Abhanga 4520
Gopāḷām ubhaḍu nāvare duḥkhācā — kuṇṭita he vāchā jālī tyāñcī — the gopāḷas' surge of grief is un-bearable; their vāchā has become silent.
The verse
गोपाळां उभडु नावरे दुःखाचा । कुंटित हे वाचा जाली त्यांची ॥१॥
जालें काय ऐसें न कळे कोणासी । म्हणती तुम्हांपासीं देव होता ॥२॥
देवासवें दुःख न पवते ऐसें । कांहीं अनारिसें दिसे आजी ॥३॥
आजि दिसे हरि फांकला यांपाशीं । म्हणउनि ऐशी परि जाली ॥४॥
जाणविल्याविण कैसें कळे त्यांसि । शाहाणे तयांसि कळों आले ॥५॥
कळों आलें तीहीं काफुंदे शांत केला । ठायींचा च त्यांला थोडा होता ॥६॥
होता तो विचार सांगितला जना । गोपाळ शाहाणा होता त्याणें ॥७॥
सांगे आतां हरि तुम्हां आम्हां नाहीं । बुडाला तो डोहीं यमुनेच्या ॥८॥
यासी अवकाश नव्हे चि पुसतां । जालिया अनंता कोण परि ॥९॥
परि त्या दुःखाची काय सांगों आतां । तुका म्हणे माता लोकपाळ ॥१०॥
Literal translation
Gopāḷām ubhaḍu nāvare duḥkhācā — kuṇṭita he vāchā jālī tyāñcī — the gopāḷas' surge of grief is un-bearable; their vāchā has become silent. Jāle kāya aise na kaḷe kōṇāsī — mhaṇatī tumhāmpāsī Deva hōtā — what-happened no-one knows; they say 'Deva was with you'. Devāsave duḥkha na pavate aise — kāmhī anārise dise ājī — with Deva, grief doesn't reach so — something different appears today. Ājī dise Hari phānkalā yāmpāsī — mhaṇaūni aiśī pari jālī — today Hari appears to have faded from them, so this state came. Jāṇaviliyāviṇa kaise kaḷe tyāmsi — śāhāṇe tayāmsi kaḷōm āle — without telling, how-to-know to-them — the wise ones came to know. Kaḷōm āle tīhīm kāphundē śānta kelā — ṭhāyīmcā ca tyāmlā thōḍā hōtā — coming-to-know, they pacified the sob-fit; (there) was-already a little there. Hōtā tō vichāra sāngitalā janā — gopāḷa śāhāṇā hōtā tyāṇe — that thought was told to people; a shrewd gopāḷa was there. Sānge ātām Hari tumhām āmhām nāhī — buḍālā tō ḍōhī Yamunecyā — he says: now Hari is not for you-or-us — drowned in the Yamunā's ḍoha. Yāsī avakāśa navhe ca pusatām — jāliyā Anantā kōṇa pari — no avakāśa (time/leisure) to keep-asking; once Ananta has gone — who else?. Parī tyā duḥkhācī kāya sāngōm ātām — Tukā mhaṇe mātā lōkapāḷa — what shall I say of that grief now — Tukā says: mother(s), lōkapāḷa (community-protectors).
What it means
Mid-narrative panel of Kāḷiyā-mardana. The gopāḷas can't-speak from-grief; the news of 'Hari drowned in Yamunā's ḍoha' finally reaches the town through a śāhāṇā (shrewd) gopāḷa. Tukārām marks the grief of māta-lōkapāḷa (mothers and community-protectors).
For someone today
Tukārām claims: when grief is overwhelming, words stop; the news has-to-be-conveyed by someone-with-presence; community-grief is real.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's Kāḷiyā-mardana mid-narrative
- Grief-paralyzes-vāchā literary moment
- Companion to 4519 and 4521