Abhanga 2989
It is honest devotion to call out God for seeming to ignore your suffering rather than silently pretending you aren't hurt.
The verse
तुझीं वर्में आम्हां ठावीं नारायणा । परी तूं शाहाणा होत नाहीं ॥१॥
मग कालाबुली हाका देते वेळे । होतोसि परी डोळे नुघडिसी ॥ध्रु.॥
जाणोनि अज्ञान करावें मोहरें । खोटी खोडी हे रे तुझी देवा ॥२॥
तुकयाबंधु म्हणे कारण प्रचीति । पाहातों वेळ किती तेच गुण ॥३॥
Literal translation
Tujhī varme āmhām ṭhāvī Nārāyaṇā — yourvarma(weak-points) areṭhāvī(known) to us, Nārāyaṇa; parī tūm śahāṇā hōta nāhī — but you do not becomeśahāṇā(clever, alert). Maga kālābulī hākā dete veḷe — then, at the time (we) makekālābulī hākā(sad-pleading-cries); hōtōsi parī ḍōḷe nughaḍisī — you become (as one), but do not open (your) eyes. Jāṇōnī ajñāna karāve mōhare — knowing, (you) make amōhare(mask, face) ofajñāna(not-knowing); khōṭī khōḍī he re tujhī Devā — this is a falsekhōḍī(trick) of yours, Deva. Tukyā-bandhu mhaṇe kāraṇa prachīti — Tukārām's-brother says: it (is) forprachīti(proof, evidence); pāhātōm veḷa kitī tech guṇa — I am-watching — how long (will-this)guṇa(quality) (last)?
What it means
A 3-verse protest verse by Tukyā-bandhu. NON-Tukārām. Part of the extended-Kānhōbā-cluster.
The bhakta-brother accuses the Lord of feigning-not-clever and-not-opening-eyes at-the-time-of-distress-cries. The diagnostic: the Lord is pretending-to-be-unaware. The brother promises to-watch for-how-long this-pretense-can-last.
For someone today
This is another protest verse by Kānhōbā, Tukārām's brother, part of the extended lament cluster. We know your weak points, Nārāyaṇa, he says, but you refuse to act wisely. When we cry out to you in our pleading grief, you seem to be there, yet you won't open your eyes to see us. Knowing full well what's happening, you put on a mask of ignorance — this is a false trick of yours, Deva. Tukārām's brother says: I'm watching this as proof — let's see how long you can keep this act up. The verse gives voice to a devotee's protest against what feels like the Lord's pretend deafness, calling out the pretense directly and daring it to continue.
मराठी: हा तुकारामांचे बंधू कान्होबा यांचा आणखी एक निषेधाचा अभंग आहे, विस्तृत शोकाभंग-मालिकेतील. नारायणा, तुझ्या उणिवा आम्हाला माहीत आहेत, ते म्हणतात, पण तू शहाणा होत नाहीस. आम्ही तळमळून हाका मारतो त्या वेळी, तू जणू असतोसच, पण डोळे उघडत नाहीस. सगळं माहीत असूनही तू अज्ञानाचा बुरखा पांघरतोस — देवा, ही तुझी खोटी युक्ती आहे. तुकयाबंधू म्हणतात — हे मी पुराव्यासाठी पाहतो आहे — हा तुझा हा गुण किती वेळ टिकतो ते बघतो. हा अभंग देवाच्या कथित बहिरेपणाविरुद्धच्या भक्ताच्या निषेधाला वाट करून देतो — हा बहाणा उघड करून, तो किती काळ टिकतो हे आव्हान देतो.
Where this applies
- Part of Kānhōbā's extended-lament-cluster (2977-2997+)
- NON-Tukārām composition — signed by Tukyā-bandhu
- Protest: Lord-feigns-deafness; how-long-will-this-trick-last