The dhrūpada gives the implicit-accusation: na bōlasī Nārāyaṇā — kaḷalāsī kriyāhīnā — you don't speak, Nārāyaṇa — you have been known askriyā-hīna(action-less). The result of the silence: a public-reputation as kriyā-hīna (one-who-does-not-act). The bhakta is warning: your silence damages your reputation.
The second verse threatens public-arbitration: ādhīm karūm chaughāchāra — mag sāṇḍūm bhīḍa-bhāra — first let us do the chaughāchāra (four-corners-investigation, the public-arbitration before village-elders); then drop the bhīḍa-bhāra (burden of modesty/diffidence). Chaughāchāra — four-cornered-action — is the formal public-arbitration where village elders sit at the four corners of a square and adjudicate disputes. The bhakta proposes this for his case-with-the-Lord. Bhīḍa-bhāra — burden of modesty/embarrassment — would be dropped if the case reaches this stage.
The close: sēvaṭīm — tumhām āmhām ghālūm tuṭī — in the end — between you and us, let us cause a break. Tuṭī — break, breach, rupture. The bhakta threatens relational-rupture as the ultimate-consequence of continued silence.
For someone today
A useful template for the protest prayer that calls out the silence. We are calling out — why have you gone mute? You don't speak; you are now known as one who takes no action. First let's go to public arbitration; then drop the burden of modesty. In the end — let us cause a break between us. The verse permits combative protest within the relationship. The threat of tuṭī (break) is not abandoning the relationship; it is a high-stakes warning within it. Compare 2710's line about why you have become like the Kali age — the same register of combative, relational protest.
मराठी: 'मौन तोडून बोलावं' अशा तक्रारीच्या प्रार्थनेचा हा एक उपयुक्त नमुना आहे. आम्ही हाका मारतो आहोत — तू मुका का झालास? तू बोलत नाहीस; आता तुला निष्क्रिय म्हणून ओळखलं जाऊ लागलं आहे. आधी आपण जाहीर पंचायत करू; मग लाजलज्जेचा भार टाकून देऊ. शेवटी — आपल्यामध्ये एक तुटी घालू. हा अभंग नात्याच्या आतच लढाऊ तक्रार करण्याची मुभा देतो. 'तुटी'ची धमकी नातं तोडण्यासाठी नसून, त्याच्याच आतल्या एका मोठ्या धोक्याच्या इशाऱ्यासारखी आहे. 2710 मधल्या 'तू कलियुगासारखा का झालास' या ओळीशी याची तुलना करता येते — तीच लढाऊ, नातेसंबंधातली तक्रार.
Where this applies
- Call-out-the-Lord's-silence protest-prayer
- Threatening public-arbitration if private-petition isn't heard
- Dropping modesty-burden when relationship is at stake
- The high-stakes-warning of causing-a-break