Abhanga 2749
A continuation of the combative protest-mode. Modesty is not the cause — folks know the method. The more you keep up worldly-appearance, the more you make me cry. Let's go before the sants — they decide cash-down. You are shameless — we have urgent need. The verse permits naming-the-mode: the Lord's keeping-up-appearance is itself the cause of the bhakta's tears. And it proposes sant-arbitration as the venue for forcing a cash-down resolution. The directness — you are shameless — is the kind of language the long-relationship permits.
The verse
नव्हे भिडा हें कारण । जाणे करूं ऐसे जन ॥१॥
जों जों धरावा लौकिक । रडवितोसी आणीक ॥ध्रु.॥
चाल जाऊं संतांपुढें । ते हें निवडिती रोकडें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे तूं निर्लज्ज । आम्हां रोकडी गरज ॥३॥
Literal translation
Navhē bhiḍā hē kāraṇa — thebhiḍā(modesty, hesitation) is not thekāraṇa(cause/reason); jāṇē karūm aisē jana — folks know how to do (this) thus. Jōm jōm dharāvā laukika — the morelaukika(worldly-appearance) you keep; raḍavitōsī āṇīka — the more you make (me) cry. Chāla jāūm santāmpuḍhē — let us go before the sants; tē hē nivaḍitī rōkaḍē — they will deciderōkaḍa(cash-down, immediate). Tukā says: tūm nirlajja — you arenirlajja(shameless); āmhām rōkaḍī garaja — we haverōkaḍī garaja(immediate need).
What it means
A combative arbitration-verse continuing 2748's protest. Navhē bhiḍā hē kāraṇa — jāṇē karūm aisē jana — modesty is not the cause — folks know how to do this thus. The bhakta dismisses bhiḍā (modesty, diffidence) as the operative-cause: people who know-the-method (to make demands on the Lord) do so without bhiḍā. The bhakta has crossed the modesty-line.
The dhrūpada delivers the sharpest line: jōm jōm dharāvā laukika — raḍavitōsī āṇīka — the more you keep uplaukika(worldly-appearance), the more you make me cry. The accusation: the Lord is maintaining laukika-appearance (the I'm-just-the-distant-Deva-figure mode) — and this is what makes the bhakta cry. The bhakta wants the non-laukika meeting.
The second verse proposes formal-arbitration: chāla jāūm santāmpuḍhē — tē hē nivaḍitī rōkaḍē — let us go before the sants — they will decide cash-down. The santāmpuḍhē (before the sants) court is named as the arbitration-venue. Rōkaḍa nivāḍa (cash-down decision) — same as 2703's rōkaḍā chi nivāḍa — no-deferral, immediate-settlement. The sants will not allow deferral.
The close: tūm nirlajja — āmhām rōkaḍī garaja — you arenirlajja(shameless) — we have therōkaḍī garaja(immediate need). The accusation-and-claim: the Lord is nirlajja (without-shame) in maintaining his distance; the bhakta has immediate-and-cash-down need. The asymmetry: shameless-distance vs urgent-need.
For someone today
A continuation of the combative protest-mode. Modesty is not the cause — folks know the method. The more you keep up worldly-appearance, the more you make me cry. Let's go before the sants — they decide cash-down. You are shameless — we have urgent need. The verse permits naming-the-mode: the Lord's keeping-up-appearance is itself the cause of the bhakta's tears. And it proposes sant-arbitration as the venue for forcing a cash-down resolution. The directness — you are shameless — is the kind of language the long-relationship permits.
Where this applies
- When you feel it would be disrespectful to demand something directly from God, and this verse argues otherwise
- When someone close to you acts distant and formal and that distance hurts more than actual absence would
- When you need a trusted community to arbitrate and force an immediate decision instead of endless delay
- When your need feels so urgent that continued politeness starts to feel like a luxury you cannot afford