Abhanga 2996
Kanhoba's bitter protest asks whether losing the brother who supported two households can really be called the favor of devotion, and insists real faith can say so honestly.
The verse
मायबाप निमाल्यावरी । घातलें भावाचे आभारीं । तो ही परि हरी । तुज जाला असमाईं ॥१॥
हे कां भक्तिचे उपकार । नांदतें विध्वंसिलें घर । प्रसन्नता वेव्हार । सेवटीं हे जालासी ॥ध्रु.॥
एका जिवावरी । होतों दोनी कुटुंबारी । चाळवूं तो तरीं । तुज येतो निर्लज्जा ॥२॥
तुकयाबंधु म्हणे भला । आणीक काय म्हणावें तुला । वेडा त्यानें केला । तुजसवें संबंधु ॥३॥
Literal translation
Māya-bāpa nimālyāvarī — after mother-father departed; ghātale bhāvāñce ābhārī — (he) was placed in theābhārī(care, responsibility) of the brother; tō hī parī Harī — tuja jālā asamāī — but Hari — you becameasamāī(without-balance, unsustainable) for him-too. He kām bhaktiñce upakāra — is this thebhakti's-upakāra(favor-of-bhakti); nāndate vidhvamsile ghara — you destroyed the still-functioning house; prasannatā vevhāra — thevyavahāra(doing) ofprasannatā(pleasing-blessing); sevaṭī he jālāsī — at the end, you became this. Eka jivāvarī — hōtōm dōnī kuṭumbārī — on one life — we were two families; chāḷavūm tō tarī — tuja yetō nirlajjā — pulling-you — you come,nirlajja(shameless). Tukyā-bandhu mhaṇe bhalā — Tukārām's-brother says:bhalā(good); āṇīka kāya mhaṇāve tulā — what else can I say to you; vēḍā tyāne kelā — tujasave sambandhu — (you) made (him)vēḍā(mad) — yoursambandhu(connection).
What it means
A striking 3-verse protest by Tukyā-bandhu. NON-Tukārām. The bhakta-brother makes a precise-biographical claim: after-mother-father-died, the family was-placed-in-Tukārām's-care; now the Lord-has-taken-Tukārām-too. The sarcastic-rhetorical-question: is-this-the-favor-of-bhakti? — destroying-the-house?
The image: on one-jīva-(of-Tukārām), two-families were-being-sustained (Tukārām's-own-family + Kānhōbā's). With Tukārām-gone, both-families collapse. The Lord-is-blamed-as-nirlajja (shameless).
For someone today
This is Kānhōbā's biographical protest, and it preserves real family detail. After our mother and father died, he says, the family was placed in my brother's care — but Hari, you became too much even for him to bear. Is this the favor devotion offers — destroying a household that was still standing and working? Whatever kindness you were supposed to show us, in the end, this is what it became. On the strength of his one life, we were sustaining two families — and still you come along, shameless, pulling him away from us. Tukārām's brother says: good — what else is there to say to you? You made him mad, this connection of yours. The verse holds onto real biographical detail — the parents' deaths, the family placed in Tukārām's care, and now Tukārām himself taken by the Lord — while asking sharply and sarcastically whether losing him can really be called devotion's blessing.
मराठी: हा कान्होबांचा एक चरित्रात्मक निषेध आहे, ज्यात खरी कौटुंबिक तपशील जपली गेली आहे. आईवडील गेल्यानंतर, ते म्हणतात, कुटुंबाची जबाबदारी भावावर पडली होती — पण हरी, तूही त्याच्यासाठी सोसवेनासा झालास. हीच का भक्तीची कृपा — जे घर नीट चालले होते, तेच तू उद्ध्वस्त करून टाकलेस? आम्हाला जी प्रसन्नता दाखवायची होतीस, शेवटी तेच झालेस. त्याच्या एका जीवावर आम्ही दोन कुटुंबे तगून होतो — आणि तरीही तू निर्लज्जपणे येऊन त्याला आमच्यापासून ओढून नेतोस. तुकयाबंधू म्हणतात — छान — तुला आणखी काय म्हणावे? त्याला वेडे केलेस, हे तुझे नाते. हा अभंग खरी कौटुंबिक तपशील जपून ठेवतो — आईवडिलांचा मृत्यू, कुटुंबाची जबाबदारी तुकारामांवर पडणे, आणि आता देवाने तुकारामांनाही नेणे — आणि त्याचबरोबर तिखट उपरोधाने विचारतो की याला खरोखर भक्तीची कृपा म्हणता येईल का.
Where this applies
- Part of Kānhōbā's extended-lament-cluster (2977-2997+)
- NON-Tukārām composition — signed by Tukyā-bandhu
- Is-this-bhakti's-upakāra — destroyed-living-house sarcastic protest
- Preserves biographical-detail: parents-died, family-placed-in-Tukārām's-care