Abhanga 2984
True devotion can be so intimate that a grieving devotee drops all formal respect and openly confronts God, demanding what matters most.
The verse
धिंदधिंद तुझ्या करीन धिंदड्या । ऐसें काय वेड्या जाणितलें ॥१॥
केली तरी बरें मज भेटी भावास । नाहीं तरि नास आरंभिला ॥ध्रु.॥
मरावें मारावें या आलें प्रसंगा । बरें पांडुरंगा कळलेंसावें ॥२॥
तुकयाबंधु म्हणे तुझी माझी उरी । उडाली न धरीं भीड कांहीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Dhinda-dhinda tujhyā karīna dhindaḍyā — dhinda-dhinda (sound of trampling) — I will make trample-rhythm on you; aise kāya veḍyā jāṇitale — what (have you) thought, youvēḍyā(mad-one)? Kelī tarī bare maja bhēṭī bhāvāsa — if you make-good (and) make me meet (my)bhāva(brother) — fine; nāhī tarī nāsa ārambhilā — otherwise,nāśa(destruction) (will be) begun. Marāve mārāve yā āle prasangā — to-die-or-to-kill — thisprasangahas come; bare Pāṇḍurangā kaḷalese-asāve — good — Pāṇḍurangā — let-it-be-known. Tukyā-bandhu mhaṇe tujhī mājhī urī — Tukārām's-brother says: your-mineurī(remainder); uḍālī na dharī bhīḍa kāmhī — has-jumped-away — don't hold anybhīḍa(hesitation, modesty).
What it means
A striking 3-verse threat-verse signed by Tukyā-bandhu. Part of the lament-cluster (2977-2987). This is the most-bold and intemperate of the entire cluster — the bhakta-brother threatens-to-trample-the-Lord.
Verse 1 (the threat): Dhinda dhinda tujhyā karīna dhindaḍyā — aise kāya veḍyā jāṇitale — dhinda-dhinda — I'll make trample-rhythm on you — what have you thought, you mad-one? The dhinda-dhinda is the sound of heavy-trampling-with-rhythm. The brother-threatens-to-trample-on-the-Lord (a striking, almost-blasphemous-in-formal-terms image, but allowable in bhakti's-intimacy-mode).
Dhrūpada: Kelī tarī bare maja bhēṭī bhāvāsa — nāhī tarī nāsa ārambhilā — if you make-good and make me meet (my) brother — fine; otherwise nāśa-begun. The ultimatum.
Verse 2: Marāve mārāve yā āle prasangā — bare Pāṇḍurangā kaḷalese-asāve — to-die-or-to-kill — this occasion has come — good Pāṇḍurangā — let-it-be-known. The bhakta-brother declares: I will kill-or-be-killed; you should-know this.
Close: Tukyā-bandhu mhaṇe tujhī mājhī urī — uḍālī na dharī bhīḍa kāmhī — Tukārām's-brother says: your-mineurī(leftover-respect) has-jumped — don't hold any modesty. The urī — leftover-relationship-of-respect-and-decorum — has-flown-away. The brother says: no-more-formal-respect-between-us.
For someone today
This is the most extreme and startling verse in the whole lament cluster — Kānhōbā actually threatens to trample the Lord underfoot. Dhinda, dhinda — I'll make a trampling rhythm on you, he says, what were you thinking, you madman? If you do right by me and bring me back together with my brother, fine — otherwise, ruin starts here. It has come down to killing or being killed, he says; let that be understood clearly, Pāṇḍuranga. Tukārām's brother says: whatever remained of formal respect between us has flown away — I'm holding back nothing now. The verse allows for a devotee's most extreme protest — threatening, demanding, framing it as a matter of kill or be killed, because all polite formality between them is gone. This kind of raw confrontation is only possible because bhakti's intimacy runs deep enough that even the Lord can be challenged this directly.
मराठी: हा या संपूर्ण शोकाभंग-मालिकेतील सर्वात टोकाचा आणि धक्कादायक अभंग आहे — कान्होबा प्रत्यक्ष देवाला तुडवण्याची धमकी देतात. 'धिंद धिंद, मी तुला तुडवीन,' ते म्हणतात, 'हे वेड्या, तू काय समजलास?' जर तू माझे भला करून माझ्या भावाची भेट घडवलीस तर ठीक — नाहीतर नाश सुरू होईल. आता मरावे किंवा मारावे, अशी वेळ आली आहे — पांडुरंगा, हे नीट समजून घे. तुकयाबंधू म्हणतात — आपल्यातला जो काही उरलासुरला आदरभाव होता तो उडून गेला आहे — आता मी काही लपवणार नाही. हा अभंग भक्ताच्या सर्वात टोकाच्या निषेधाला वाट करून देतो — धमकावणे, मागणी करणे, मरणे-किंवा-मारणे अशी भाषा वापरणे, कारण दोघांमधील सगळी औपचारिकता संपली आहे. असा रोखठोक सामना फक्त तेव्हाच शक्य आहे जेव्हा भक्तीची जवळीक इतकी खोल असते की भक्त देवालाही थेट आव्हान देऊ शकतो.
Where this applies
- When grief over a loss turns into anger, even anger directed at God
- When you feel too formal or polite to ever say what you truly feel
- When someone you love ignores your desperate request and you finally say it plainly, without softening it
- When you were taught devotion must always look calm, and you wonder if raw honesty is allowed