Abhanga 4171
If grace has reached the unworthy and the suffering before, there is no reason it cannot reach you too.
The verse
काय आम्हीं केलें ऐसें । नुद्धरीजेसें सांगावें ॥१॥
हरण कोल्हें वैकुंठवासी । कोण त्यासी अधिकार ॥ध्रु.॥
गजा नाड्या सरोवरीं । नाहीं हरी विचारिलें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे गणिका नष्ट । माझे कष्ट त्याहूनि ॥३॥
Literal translation
Kāya āmhīm kele aise — nuddharījese sāngāvem — what have we done — such as to be un-redeemable — tell. Haraṇa kōlhe vaikuṇṭha-vāsī — kōṇa tyāsī adhikāra — the deer and the jackal (became) vaikuṇṭha-dwellers — who (granted) them adhikāra. Gajā nāḍyā sarōvarīm — nāhīm harī vichārilem — the elephant in ropes in the lake — Hari didn't (delay-to) consider. Tukā mhaṇe gaṇikā naṣṭa — mājhe kaṣṭa tyāhūni — Tukā says: the gaṇikā was corrupt — my suffering more than hers.
What it means
A 3-verse redemption-comparison protest. What-have-I-done-that's-unforgivable; deer-and-jackal (referring to bhakti-puranic-tales where animals achieved liberation) attained-Vaikuṇṭha-without-prerequisite-adhikāra; Gajendra-the-elephant-in-the-crocodile's-rope was-rescued-without-delay; the-gaṇikā-was-corrupt-yet-saved — my-suffering-is-more-than-hers.
For someone today
Tukaram makes an emotional appeal by comparing himself to famous figures from tradition who were saved despite seeming unworthy: a deer and a jackal are said to have reached the highest heaven without any special qualification, and Hari rushed without hesitation to rescue an elephant trapped by a crocodile in a lake. Even a corrupt courtesan, he points out, found redemption in these old stories. So he asks, with a mix of frustration and hope, what could he possibly have done that makes him less deserving of grace than any of them, especially since his own suffering, he says, has been greater than hers.
मराठी: तुकाराम स्वतःची तुलना जुन्या कथांतील पात्रांशी करत भावनिक विनवणी करतात, जे अपात्र वाटूनही उद्धरले गेले: हरिण आणि कोल्हा कोणत्याही अधिकाराशिवाय वैकुंठात पोहोचले, आणि सरोवरात मगरीच्या तावडीत सापडलेल्या हत्तीला हरीने विलंब न करता वाचवले. अगदी भ्रष्ट गणिकाही या जुन्या कथांत उद्धरली गेली, असे ते सांगतात. त्यामुळे थोड्याशा नाराजीने आणि आशेने ते विचारतात, आपण असे काय केले आहे की आपल्याला त्यांच्यापेक्षा कमी कृपेस पात्र समजावे, विशेषतः जेव्हा आपले दुःख तिच्यापेक्षाही अधिक आहे असे ते म्हणतात.
Where this applies
- When you feel undeserving of help or forgiveness compared to others who received it
- When you look to stories of others' redemption for hope in your own struggle
- When you question why help seems to come easily to some but not to you
- When you're suffering and wonder if your pain alone should be enough reason for relief