Abhanga 2977
Duḥkhe dubhāgale hrdaya-sampuṣṭa — (my) hrdaya-sampuṭa (heart-casket) is torn-in-two by duḥkha; gahivare kaṇṭha dāṭatāhe — (my) throat is choked with gahivara (sobs).
The verse
दुःखें दुभागलें हृदयसंपुष्ट । गहिंवरें कंठ दाटताहे ॥१॥
ऐसें काय केलें सुमित्रा सखया । दिलें टाकोनियां वनामाजी ॥ध्रु.॥
आक्रंदती बाळें करुणावचनीं । त्या शोकें मेदिनी फुटों पाहे ॥२॥
काय हे सामर्थ्य नव्हतें तुजपाशीं । संगें न्यावयासी अंगभूतां ॥३॥
तुज ठावें आम्हां कोणी नाहीं सखा । उभयलोकीं तुका तुजविण ॥४॥
कान्हा म्हणे तुझ्या वियोगें पोरटीं । जालों दे रे भेटी बंधुराया ॥५॥
Literal translation
Duḥkhe dubhāgale hrdaya-sampuṣṭa — (my) hrdaya-sampuṭa (heart-casket) is torn-in-two by duḥkha; gahivare kaṇṭha dāṭatāhe — (my) throat is choked with gahivara (sobs). Aise kāya kele Sumitrā sakhayā — what have you done, Sumitrā sakhayā (dear-Sumitrā, friend); dile ṭākōnīyām vanāmāji — leaving (us) in vana-māji (in the forest, desolate-place)? Ākrandatī bāḷe karuṇā-vachanī — (the) bāḷe (children) cry with karuṇā-vachana (piteous-words); tyā śōke medinī fuṭōm pāhe — by that śoka (grief), the medinī (earth) is wanting to burst. Kāya he sāmarthya navhate tuja-pāśī — was this not the sāmarthya (power) with you; sange nyāvayāsī anga-bhūtām — to take (us) along — (your) anga-bhūtām (kindred, body-companions)? Tuja ṭhāve āmhām kōṇī nāhī sakhā — you know — for us, there is no (other) sakhā; ubhaya-lōkī Tukā tuja-viṇa — in ubhaya-lōka (both-worlds), Tukā (is) without you. Kānhā mhaṇe tujhyā viyōge pōraṭīm — Kānhā says: by your viyoga (separation), (we) have become pōraṭīm (orphans); jālōm de re bhēṭī bandhu-rāyā — give (us) bhēṭī (meeting), bandhu-rāyā (brother-king).
What it means
A striking 5-verse biographical-lament verse. This is one of the rare-biographical-content verses in the Tukārām corpus — naming-a-departed-relative Sumitrā and-including-the-voice-of Kānhā (likely-younger-brother) at-the-close.
The narrative-context: This appears-to-be a lament for an elder-relative-named-Sumitrā who-has-departed (died-or-renounced-the-world). The speakers are Tukā and Kānhā (both name themselves in the verse), both grieving the loss-of-Sumitrā.
Verse 1: Duḥkhe dubhāgale hrdaya-sampuṣṭa — gahivare kaṇṭha dāṭatāhe — heart-casket torn-in-two by grief — throat choked with sobs. The opening grief-image.
Dhrūpada: Aise kāya kele Sumitrā sakhayā — dile ṭākōnīyām vanāmāji — what have you done, Sumitrā-sakhayā — leaving (us) in vana. The direct-address to-the-departed.
Verse 2: Ākrandatī bāḷe karuṇā-vachanī — tyā śōke medinī fuṭōm pāhe — children cry piteous-words — earth wants to burst with grief. The cosmic-grief-image.
Verse 3: Kāya he sāmarthya navhate tuja-pāśī — sange nyāvayāsī anga-bhūtām — was this not the power with you — to take (us) along kindred? The complaint: why-didn't-you-take-us-with-you?
Verse 4: Tuja ṭhāve āmhām kōṇī nāhī sakhā — ubhaya-lōkī Tukā tuja-viṇa — you know — we have no other sakhā — in both-worlds, Tukā without you. The Tukā-voice declares: no-other-friend in-both-worlds.
Close (Kānhā-voice): Kānhā mhaṇe tujhyā viyōge pōraṭīm — jālōm de re bhēṭī bandhu-rāyā — Kānhā says: by your separation (we) have become orphans — give meeting, brother-king. The Kānhā-voice closes the lament.
Historical-significance: This text is striking because it preserves named-relatives (Sumitrā, Kānhā) and direct-personal-grief — content rarely-found in the abhang-corpus. It may correspond to specific-biographical-events in Tukārām's-family-history.
For someone today
A rare biographical-lament. (My) heart torn-in-two by grief — throat choked with sobs. What have you done, dear-Sumitrā — leaving (us) in (the) forest? Children cry piteous-words — earth wants-to-burst with grief. Was this not the power with you — to take (us) along, (your) kindred? You know — for us, no other friend — in both-worlds, Tukā without you. Kānhā says: by your separation, (we) have become orphans — give meeting, brother-king. The verse documents-personal-grief at the loss-of-a-loved-one (Sumitrā). The bhakta's-double-loss: both-this-world-and-the-other-world-Tukā-is-without-the-departed. The voice of grief is universal; the named-relatives make it specific.
Where this applies
- Striking biographical-lament for a departed-elder (Sumitrā / Tukārām's brother or relative)
- Tukārām + Kānhā (younger-brother?) lamenting
- Rare biographical-content with named-relatives
- Earth-wants-to-burst-with-grief image — cosmic-grief