Abhanga 4151
Hold on to what you trust no matter what happens to you, and let the outcome be the other side's responsibility to make good.
The verse
पांडुरंगे पाहा खादलीसे रडी । परिणाम सेंडी धरिली आम्ही ॥१॥
आतां संतांनीं करावी पंचाईत । कोण हा फजितखोर येथें ॥ध्रु.॥
कोणाचा अन्याय येथें आहे स्वामी । गर्जतसों आम्ही पातकी ही ॥२॥
याचें पावनपण सोडवा चि तुम्ही । पतितपावन आम्ही आहों खरें ॥३॥
आम्ही तंव आहों अन्यायी सर्वथा । याची पावन कथा कैसी आहे ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे आम्ही मेलों तरी जाणा । परि तुमच्या चरणा न सोडावें ॥५॥
Literal translation
Pāṇḍurange pāhā khādalīse raḍī — pariṇāma seṇḍī dharilī āmhī — Pāṇḍurange, look — you have eaten defeat — finally we have grabbed the tuft. Ātām santāñnī karāvī panchāīta — kōṇa hā fazītakhōra yethē — now let the sants arbitrate — who is the public-shamed-one here. Kōṇāchā anyāya yethē āhe svāmī — garjatasōm āmhī pātakī hī — whose injustice is here, Lord — we roar, even being sinners. Yāche pāvanapaṇa soḍavā chi tumhī — patitapāvana āmhī āhōm kharē — release his purifier-status yourselves — we are truly the purifier-of-the-fallen. Āmhī tamva āhōm anyāyī sarvathā — yāchī pāvana kathā kaisī āhe — we are utterly unjust — what is his purification-story?. Tukā mhaṇe āmhī mēlōm tarī jāṇā — pari tumacyā charaṇā na sōḍāvem — Tukā says: know — even if we die — yet (your) feet we shall not release.
What it means
A 5-verse continuation of 4150 — the lawsuit-image is sustained. Lord-has-lost-the-wrestling-match; we-hold-his-tuft; sants-judge-who's-publicly-shamed; whose-fault-is-this?; we-are-the-real-patita-pāvana — release-his-title-yourselves; we'll-die-before-releasing-his-feet.
For someone today
Continuing his bold protest, Tukaram tells Vitthal he has already lost this match, and now he, Tukaram, is the one holding on and will not let go. He calls on the community of sants to judge whose fault it really is if a sinner like him is not saved, since God is famous as the purifier of the fallen, so it is God's own reputation on the line, not just his devotee's fate. Even though he admits he is thoroughly flawed and undeserving, he insists that whether he lives or dies, he will never release his hold on those feet. It is a picture of stubborn, unbreakable devotion that dares to hold the divine accountable to its own promise.
मराठी: आपला ठाम वाद पुढे नेत तुकाराम विठोबाला सांगतात की तुम्ही ही लढाई हरला आहात आणि आता आम्ही तुम्हाला घट्ट धरून ठेवले आहे, सोडणार नाही. पापी असूनही आपली गफलत झाली तर दोष कोणाचा हे ठरवण्यासाठी ते संतांना पंचाईत करायला सांगतात, कारण देवाची ओळखच पतितपावन अशी आहे, म्हणजे यात देवाचीच प्रतिष्ठा पणाला लागली आहे, फक्त भक्ताचे नशीब नाही. आपण पूर्णपणे अपात्र आणि चुकीचे आहोत हे मान्य करूनही ते ठामपणे सांगतात की जगले किंवा मेले तरी ते त्या चरणांना सोडणार नाहीत. हे हट्टी, अतूट भक्तीचे चित्र आहे, जी देवालाही त्याच्या स्वतःच्या वचनाला जबाबदार धरण्याचे धाडस करते.
Where this applies
- When you have committed fully to something and refuse to give up even though you feel undeserving
- When you ask a trusted community to judge a dispute you cannot resolve on your own
- When you keep faith even while admitting your own flaws and mistakes
- When your persistence itself becomes your way of trusting, even without certainty of the outcome