Abhanga 2751
The verse offers a model for proposing private-resolution when the matter has become unspeakable in public. What to do now — this can't be spoken-publicly. It is not in either party's hands alone. Let us tie the knot in private. When the work is done, we'll drop modesty-and-shame. First let us resolve this tangle. The verse pairs with 2748-2749 (public-protest, sant-arbitration) but goes the other direction: some matters require private-ekānta resolution. The bhakti-relationship permits both modes — public-protest and private-arbitration — depending on the situation's nayese status.
The verse
काय करावें तें आतां । जालें नयेसें बोलतां ॥१॥
नाहीं दोघांचिये हातीं । गांठी घालावी एकांतीं ॥ध्रु.॥
होय आपुलें काज । तों हे भीड सांडूं लाज ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे देवा । आधीं निवडूं हा गोवा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Kāya karāve tē ātām — what to do now; jālē nayese bōlatām — (it) has become nayese (not-fitting-to-speak, unspeakable). Nāhī dōghāñciye hātīm — (it) is not in both (our) hands; gāṭhī ghālāvī ekāntīm — let us ghālāvī gāṭha (tie the knot, settle the deal) in ekānta (private). Hōya āpule kāja — (when) our work happens; tōm hē bhīḍa sāṇḍūm lāja — let us drop the bhīḍa (modesty) and lāja (shame). Tukā says: Devā — ādhīm nivaḍūm hā gōvā — Deva — first let us resolve this gōvā (tangle, entanglement).
What it means
A short private-arbitration verse. Kāya karāve tē ātām — jālē nayese bōlatām — what to do now — it has become unspeakable. The situation has reached nayese — not-fitting-to-speak publicly. Public-discourse is no longer the route.
The dhrūpada: nāhī dōghāñciye hātīm — gāṭhī ghālāvī ekāntīm — it is not in both (our) hands — let us tie the knot in private. Dōghāñciye hātīm — in the hands of both (parties) — neither party has it fully-in-hand alone. Therefore ghālāvī ekāntīm — let us tie (the knot) in private — let us settle this privately, just-between-us.
The second verse: hōya āpule kāja — tōm hē bhīḍa sāṇḍūm lāja — (when) our work happens — let us drop the modesty and shame. The conditional: once our work is done, modesty-and-shame can be dropped. The bhakta is willing to be unguarded once the resolution is reached.
The close: Devā — ādhīm nivaḍūm hā gōvā — Deva — first let us resolve this gōvā (tangle). Gōvā (entanglement, knot) — same word as 2624's tumchiyā gōvā darśanāsī — but here the gōvā is the problem-tangle, not the affectionate-entanglement. Ādhīm nivaḍūm — first let us resolve.
For someone today
The verse offers a model for proposing private-resolution when the matter has become unspeakable in public. What to do now — this can't be spoken-publicly. It is not in either party's hands alone. Let us tie the knot in private. When the work is done, we'll drop modesty-and-shame. First let us resolve this tangle. The verse pairs with 2748-2749 (public-protest, sant-arbitration) but goes the other direction: some matters require private-ekānta resolution. The bhakti-relationship permits both modes — public-protest and private-arbitration — depending on the situation's nayese status.
Where this applies
- The let's-go-aside-and-resolve-this-privately relational-decision
- Recognizing when situation has become unspeakable publicly
- The petition: first untangle this gōvā before anything-else
- The willingness: once-resolved, modesty-and-shame can be dropped