Abhanga 31
After speaking, hand the result over. The witness is finished; the witness's job was to speak it, not to control how it lands.
The verse
न बोलतां तुम्हां कळों न ये गुज । म्हणउनी लाज सांडियेली ॥१॥ आतां तुम्हां पुढें जोडीतसें हात । नका कोणी अंत पाहों माझा ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे आम्ही बैसलों शेजारीं । करील तें हरी पाहों आतां ॥३॥ ॥२५॥
(Source: transliteral.org Sant Tukaram Gatha, abhang 31. Twenty-fifth and final in the 0007-0031 gopī-narrative arc — the gatha itself marks this with ॥२५॥.)
Literal translation
English: Without speaking, the secret cannot become known to you — and so I have set shame aside. Now I join my hands before you: do not put me to the test, any of you. Tuka says: I have taken my seat beside Him; we shall see now what Hari does.
मराठी: न बोलल्याशिवाय गुज तुम्हाला कळत नाही — म्हणून मी लाज सोडली आहे. आता तुमच्यासमोर हात जोडते — कोणी माझा अंत पाहू नका. तुकाराम म्हणतात — मी (हरीच्या) शेजारी बसले आहे; आता हरी काय करतो ते पाहू.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| न बोलतां तुम्हां कळों न ये गुज | "without speaking, the secret cannot become known to you" (गुज = secret, mystery) |
| म्हणउनी लाज सांडियेली | "and so I have abandoned shame" |
| आतां तुम्हां पुढें जोडीतसें हात | "now I join my hands before you" (the namaskāra gesture — hands together at the chest) |
| नका कोणी अंत पाहों माझा | "do not (any of you) put me to the test now" (अंत पाहणे = to test, to push to the limit) |
| बैसलों शेजारीं | "I have sat down beside (Him)" |
| करील तें हरी पाहों आतां | "now we shall see what Hari does" |
What it means
The arc closes. न बोलतां तुम्हां कळों न ये गुज — without speaking, the secret cannot reach you — is the speaker's reason for the entire 25-abhang testimony. She has been speaking because the silence would have prevented the secret from arriving in the listener. Verse 2 names her exhaustion: hands joined in petition, नका कोणी अंत पाहों माझा — don't push me further. She has said all she had to say. Verse 3 hands the result over: करील तें हरी पाहों आतां — we shall see what Hari does now. The witness has done her job; the outcome is no longer hers to manage. [T]
The marker ॥२५॥ at the end of the abhang is the gatha's own structural punctuation: here ends a section of 25. The opening of the gatha is, by its own arrangement, this 25-abhang testimony.
For someone today
English: This abhang names the moment after you have spoken something you held back for a long time — and the next move is not yours. The temptation in the wake of any major disclosure is to keep talking, to manage how it is received, to clarify, to defend. Tukaram's verse is the alternative: hands joined, don't push me further, and let's see what Hari does with it. The work of testimony is in the speaking; the result is in other hands.
This applies to confessions, to coming-out, to telling a difficult truth to family, to publishing a piece of writing, to showing your art. The hardest discipline after the speaking is handing the result over. You said it because the silence would have failed; the saying is now done; the response is not yours to control.
मराठी: ही ओवी अशा क्षणासाठी आहे जेव्हा तुम्ही खूप वेळ धरून ठेवलेलं काहीतरी आत्ताच बोलून टाकलंय — आणि पुढची हालचाल तुमची नाही. कोणत्याही मोठ्या उघडपणा-नंतर मोह असतो — बोलत राहायचा, ते कसं घेतलं जातंय हे manage करायचा, स्पष्टीकरण द्यायचा, बचाव करायचा. तुकारामांची ओवी पर्याय आहे: हात जोडले, आता अंत पाहू नका, आणि हरी काय करतो ते बघू. साक्ष देण्याचं काम बोलण्यात आहे; निकाल इतर हातांत आहे.
हे लागू होतं — कबुली, सत्य उघड करणं, कुटुंबाला कठीण सत्य सांगणं, लेखन प्रकाशित करणं, कला दाखवणं. बोलण्यानंतरची सर्वात कठीण शिस्त — निकाल देऊन टाकणं. तुम्ही बोलला कारण मूकपणा अपयशी ठरला असता; बोलणं आता पूर्ण; प्रतिसाद तुमच्या हातात नाही.
Where this applies
- When you have just spoken something true that you held back. Stop. Hands joined. Let the speaking-finish be the finish.
- When the listener's response is out of your hands. Tukaram's words are the script: don't push me further; let us see what Hari does.
- When you have done what you came to do. The next step is waiting. करील तें हरी पाहों आतां.