Abhanga 3044
V1-2 (frame): Tuja na bhē mī kaḷikāḷā — maja nāmāñcā jivhāḷā / mājhā baḷiyā neṇasī kōṇa — samtām sāhe Nārāyaṇa — I do not fear you Kali-kāḷa — I have the jivhāḷā of the Name / You don't know who my strong-one is — Nārāyaṇa is sants' sāhāya.
The verse
तुज न भें मी कळिकाळा । मज नामाचा जिव्हाळा ॥१॥
माझा बळिया नेणसी कोण । संतां साहे नारायण ॥ध्रु.॥
शंख वधिला सागरीं । वेद घेउनि आला चारी ॥२॥
कूर्में दैत्य वधिला जेठी । हात पाय लपवी पोटीं ॥३॥
वाराहरूप धरिलें गाढें । धरा प्रतापें धरिली दाढे ॥४॥
हिरण्यकश्यप विदारिला । भक्त प्रल्हाद रक्षिला ॥५॥
वामन जाला दिनानाथ । बळी पाताळीं घातला दैत्य ॥६॥
छेदुनियां सहस्र भुजा । कामधेनु आणिली वोजा ॥७॥
शिळा प्रतापें सागरीं तारी । स्थापी बिभीषण रावण मारी ॥८॥
मारोनियां कंसराव । पिता सोडविला वसुदेव ॥९॥
पांचाळीसी गांजितां वैरी । वस्त्रें आपण जाला हरी ॥१०॥
गजेंद्र स्मरे राम राम । त्यासी पाववी वैकुंठधाम ॥११॥
तुका म्हणे हरिरूप जाले । पुन्हा जन्मा नाहीं आले ॥१२॥
Literal translation
V1-2 (frame): Tuja na bhē mī kaḷikāḷā — maja nāmāñcā jivhāḷā / mājhā baḷiyā neṇasī kōṇa — samtām sāhe Nārāyaṇa — I do not fear you Kali-kāḷa — I have the jivhāḷā of the Name / You don't know who my strong-one is — Nārāyaṇa is sants' sāhāya.
V3-11 (avatāra-recitation): Matsya (kill-Śankha-bring-Vedas) / Kūrma (kill-daitya-hide-hands-feet) / Vārāha (lift-prthivī-on-tusk) / Narasimha (tear-Hiraṇyakaśipu, save-Prahlāda) / Vāmana (push-Bali-to-pātāḷa) / Paraśurāma (chop-sahasra-bhujā, bring-Kāmadhenu) / Rāma (stone-sāgara-float, install-Bibhīṣaṇa, kill-Rāvaṇa) / Krṣṇa (kill-Kamsa-free-Vasudeva, become-Draupadī's-clothes, lift-Gajendra-to-Vaikuṇṭha).
V12 (close): Tukā mhaṇe Harī-rūpa jāle — punhā janmā nāhī āle — Tukā says: those who became Hari-rūpa — did not come back to janma.
What it means
★★ A MAJOR 12-verse avatāra-stotra by Tukārām — among-his-longest-systematic avatāra-recitations.
The structural-frame: I-don't-fear-Kalikāḷa; the-Name-warms-me; Nārāyaṇa-is-sants'-strong-one. The body: 9 avatāra-references with bhakta-rescue-emphasis. The closing-soteriology: those-who-became-Hari-rūpa don't-return-to-janma.
★ Each avatāra is cited not-just-for-cosmic-feat but-for bhakta-rakṣaka evidence: - Matsya — saved-the-Vedas - Vārāha — lifted-prthivī (saved-the-earth) - Narasimha — saved-Prahlāda - Vāmana — established-justice (Bali-to-pātāḷa, while-not-killing-him) - Paraśurāma — restored-Kāmadhenu - Rāma — saved-Bibhīṣaṇa, killed-Rāvaṇa - Krṣṇa — saved-Vasudeva, Draupadī, Gajendra
The cumulative-argument: all-avatāras have-been-bhakta-rakṣaka; therefore-I-don't-fear-Kalikāḷa.
Compare-Tukārām's-2787 (bhakti-redeems-the-fallen — Ajāmīḷa-Bhillī-Kuṇṭanī-Vālmīka), 2972 (Draupadī-Prahlāda-Sudāmā), 2843 (gaṇikā-Ajāmīḷa-Ahilyā-Kubjā).
For someone today
Tukārām's ★★ 12-verse avatāra-stotra. I do not fear you, Kalikāḷa — I have the warmth of the Name. You do not know who my strong-one is — Nārāyaṇa is the sāhāya of sants. (Matsya killed Śankha and brought back the four Vedas; Kūrma killed the daitya, hid hands-and-feet in his belly; Vārāha held prthivī on the tusk; Hiraṇyakaśipu was torn-asunder, bhakta Prahlāda protected; Vāmana became dīna-nātha, sent Bali to pātāḷa; Paraśurāma chopped a-thousand-arms, brought-Kāmadhenu; Rāma made stones float, installed Bibhīṣaṇa, killed Rāvaṇa; Kamsa killed, Vasudeva freed; Pāñchālī's clothes — Hari himself became; Gajendra remembering Rāma — to Vaikuṇṭha brought.) Those who became Hari-rūpa — did not come back to janma. The verse permits the cumulative-historical-confidence: every-avatāra-has-been-bhakta-rakṣaka; therefore-no-fear-of-Kali.
Where this applies
- ★★ MAJOR avatāra-stotra — 12 verses; longest in Tukārām's corpus
- I-don't-fear-Kalikāḷa refrain at-start
- Each avatāra cited as bhakta-rakṣaka evidence
- Closing: Hari-rūpa = no-return-to-janma soteriology
- Companion to 2787, 2972, 2843