Abhanga 4449
The verse
कामधेनूचें वासरूं । खाया न मिळे काय करूं ॥१॥
ऐसें आम्हां मांडियेलें । विठो त्वां कां सांडियेलें ॥ध्रु.॥
बैसोनि कल्पद्रुमातळीं । पोटासाटीं तळमळीं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे नारायणा । बरें लोकीं हें दीसेना ॥३॥
Literal translation
Kāmadhenu's-vāsaru — no-food-what-to-do. You-set-this-for-us — Viṭhō-why-sāmḍiyēlēm. Sitting-below-kalpadruma — pōṭa-saṭhī-taḷamaḷīm. Tukā: Nārāyaṇa — doesn't-look-good-in-loka.
What it means
★ A 3-verse lament-irony text. Kāmadhenu's calf doesn't get to eat — what shall I do? You have set this up for us — Viṭhō, why have you abandoned us? Sitting below the wish-fulfilling-tree — yet tossing-restlessly for the stomach. Tukā says: Nārāyaṇa — this doesn't look good in the eyes of people. The double irony: a bhakta is the calf-of-Kāmadhenu (who-grants-everything) and sits-below-the-kalpa-druma (the wish-fulfilling-tree) — yet doesn't-get-food and tosses-for-the-stomach. The world will think: this Lord doesn't take care of his own. Tukārām using bhakta-poverty-irony to corner-the-Lord into-providing. Pair with 3041 (Lord-engineers-bhakta-difficulties), 2944-2945 (simple-life cluster).
For someone today
Tukārām: Kāmadhenu's-calf-can't-get-food — why-have-you-abandoned-me — I-sit-below-the-wish-fulfilling-tree-yet-toss-for-the-stomach — this-doesn't-look-good-in-the-world's-eyes.
Where this applies
- ★ Tukārām's bhakta-poverty-irony — cornering-the-Lord-with-the-world's-view canonical