Abhanga 3005
A devotee who has earned everything through hard work refuses to be exploited any further and holds even the Lord accountable for that commitment.
The verse
तुज ते सवे आहे ठावें । घ्यावें त्याचें बुडवावें । परि ते आम्हांसवें । आतां न फावे कांहीं ॥१॥
नव्हों सोडायाचे धणी । कष्टें मेळविलें करोनि । पाहा विचारोनी । आढी धरोनि काम नाहीं ॥ध्रु.॥
अवघे राहिले प्रकार । जालों जीवासी उदार । असा हा निर्धार । कळला असावा असेल ॥२॥
आतां निदसुर नसावें । गाठ पडली कुणब्यासवें । तुकयाबंधु म्हणे राखावें । देवा महत्व आपुलें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Tuja te save āhe ṭhāve — ghyāve tyāñce buḍavāve — you know that habit — to take and then destroy; parī te āmhām-save ātām na phāve kāmhī — but with us now (this) won't pass at all. Navhōm sōḍāyāñce dhaṇī — we are not of thesōḍāyāñce dhaṇī(releasing-owner-class); kaṣṭe meḷavile karōnī — (what we have) we earned-with-kaṣṭa; pāhā vichārōnī — āḍhī dharōnī kāma nāhī — look-and-consider — holding-by-collar — there's no (good) work (to be done). Avaghe rāhile prakāra — jālōm jīvāsī udāra — all conditions have remained — we have becomejīvāsī udāra(generous-of-life); asā hā nirdhāra — kaḷalā asāve asēla — this is thenirdhāra(resolve) — know that. Ātām nidasura nasāve — gāṭha paḍilī kuṇabyā-save — now (you) should not benidasura(heedless) — (your)gāṭhahas fallen with-a-kuṇabī(peasant); tukayā-bandhu mhaṇe rākhāve — Devā mahatva āpule — Tukārām's-brother says: save, Deva, yourmahatva.
What it means
A striking 3-verse Lord-tangled-with-peasant verse by Tukyā-bandhu. NON-Tukārām.
The key-image: gāṭha paḍilī kuṇabyā-save — (your) knot has-fallen with-a-peasant. The Lord has-tangled-himself with a peasant (= the simple-bhakta-brother). The implicit-warning: kuṇabī (peasants) are-stubborn; they don't-give-in-easily. The closing-petition is half-protective: save, Deva, your mahatva — if-you-don't-resolve-this, your-greatness will-be-tarnished by-being-stuck with-a-peasant.
For someone today
Kānhobā calls out a familiar pattern — the habit of taking something and then letting it fall apart — and says plainly that it won't happen with him. What he has, he earned through hard work, not through easy favors, so there's nothing to be gained by pushing him around. He's staked everything on this resolve and won't back down now. He warns the Lord not to be careless here, because this time he's tangled with a stubborn, hardworking peasant who won't simply give in. And he closes almost protectively — telling God to guard his own reputation, since being stuck in a standoff with someone this determined could tarnish it. It's a devotee who has earned everything through hard work refusing to be taken lightly any longer, and holding even the Lord accountable.
मराठी: कान्होबा एक ओळखीचा प्रकार उघड करतो — घ्यायचे आणि मग बुडवून टाकायचे ही सवय — आणि स्पष्ट सांगतो की आपल्याबाबतीत हे चालणार नाही. आपल्याजवळ जे आहे ते कष्टाने कमावलेले आहे, सहज मिळालेले नाही, त्यामुळे आपल्याला दाबून काही साध्य होणार नाही. या निर्धारावर त्याने सर्वस्व पणाला लावले आहे आणि आता तो मागे हटणार नाही. परमेश्वराने बेफिकीर राहू नये असा तो इशारा देतो, कारण यावेळी त्याची गाठ एका हट्टी, कष्टाळू कुणब्याशी पडली आहे, जो सहज हार मानणार नाही. आणि शेवटी जवळजवळ काळजीने तो म्हणतो — देवा, आपले स्वतःचे मोठेपण सांभाळ, कारण अशा निर्धारी माणसाशी अडकून राहिल्यास तेही डागाळेल. कष्टाने सर्वकाही कमावलेला भक्त यापुढे स्वतःला गृहीत धरू देणार नाही, आणि यासाठी तो परमेश्वरालाही जबाबदार धरतो, हेच हा अभंग सांगतो.
Where this applies
- When someone keeps taking advantage of your generosity and never gives back
- When you feel yourself being brushed aside after years of loyal effort
- When you decide to stop being quietly accommodating and speak up plainly
- When you commit fully to something and will not accept half-measures anymore