Abhanga 3080
When something is unjustly taken from you, that same tender, motherly care can rise up fiercely to set things right and give back what was lost.
The verse
हिरण्याक्ष दैत्य मातला जे काळीं । वरदानें बळी शंकराच्या ॥१॥
इंद्रपदराज्य घेतलें हिरोनी । देवा चक्रपाणी म्हणती धांव ॥ध्रु.॥
तइं पांडुरंगा शूकर जालेती । तया दैत्यपती मारविले ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे ज्यांचीं राज्यें त्यांसी दिलीं । ऐसी तूं माउली पांडुरंगा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Hiraṇyākṣa daitya mātalā je kāḷīm — when Hiraṇyākṣa, the daitya, became mātalā; varadāne baḷī Śankarāñcyā — strong by Śankara's vara. Indra-pada-rājya ghetale hirōnī — (he) took Indra-pada-rājya by force; devā Chakra-pāṇī mhaṇatī dhāmva — the devas cried: Chakra-pāṇī, run! Taī Pāṇḍurangā Śūkara jāletī — then, Pāṇḍuranga, (you) became Śūkara; tayā daitya-patī māravile — killed that daitya-pati. Tukā mhaṇe jyāñcīm rājye tyāmsī dilīm — Tukā says: gave the rājyas to those whose (they were); aisī tūm māulī Pāṇḍurangā — such a māulī (you are), Pāṇḍuranga.
What it means
The Vārāha-avatāra entry in the Daśāvatāra meditation-cluster.
The narrative: Hiraṇyākṣa-the-daitya became-uncontrolled by-Śankara's-vara; took-Indra-pada-rājya; devas-cried-Chakra-pāṇī-dhāva; Pāṇḍuranga-became-Śūkara (boar) and-killed-the-daitya-pati; gave-back-the-rājyas to-the-rightful.
The closing — aisī tūm māulī Pāṇḍurangā (such-a-māulī-you-are) — is the canonical Vārkarī mother-image applied-to-the-Vārāha-rescue.
For someone today
Tukārām's Vārāha meditation. When Hiraṇyākṣa, the daitya, became uncontrolled — strong with Śankara's vara; (he) took the Indra-pada-rājya by force. The devas cried: Chakra-pāṇī, run! Then Pāṇḍuranga, (you) became the Śūkara (boar); (you) killed that king-of-daityas. Those whose rājyas were (lost) — (you) gave (them) (back) to them. Such a māulī (you are), Pāṇḍuranga. The verse permits the Vārāha-meditation as māulī-restoration-act.
Where this applies
- When something rightfully yours has been taken by someone more powerful than you
- When you feel like even those who should protect you are crying out for help themselves
- When you need to see strength used for restoring justice, not just for winning a fight
- When you want to understand fierce protection as an act of motherly love rather than mere force