Abhanga 2977
Grief for a lost loved one is honest and human even for the devoted, and asking why they left and longing for one more meeting is a real cry, not a failure of faith.
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 byduḥkha; gahivare kaṇṭha dāṭatāhe — (my) throat is choked withgahivara(sobs). Aise kāya kele Sumitrā sakhayā — what have you done,Sumitrā sakhayā(dear-Sumitrā, friend); dile ṭākōnīyām vanāmāji — leaving (us) invana-māji(in the forest, desolate-place)? Ākrandatī bāḷe karuṇā-vachanī — (the)bāḷe(children) cry withkaruṇā-vachana(piteous-words); tyā śōke medinī fuṭōm pāhe — by thatśoka(grief), themedinī(earth) is wanting to burst. Kāya he sāmarthya navhate tuja-pāśī — was this not thesāmarthya(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 — inubhaya-lōka(both-worlds), Tukā (is) without you. Kānhā mhaṇe tujhyā viyōge pōraṭīm — Kānhāsays: by yourviyoga(separation), (we) have becomepōraṭīm(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
This is a rare, personal lament — one of the few places in the corpus where Tukārām names actual grieving relatives. My heart is torn in two by grief, he says, and my throat is choked with sobs. What have you done, dear Sumitrā, leaving us behind in the wilderness? The children cry out with piteous words, and the earth itself seems ready to split open from that grief. Didn't you have the power to take us, your own kin, along with you? You know we have no other friend — in both this world and the next, Tukā is without you. And Kānhā adds: because you're gone, we've become like orphans — brother, please, just give us one more meeting. The verse records real personal grief at the loss of someone loved, and its ache reaches into both worlds — this life and the next feel equally empty without the one who is gone. The grief itself is universal, but naming the relatives makes it sharply specific.
मराठी: हा एक दुर्मीळ, वैयक्तिक शोकगीत आहे — तुकारामांच्या अभंगांमध्ये क्वचितच आढळणारे, जिथे प्रत्यक्ष नातलगांची नावे येतात. माझे हृदय दुःखाने दुभंगले आहे, ते म्हणतात, आणि गहिवराने कंठ दाटून येतो आहे. सुमित्रा सख्या, हे तू काय केलेस — आम्हाला रानात टाकून गेलास? मुले करुण शब्दांत आक्रंदत आहेत, आणि त्या शोकाने पृथ्वीही फुटावी असे वाटते आहे. तुझ्याजवळ आम्हा नातलगांना सोबत नेण्याचे सामर्थ्य नव्हते का? तुला ठाऊक आहे, आम्हाला दुसरा कोणी सखा नाही — दोन्ही लोकांत, तुझ्याविना तुका एकटाच आहे. आणि कान्हा म्हणतो — तुझ्या वियोगाने आम्ही पोरके झालो आहोत — बंधुराया, एकदा तरी भेट दे. हा अभंग एका प्रिय व्यक्तीच्या (सुमित्राच्या) मृत्यूनंतरचे खरेखुरे दुःख नोंदवतो, आणि त्याची वेदना दोन्ही जगांत — इहलोक आणि परलोक दोन्हींत — सारखीच पोकळी निर्माण करते. दुःख सार्वत्रिक आहे, पण नातलगांची नावे त्याला अधिक ठोस बनवतात.
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