Abhanga 3384
Once someone has fully accepted you knowing your flaws, they cannot later treat you as less than equal, and holding them to that promise is fair, not arrogant.
The verse
तुज जाणें तानें नाहीं पांडुरंगा । कां जी मज सांगा उपेक्षिलें ॥१॥
तुज ठावें होतें मी पातकी थोर । आधीं च कां थार दिधली पायीं ॥ध्रु.॥
अंक तो पडिला हरिचा मी दास । भेद पंगतीस करूं नये ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे आम्ही जिंतिलें तें खरें । आतां उणें पुरें तुम्हां अंगीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Tuja jāṇe tāne nāhīm Pāṇḍurangā — kām jī maja sāngā upekṣile — you know — there is no thirst (in you), Pāṇḍuranga — why have you overlooked me, tell? Tuja ṭhāve hōte mī pātakī thora — ādhīm-cha kām thāra didhalī pāyīm — you knew I was a great pātakī — why did you give me place at (your) feet first? Anka to paḍilā Harichā mī dāsa — bheda pangatīsa karūm naye — the mark has fallen — I am Hari's dāsa — don't make bheda at the pankti. Tukā mhaṇe āmhī jimtile te khare — ātām uṇe pure tumhām angīm — Tukā says: we have won truly — now uṇa-pura is on your shoulders.
What it means
A 3-verse text in the legal-style argumentative-bhakti register. The argument: (1) you already knew what I was, and you took me anyway; (2) the anka is stamped — I am yours; no segregation now at the pankti; (3) we have won — now the deficit-or-surplus is yours to make good. The pangati (meal-row) is the central Vārkarī image of equality.
For someone today
Once accepted, there is no being-half-accepted. The honest argument: you accepted me knowing what I am. The consequence: equality at the table.
Where this applies
- When someone accepted you fully once, but now treats you as less than an equal
- When you feel singled out or excluded from a group that claims everyone belongs equally
- When you have to remind someone that they knew your flaws from the start and welcomed you anyway
- When you hold a person or institution accountable to a commitment they already made