Abhanga 4396
It is honest to admit frustration when you have tried every method you know and still received only silence in return.
The verse
पंचाग्निसाधन करूं धूम्रपान । काय तीर्थाटण करूं सांग ॥१॥
सांग कोणे देशीं आहे तुझें गांव । घेऊनियां धांव येऊं तेथें ॥ध्रु.॥
सांग कांहीं वृत्त कोण करूं व्रत । जेणें कृपावंत होशील तूं ॥२॥
वाटतें सेवटीं जालासि निष्ठ । न देसी उत्तर तुका म्हणे ॥३॥
Literal translation
Pañcāgni-dhūmra-pāna — what-tīrtha-āṭana. Tell-deśa-your-gāmva — running-to-come. Tell-vrtta-vrata — to-make-you-krpāvanta. Tukā: feels-end-niṣṭhura — no-uttara.
What it means
A 3-verse desperate-questioning text. Shall we do five-fire-tapas, breath-control? What pilgrimage shall I do — tell me. Tell — in which country is your village — I'll take a run and come there. Tell some account — what vow can I do, by which you'll become gracious? It feels (like) — in the end — you have become hard; you don't give an answer, Tukā says. The escalating-desperation: I'll do anything — pañcāgni-tapas, smoke-breath-control, tīrtha-āṭana, vrata — just-tell-me-what; (your) no-answer suggests you've become niṣṭhura (hard) at the end. Pair with 4394 (addiction-bhrida-petition).
For someone today
Tukaram is nearly frantic here, listing off every possible practice he can think of, asking whether he should take up harsh austerities like sitting amid five fires or controlling his breath through smoke, or whether some pilgrimage would finally work. He begs to know exactly which village or place God actually lives in so he can simply run there himself, and he asks for a specific vow or discipline that would finally earn some grace. But underneath all these questions is a real complaint, because no answer ever comes, and it starts to feel like God has simply gone hard and silent at the very end. This verse captures the honest frustration of trying every method you know and still meeting only silence.
मराठी: तुकाराम इथे जवळजवळ हतबल होऊन आपल्याला माहीत असलेल्या सर्व साधनांची यादी मांडतात — पंचाग्नीसारखी कठोर तपश्चर्या करावी का, धूम्रपानाने श्वासावर ताबा मिळवावा का, की एखाद्या तीर्थयात्रेने काम होईल का असे ते विचारतात. देव नेमक्या कोणत्या गावात, कोणत्या देशात राहतो हे सांगावे म्हणजे आपण स्वतः धावत तिथे जाऊ अशी ते विनवणी करतात, आणि कोणते व्रत केले म्हणजे शेवटी कृपा मिळेल असे विचारतात. पण या सगळ्या प्रश्नांच्या मागे एक खरी तक्रार आहे, कारण कधीच उत्तर मिळत नाही, आणि शेवटी देवच जणू कठोर, मूक बनला आहे असे वाटू लागते. हा अभंग माहीत असलेले सर्व मार्ग वापरूनही केवळ मौनच हाती लागल्याची प्रामाणिक निराशा मांडतो.
Where this applies
- When you have tried every method you know to solve a problem and still get no response
- When you keep asking exactly what to do next because nothing so far has worked
- When silence from someone you are depending on starts to feel like deliberate hardness
- When frustration builds because effort after effort seems to bring no clear answer