संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 3551 of 4582

Abhanga 3551

Sustained silence after repeated appeals can feel harsh and unexplainable, and it is honest to admit you cannot yet tell whether what's coming will be bitter or sweet.

When you've asked or reached out many times and received no reply at all

When silence from someone important to you feels harsh and you can't explain why it's happening

When you're waiting on an outcome and honestly cannot tell yet whether it will be good or painful

The verse

सांता पांचां तरीं वचनां सेवटीं । निरोप कां भेटी एक तरी ॥१॥ कां नेणें निष्ठ‍ केलें नारायणा । न देखें हें मना येतां कांहीं ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे ऐसा न देखें निवाड । कडू किंवा गोड फळ पोटीं ॥३॥

Literal translation

Sāmtā pāmchām tarīm vachanām sevaṭīm — at end of seven-or-five vachanas; nirōpa kām bhēṭī eka tarī — at-least one nirōpa or bhēṭī. Kām neṇe niṣṭhura kele Nārāyaṇā — don't know, niṣṭhura act, Nārāyaṇa; na dekhe he manā yetām kāmhī — nothing comes to mind. Tukā mhaṇe aisā na dekhe nivāḍa — Tukā says: don't see such nivāḍa; kaḍū kimvā gōḍa phaḷa pōṭīm — bitter or sweet fruit in belly.

What it means

A 3-verse protest. After-many-petitions, not-even-one-message-or-meeting — niṣṭhura-act. I-can't-tell whether-your-intent-is-bitter-or-sweet.

For someone today

Tukaram admits, after making his case again and again, he hasn't gotten so much as a single word or a moment of connection back, and it feels harsh. He says plainly he doesn't understand it, nothing he can think of explains the silence. In the end he confesses he simply cannot tell whether what's coming is bitter or sweet, whether this quiet means something good is being prepared or something painful. It's an honest picture of what it feels like to keep reaching out and not know, for a while, how things will turn out.

मराठी: तुकाराम कबूल करतात की वारंवार विनंती करूनही एकही शब्द किंवा भेटीचा क्षण त्यांना मिळालेला नाही, आणि हे त्यांना कठोर वाटते. आपल्याला हे समजतच नाही, असे ते स्पष्ट सांगतात, या मौनाचे कोणतेही स्पष्टीकरण त्यांच्या मनात येत नाही. शेवटी ते कबूल करतात की समोर येणारे कडू असेल की गोड, हे त्यांना सांगताच येत नाही, हे मौन काहीतरी चांगले घडवत आहे की काहीतरी वेदनादायी, हे कळत नाही. सतत हाक मारत राहूनही काही काळ निकाल कळत नाही, तेव्हा काय वाटते, याचे हे प्रामाणिक चित्र आहे.

Where this applies

When you've reached out repeatedly and gotten no response, and it stings more than you expected
When you can't make sense of why someone or something important to you has gone quiet
When you're waiting to find out if a hard situation is leading somewhere good or somewhere painful
When you need permission to admit you simply don't know how things will turn out

nothing-comes-to-mind fruit-bitter-or-sweet-unknown