Abhanga 2979
Public grief may draw sympathy, but only the Divine truly answers it, since people pity you without actually helping.
The verse
असो आतां कांहीं करोनियां ग्लांती । कोणा काकुलती येइल येथें ॥१॥
करूं कांहीं दिस राहे तों सायास । झोंबों त्या लागास भावाचिये ॥ध्रु.॥
करितां रोदना बापुडें म्हणती । परि नये अंतीं कामा कोणी ॥२॥
तुकयाबंधु म्हणे पडिलिया वनीं । विचार तो मनीं बोलिला हे ॥३॥
Literal translation
Asō ātām kāmhī karōnīyām glāntī — let-it-be now — making someglāntī(lament, exhausted-noise); kōṇā kākulatī yeīla yethe — maybe someone will comekākulatī(moved-to-pity) here. Karūm kāmhī disa rāhe tōm sāyāsa — doing somesāyāsa(effort) while-staying-for-some-days; jhōmbōm tyā lāgāsa bhāvāñcīye — pulling-at thelāga(rope) ofbhāva(= the bhāva-string, orbhāvā= the brother). Karitām rodanā bāpuḍe mhaṇatī — doingrodana(crying), (people) call-(me)bāpuḍe(pitiable); pari nye antī kāmā kōṇī — but at theanta(end), no-one iskāmā(of-use). Tukyā-bandhu mhaṇe — Tukārām's-brother says; paḍiliyā vanī — vichāra tō manī bōlilā he — fallen-in (the)vana, this is thevichāraspoken-in-mind.
What it means
A 3-verse lament-verse signed by Tukyā-bandhu (Tukārām's-brother, Kānhōbā). Part of the lament-cluster (2977-2987) addressed to-Viṭṭhal after-the-departure-of-Tukārām.
The strategic-decision: let me make-glāntī (lament-noise); maybe-someone-will-be-moved. The brother chooses-to-lament-publicly hoping-to-attract-Viṭṭhal's-attention-or-help.
Karūm kāmhī disa rāhe tōm sāyāsa — jhōmbōm tyā lāgāsa bhāvāñcīye — doing some effort while-staying-some-days — pulling-at the bhāva-string (or: the brother's-rope). The double-sense: pulling-at the-bhāva-string-of-the-Lord, AND pulling-at-(my-brother)-Bhāvā (or bhāvā = brother, meaning Tukārām). The brother strategically-pulls-Viṭṭhal's-bhāva to-return-the-departed-brother.
Karitām rodanā bāpuḍe mhaṇatī — pari nye antī kāmā kōṇī — doing crying, (people) call-(me) pitiable — but at end, no-one helps. The honest-recognition: people-pity-the-public-griever but-don't-help.
Close: Tukyā-bandhu mhaṇe paḍiliyā vanī — vichāra tō manī bōlilā he — Tukārām's-brother says: fallen-in-vana, this is the vichāra spoken-in-mind. The brother declares-his-strategic-vichāra (consideration) — he-will-publicly-lament until-Viṭṭhal-responds.
For someone today
This is a lament by Kānhōbā, Tukārām's brother, part of a cluster of grief-verses after Tukārām's departure. Let it be, he says — I'll cry out my exhaustion and grief; maybe someone here will be moved to pity. I'll keep at this effort for some days, pulling at that thread of devotion. When I weep, people call me pitiable, but in the end no one actually comes to help. Tukārām's brother says: fallen here in the wilderness, this is the thought spoken in my mind. The verse names a strategy of grieving openly in hopes that someone — ultimately God — will respond: it recognizes that people offer pity without offering real help, and that only the Lord can truly answer this kind of sorrow.
मराठी: हा तुकारामांचे बंधू कान्होबा यांनी लिहिलेला शोकगीत आहे, तुकारामांच्या निर्गमनानंतरच्या शोकाभंगांच्या मालिकेतील एक. ते म्हणतात, असू दे आता — मी विलाप करीन, कदाचित इथे कोणाला तरी कणव येईल. काही दिवस असाच प्रयत्न करत राहीन, त्या भावाच्या धाग्याला धरून ओढत राहीन. रडलो की लोक मला 'बिचारा' म्हणतात, पण शेवटी कोणीच खरी मदत करत नाही. तुकयाबंधू म्हणतात — या रानात पडलेला असताना मनात आलेला हा विचार मी बोलून दाखवला. हा अभंग उघडपणे शोक करण्याच्या एका डावपेचाबद्दल आहे — जोपर्यंत कोणीतरी, अखेरीस देवच, प्रतिसाद देत नाही तोपर्यंत रडत राहणे; आणि हे मान्य करणे की लोक कणव दाखवतात पण खरी मदत करत नाहीत — फक्त देवच खऱ्या अर्थाने या दुःखाला उत्तर देऊ शकतो.
Where this applies
- When you are grieving openly and hoping someone will step in to comfort or rescue you
- When you notice people express pity but never actually show up with real help
- When you're tempted to display your sorrow because you feel abandoned and want it to reach someone who can act
- When you realize your deepest struggle ultimately rests between you and God, not on other people's sympathy