Abhanga 4379
Reputation and promises mean nothing until they are actually lived out, so when someone is desperate, the right response is to act immediately rather than test how much more they can endure.
The verse
उदार कृपाळ पतितपावन । ब्रिदें नारायणा जाती वांयां ॥१॥
वर्णिलासि श्रुति नेणे तुझा पार । राहे मौनाकार नेति ऐसें ॥ध्रु.॥
तेथें माझा धांवा पावे कोणीकडे । अदृष्ट हें पुढें वोडवलें ॥२॥
कोण ऐसा भक्त लाधला भाग्यासी । आठवण ऐसी द्यावी तुज ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे नको पाहों माझा अंत । जाणोनि हे मात उडी घालीं ॥४॥
Literal translation
Udāra-krpāḷu-patita-pāvana — Nārāyaṇa-bridās-go-in-vain. Śruti-described — doesn't-know-pāra — mauna-of-nēti. My-dhāvā-where-go — adrṣṭa-blocks. Who-such-blessed-bhakta — to-remind-you. Tukā: don't-test-anta — knowing-this-uḍī-ghālīm.
What it means
A 4-verse petition using the bridā-binding-argument. Generous, merciful, purifier-of-the-fallen — Nārāyaṇa, your vow-titles will go in vain (if you don't act). The śruti described you but doesn't know your limit — stays in the silence of 'neti'. There, where would my running-call go — fate blocks my way ahead. Which bhakta is so blessed as to give you such a reminder? Tukā says: don't test my limit — knowing this conversation, plunge in (to save me). The closing uḍī-ghālīm (dive-in, plunge-in) is striking — Tukārām asks the Lord to make an uḍī (a leap-from-the-bank-into-water) to-save-him.
For someone today
Tukaram reminds God of his own reputation here, saying that titles like generous, merciful, and savior of the fallen become empty words if they are not actually lived out when someone truly needs help. He points out that even the sacred scriptures cannot fully describe God and fall silent, only able to say what God is not, so where exactly is Tukaram supposed to direct his desperate call for help? He asks who else has been blessed enough to remind God of this promise, and pleads that God should not wait to see how far he can be pushed before acting. His final request is direct and urgent: knowing the whole situation, just dive in and rescue him now.
मराठी: तुकाराम इथे देवाला त्याच्याच नावलौकिकाची आठवण करून देतात — उदार, कृपाळू, पतितपावन यांसारखी बिरुदे जर खरी गरज असताना प्रत्यक्षात कृतीत आली नाहीत तर ती फक्त पोकळ शब्द ठरतात. ते सांगतात की श्रुतीदेखील देवाचे संपूर्ण वर्णन करू शकत नाहीत आणि 'नेति नेति' म्हणत मौन धारण करतात, मग आपली आर्त हाक नेमकी कुठे न्यावी असा प्रश्न त्यांना पडतो. एवढे भाग्य कोणत्या भक्ताला लाभले आहे की त्याने देवाला हे वचन आठवण करून द्यावे असे ते विचारतात, आणि माझी परीक्षा किती पाहणार असे विनवतात. शेवटी त्यांची मागणी थेट व तातडीची आहे: सगळे जाणून, आता विलंब न करता स्वतः उडी घालून वाचव.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's bridā-binding + uḍī-ghālīm rescue-prayer canonical