Abhanga 2871
Vāmjā gāī dubhatī — barren cows yield milk; Devā aisī tujhī khyāti — Deva, such is your khyāti (fame).
The verse
वांजा गाईं दुभती । देवा ऐसी तुझी ख्याति ॥१॥
ऐसें मागत नाहीं तुज । चरण दाखवावे मज ॥ध्रु.॥
चातक पाखरूं । त्यासी वर्षे मेघधारु ॥
पक्षी राजहंस । अमोलिक मोतीं त्यास॥३॥
तुका म्हणे देवा । कां गा खोचलासी जीवा ॥४॥
Literal translation
Vāmjā gāī dubhatī — barren cows yield milk; Devā aisī tujhī khyāti — Deva, such is your khyāti (fame). Aisē māgata nāhī tuja — I am not asking such (miracles) of you; charaṇa dākhāve maja — show (your) feet to me. Chātaka pākharūm — (as for) the chātaka-pakṣa (chātaka-bird); tyāsī varṣe megha-dhāru — for it, the megha-dhāru (rain-from-cloud) falls. Pakṣī rāja-hamsa — (as for) the rāja-hamsa (king-swan); amōlika mōtī tyāsa — for him, priceless mōtī (pearls). Tukā says: Devā — (O) Deva; kām gā khōchalāsī jīvā — why have (you) khōchalāsī (pricked, pinched) the jīvā?
What it means
A 4-verse paradox-fame petition. Vāmjā gāī dubhatī — Devā aisī tujhī khyāti — barren cows yield milk — such is your fame, Deva. The opening: the Lord is famous-for-impossible-miracles (a barren cow yielding milk).
Aisē māgata nāhī tuja — charaṇa dākhāve maja — I am not asking such miracles of you — (just) show (your) feet to me. The paradox-petition: I-don't-want-the-miracles; I just want the simple-charaṇa-darśana. (Compare 2871's emphasis: the bhakta wants relationship, not spectacle.)
The dhrūpada-image-pair: chātaka pākharūm — tyāsī varṣe megha-dhāru — (as for) the chātaka — the cloud-rain falls for it; pakṣī rāja-hamsa — amōlika mōtī tyāsa — (as for) the king-swan — priceless pearls for him. The Lord-provides-each-bird-with-its-natural-food: the chātaka, which only-drinks-rain-from-the-cloud, gets-the-rain; the rāja-hamsa, which feeds-only-on-pearls (in-poetic-tradition), gets-the-pearls. Each creature gets what-it-needs-naturally.
The close: Tukā mhaṇe Devā — kām gā khōchalāsī jīvā — Deva — why have you pricked the jīvā? The wound-protest: if every-creature gets-its-natural-food, why-have-you-pricked-my-jīva (denied-me-the-darśana)? The bhakta argues: the chātaka gets-rain, the hamsa-gets-pearls, the jīva needs-your-darśana — why are you not-giving it?
For someone today
A useful paradox-fame petition. Barren cows yield milk — Deva, such is your fame. I am not asking such (miracles) — show your feet to me. The chātaka — cloud-rain falls for it; the king-swan — priceless pearls for him. Deva — why have you pricked the jīvā? The verse permits direct petition with reasoned-protest: (1) you give each creature its natural-food; (2) the jīva's natural-food is your darśana; (3) why have you denied it? The chātaka-hamsa-image-pair is canonical in Marathi-bhakti for each-creature-has-its-divinely-supplied food.
Where this applies
- The canonical Deva's-miracle-fame vs. simple-request-show-feet petition
- Recognizing the chātaka-megha-dhārā and hamsa-mōtī canonical-image pair
- Why-have-you-pricked-the-jīvā? — the bhakta's wound-protest
- Each-creature-gets-its-natural-food claim applied to jīva-needs-darśana