Abhanga 3584
Real faith allows you to speak up honestly when a promise has not been kept, asking for the actual follow-through instead of settling for empty words.
The verse
उपजल्या काळें शुभ कां शकुन । आतां आवरोन राहिलेती ॥१॥
नाहीं मागितली वचनाची जोडी । निष्काम कोरडी वरिवरि ॥ध्रु.॥
सत्याविण काय उगी च लांबणी । कारियाची वाणी येर भूस ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे ऐसी कोणा चाळवणी । न विचारा मनीं पांडुरंगा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Upajalyā kāḷe śubha kām śakuna — at birth-time, śubha and śakuna; ātām āvarōna rāhiletī — now (you) stay restrained. Nāhīm māgitalī vachanāchī jōḍī — (I) didn't ask for vachana-pairing; niṣkāma kōraḍī varivari — niṣkāma-kōraḍī on surface. Satyāviṇa kāya ugī chi lāmbaṇī — without satya, what is the stretching; kāriyāchī vāṇī yera bhūsa — the vāṇī of kārya — else chaff. Tukā mhaṇe aisī kōṇā chāḷavaṇī — Tukā says: what chāḷavaṇī of anyone is this; na vichārā manīm pāmḍurangā — don't think-of-it, Pāṇḍuranga.
What it means
A 3-verse complaint-prayer: the-good-omens-at-my-birth — why-do-you-hold-them-back-now; I-didn't-ask-for-mere-promises (vachana-jōḍī), empty-on-surface; without-satya, this-stretching-is-pointless; the-word-of-the-deed (kāryāchī-vāṇī) is what's wanted — rest-is-chaff; what-kind-of-chāḷavaṇī (teasing/deceiving) is-this, O-Pāṇḍuranga — don't. The argument: even-the-omens-at-my-birth promised-something; now-keep-the-promise.
For someone today
A bhakti-protest: vachana-jōḍī (paired-promise) without-deed is bhusa (chaff). The bhakta is permitted to call-out the gap between promise and kārya.
Where this applies
- When you feel someone has promised you something and kept delaying without real follow-through
- When you are tired of empty words and want to ask directly for real action instead
- When you need permission to voice honest frustration with God or someone you trust rather than staying silently patient
- When you sense a good sign or promise early in your life that has not yet been fulfilled and you want to hold onto that hope while speaking up about the delay