Abhanga 2814
Kā re mājhīm pōre mhaṇasīla ḍhōre — why (do you) call (them) mājhīm pōre (mine — children)?
The verse
कां रे माझीं पोरें म्हणसील ढोरें । मायबाप खरें काय एक ॥१॥
कां रे गेलें म्हणोनि करिसी तळमळ । मिथ्याचि कोल्हाळ मेलियाचा ॥ध्रु.॥
कां रे माझें माझें म्हणसील गोत । नो संडविती दूत यमा हातीं ॥२॥
कां रे मी बळिया म्हणविसी ऐसा । सरणापाशीं कैसा उचलविसी ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे न धरीं भरवसा कांहीं । वेगीं शरण जाई पांडुरंगा ॥४ ॥
Literal translation
Kā re mājhīm pōre mhaṇasīla ḍhōre — why (do you) call (them) mājhīm pōre (mine — children)? — they are ḍhōre (cattle, beasts); māyabāpa khare kāya eka — mother-father — truly are they one (i.e., really-yours-alone)? Kā re gele mhaṇōni karisi taḷamaḷa — why do you do taḷamaḷa (writhing-grief) because (someone) has gone (died); mithyā chi kōlhāḷa meliyāñcā — the kōlhāḷa (uproar, lamentation) of the dead is mithyā (false). Kā re mājhe mājhe mhaṇasīla gota — why call (them) mājhe mājhe gota (mine, mine, kin)?; nō saṇḍavitī dūta Yamā hātīm — the dūta (messengers) will not save (you) from Yama's hand. Kā re mī baḷiyā mhaṇavisi aisā — why call yourself baḷiyā (strong, mighty) like this?; saraṇāpāśīm kaise uchalavisi — at the saraṇa (funeral-pyre, cremation), how will you be lifted (uchalavisi = be raised, carried)? Tukā says: na dharīm bharavasā kāmhī — vegī śaraṇa jāī Pāṇḍurangā — don't trust anything; swiftly take refuge in Pāṇḍuranga.
What it means
A hard mortality-warning verse — sharper than 2797 and 2802. Four kā re (why-do-you) questions strip away false-comforts.
1. The children-question: kā re mājhīm pōre mhaṇasīla ḍhōre — māyabāpa khare kāya eka — why call them mine — children? They are ḍhōre (cattle, beasts). Mother-father — really one (just yours)? The provocative-claim: those you call "my children" are ḍhōre (cattle, beasts) — and the mother-father (parents) are not exclusively one (yours). The harshness is intentional: stripping the mine-only claim.
2. The lamentation-question: kā re gele mhaṇōni karisi taḷamaḷa — mithyā chi kōlhāḷa meliyāñcā — why do writhing-grief because someone has died? — the uproar-of-the-dead is mithyā (false). The lamentation-for-the-dead is mithyā kōlhāḷa (false-uproar). Not because grief isn't real — but because the lamenting-of-the-survivor doesn't help the dead one; it's a kōlhāḷa (noisy-show).
3. The kin-question: kā re mājhe mājhe gota — nō saṇḍavitī dūta Yamā hātīm — why call them my-my-kin? The messengers won't save (you) from Yama's hand. The kin-can't-rescue-at-Yama claim (compare 2797).
4. The strong-self-question: kā re mī baḷiyā mhaṇavisi aisā — saraṇāpāśīm kaise uchalavisi — why call yourself strong like this? — at the funeral-pyre, how will you-yourself be lifted? The piercing-image: the same body that today-walks-strong, at the funeral-pyre cannot lift-itself — it is lifted by-others. The strength is provisional.
The close: na dharīm bharavasā kāmhī — vegī śaraṇa jāī Pāṇḍurangā — don't trust anything — swiftly take refuge in Pāṇḍuranga.
For someone today
A hard-mortality-warning. Why call them mine, children? They're cattle. Are mother-father really one (just yours)? Why writhe-with-grief for the dead — it's false-uproar. Why call them my-my-kin? Yama's messengers won't be stopped. Why call yourself strong? At the funeral-pyre, how will you-yourself be lifted? Don't trust anything — swiftly take Pāṇḍuranga-refuge. The verse is unsparingly-hard — much sharper than 2797's or 2802's mortality-warnings. The children-as-cattle line is shocking; the parents-not-only-yours is unsettling; the grief-as-uproar is unsentimental; the funeral-pyre-can't-lift-yourself is piercing. All four strip false-comforts that we usually-cling-to.
Where this applies
- Hard-mortality-warning that strips false-comforts
- Recognizing the children-are-not-really-yours-only; kin-won't-save-at-Yama's-hand claims
- The at-the-funeral-how-will-you-be-lifted sobering image
- Don't-trust-anything — swiftly take Pāṇḍuranga-refuge