Abhanga 2978
Owning that your own carelessness, not bad luck, caused your struggles, and still asking honestly for guidance, keeps the door to help open.
The verse
सख्यत्वासी गेलों करीत सलगी । नेणें चि अभागी महिमा तुझा ॥१॥
पावलों आपुलें केलें लाहें रास । निर्दैवां परिस काय होय ॥ध्रु.॥
कष्टविलासी म्यां चांडाळें संसारीं । अद्यापिवरि तरि उपदेशीं ॥२॥
उचित अनुचित सांभाळिलें नाहीं । कान्हा म्हणे कांहीं बोलों आतां ॥३॥
Literal translation
Sakhyatvāsī gelōm karīta salagī — (I) went forsakhyatva(friendship), makingsalagī(familiarity); neṇe chi abhāgī mahimā tujhā — abhāgī (that I am), did not know yourmahimā(greatness). Pāvalōm āpule kele lāhe rāsa — (I) have attained what (I myself) brought-about; nirdaivām parisa kāya hōya — for thenirdaiva(without-good-fortune), what (good) is thepāris(philosopher's-stone)? Kaṣṭavilāsī myām chāṇḍāḷe samsārī — I havekaṣṭavilā(caused-trouble) (to) you,chāṇḍāḷa-as-I-am, insamsāra; adyāpiparī tarī upadeśī — yet even now, give (me)upadeśa. Kānhā mhaṇe — Kānhā says; uchita anuchita sāmbhāḷile nāhī — kāmhī bōlōm ātām — (I have) not kept theuchitaoranuchita— let me speak something now.
What it means
A 3-verse lament-verse signed by Kānhā (Kānhōbā, Tukārām's-younger-brother). This is NOT a Tukārām-composition — it is part of the Kānhōbā-lament-cluster (2977-2987) addressed to-Viṭṭhal after-the-departure-of-Tukārām.
The historical-context: Traditional Tukārām hagiography says Tukārām was taken-bodily-to-Vaikuṇṭha by-Viṣṇu's pushpaka-vimāna in 1650 from-Bhandārā-hill-near-Dehu. The brother Kānhōbā witnessed-the-event and-composed-laments. These abhangs (2977-2987 in the Sakal Sant Gatha) preserve those-laments.
Verse 1: Sakhyatvāsī gelōm karīta salagī — neṇe chi abhāgī mahimā tujhā — I went-for-friendship making-familiarity — abhāgī, didn't-know-your-mahimā. Kānhōbā addresses Viṭṭhal: I approached you familiarly without-recognizing-your-mahimā — perhaps a-confession-of-arrogance or-naivete.
Dhrūpada: Pāvalōm āpule kele lāhe rāsa — nirdaivām parisa kāya hōya — got what I brought-about — what good is pāris for the unfortunate? Even-the-philosopher's-stone is useless for-the-truly-unfortunate.
Verse 2: Kaṣṭavilāsī myām chāṇḍāḷe samsārī — adyāpiparī tarī upadeśī — I have troubled you, chāṇḍāḷa-as-I-am — yet even now, give upadeśa. The plea.
Close: Kānhā mhaṇe — uchita anuchita sāmbhāḷile nāhī — kāmhī bōlōm ātām — Kānhā says: (I have) not kept the uchita or anuchita — let me speak something now. The brother's-honest-confession of speaking-without-care-for-propriety.
For someone today
Kanha, Tukaram's brother, admits he treated his closeness with God too casually, like an ordinary friendship, without truly grasping God's greatness. He owns that the hardship which followed was the direct result of his own carelessness, not bad luck, because even the most precious gift is wasted on someone who does not value it. Still, instead of giving up, he asks for guidance now, admitting plainly that he has not always spoken with care for what was fitting or unfitting. His example shows that honestly naming your own carelessness, and speaking up anyway, keeps the door to guidance open.
मराठी: तुकारामांचे बंधू कान्हा कबूल करतात की त्यांनी देवाशी असलेली जवळीक अगदी सामान्य मैत्रीसारखी हलकेपणाने घेतली, देवाचा खरा मोठेपणा न समजता. त्यांनी हे मान्य केले की त्यानंतर आलेले कष्ट हे दुर्दैवामुळे नव्हे तर स्वतःच्या हलगर्जीपणामुळेच आले, कारण सर्वात मौल्यवान गोष्टसुद्धा जो तिची किंमत ओळखत नाही त्याच्यासाठी वाया जाते. तरीही ते हार मानत नाहीत, आणि आताही उपदेश मागतात, हे स्पष्टपणे कबूल करून की त्यांनी नेहमीच योग्य-अयोग्याचे भान ठेवून बोलले नाही. त्यांचे उदाहरण दाखवते की स्वतःचा हलगर्जीपणा प्रामाणिकपणे मान्य करणे आणि तरीही मोकळेपणाने बोलत राहणे, हेच मार्गदर्शनाचे दार उघडे ठेवते.
Where this applies
- Part of Kānhōbā-(Tukārām's-brother)-lament-cluster (2977-2987)
- NON-Tukārām composition — signed by Kānhā
- Recognizing abhāgī-didn't-know-your-mahimā lament
- Historical evidence for Kānhōbā as poet-bhakta in Tukārām's tradition