Abhanga 2842
When the one who should protect you seems to be the source of your pain, you can protest that directly, because every thread of your life is still held in God's hand.
The verse
माता कापी गळा । तेथें कोण राखी बाळा ॥१॥
हें कां नेणां नारायणा । मज चाळवितां दिना ॥ध्रु.॥
नागवी धावणें । तेथें साह्य व्हावें कोणें ॥२॥
राजा सर्व हरी । तेथें दुजा कोण वारी ॥३॥
तुझ्या केल्याविण । नव्हे स्थिर वश जन ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे हरी । सूत्र तुम्हां हातीं दोरी ॥५॥
Literal translation
Mātā kāpī gaḷā — (if) the mother cuts the throat; tēthē kōṇa rākhī bāḷā — there, who saves the baby? He kām neṇām Nārāyaṇā — don't you know this, Nārāyaṇa?; maja chāḷavitām dīnā — (you who are)chāḷavitā(deceiving, playing-with) (this)dīna(helpless one). Nāgavī dhāvaṇē — (in)nāgavī(naked)dhāvaṇē(stalking, pursuing — used forrobber-stalkingorpredator-chasing); tēthē sāhya hvāve kōṇe — there, who must be thesāhya(helper)? Rājā sarva harī — (when) the king is thesarva-harī(all-taker, all-confiscator); tēthē dujā kōṇa vārī — there, who else canvārī(prevent)? Tujhyā kelyāviṇa — without your doing; navhe sthira vaśa jana — the people (world) is notsthira(stable, fixed) orvaśa(under-control). Tukā says: Harī — (O) Hari; sūtra tumhām hāti dōrī — thesūtra(thread) of thedōrī(rope, controlling-cord) is in your hand.
What it means
A 5-verse extreme-abandonment canonical-petition verse. The verse uses three impossibility-images to make the same point: when the protector-himself is the threatener, who-can-save-the-victim?
Image 1: mātā kāpī gaḷā — tēthē kōṇa rākhī bāḷā — (if) the mother cuts the throat — who saves the baby? The most-extreme-impossibility — the mother is the universal-protector; if-the-mother-is-the-killer, no-one-can-save.
Image 2: nāgavī dhāvaṇē — tēthē sāhya hvāve kōṇe — naked-stalking — who must be the helper? Nāgavī dhāvaṇē — the stalker (robber, predator, naked-attack) is in-pursuit; who can be the helper?
Image 3: rājā sarva harī — tēthē dujā kōṇa vārī — (when) the king is the all-taker — who else can prevent? When the king-himself is the confiscator, no-one else can intervene. (Sarva-harī is a double-pun: the king-who-takes-everything AND the Sarva-Harī = Viṣṇu-who-takes-all.)
The diagnostic-application: he kām neṇām Nārāyaṇā — maja chāḷavitām dīnā — don't you know this, Nārāyaṇa — (you who are) playing-with (deceiving) this helpless-one. The protest: Nārāyaṇa — you-yourself are deceiving me — there is no other-protector.
The total-causal-claim: tujhyā kelyāviṇa — navhe sthira vaśa jana — without your doing — the people/world is not stable or controllable. The Lord-is-the-total-causer.
The close: Tukā mhaṇe Harī — sūtra tumhām hāti dōrī — Hari — the thread of the rope is in your hand. The puppet-image: the entire creation is on a string; the string is in your hand. The bhakta is helpless-because-the-string-is-in-the-Lord's-hand.
For someone today
This is a raw prayer of extreme helplessness. Tuka pictures three impossible situations: if a mother herself cuts her child's throat, who is left to save the baby? If someone is being hunted down naked and defenseless, who can help? If the king himself is the one seizing everything, who else can stop him? Then he turns and asks Narayana directly — don't you see that you are the one toying with me, helpless as I am? And yet, he admits, nothing in this world holds together or comes under control except by your doing. So even though you seem to be the cause of my suffering, you are also the only one I can turn to, because the whole thread of my life is held in your hand.
मराठी: ही एक अत्यंत हतबलतेतून उमटलेली प्रार्थना आहे. तुकाराम महाराज तीन अशक्यप्राय चित्रे उभी करतात — आईनेच जर मुलाचा गळा कापला, तर बाळाला कोण वाचवणार? कोणी नागडे, असहाय होऊन पळत असेल, तर त्याला मदत कोण करणार? राजाच जर सर्वस्व हिरावून घेत असेल, तर त्याला रोखणार कोण? मग ते नारायणाला थेट विचारतात — तूच माझी अशी परवड करत आहेस हे तुला कळत नाही का? आणि तरीही ते कबूल करतात की तुझ्याविना या जगात काहीच स्थिर वा नियंत्रणात राहत नाही. माझ्या दुःखाचे कारण तूच असलास, तरी माझा एकमेव आधारही तूच आहेस — कारण माझ्या आयुष्याचा प्रत्येक धागा तुझ्याच हातात आहे.
Where this applies
- When you feel that the very person or situation meant to protect you is what is hurting you
- When you want to voice raw anger or protest to God about your suffering
- When you feel utterly powerless with no one else left to turn to
- When you are struggling to reconcile trusting God with feeling abandoned by God