Abhanga 56
Anger-driven gestures are usually self-harm dressed up as defiance. Look at your own benefit; don't refuse it out of pride.
The verse
तेलनीशीं रुसला वेडा । रागें कोरडें खातो भिडा ॥१॥ आपुलें हित आपण पाही । संकोच तो न धरी कांहीं ॥ध्रु.॥ नावडे लोकां टाकिला गोहो । बोडिले डोकें सांडिला मोहो ॥२॥ शेजारणीच्या गेली रागें । कुत्र्यांनी घर भरिलें मागें ॥३॥ पिसारागें भाजिलें घर । नागविलें तें नेणे फार ॥४॥ तुका म्हणे वांच्या रागें । फेडिलें सावलें देखिलें जगें ॥५॥
Literal translation
English: The fool got cross with the oil-seller-woman; out of anger, eats dry food, cornered. (Tukaram intervenes:) Look after your own benefit; do not hold any reserve. (Examples follow:) She didn't like her husband — abandoned him; shaved her head, gave up the world. She left in anger to the neighbour's — and dogs filled the house she left behind. In mad anger she burned her own house — does not realize how much she has lost. Tuka says: out of spite she lost the shade — the world has seen it.
मराठी: वेडा तेलणीशी रुसला; रागानेच कोरडं भिडून खातो. (तुकाराम सूचना देतात:) आपलं हित आपण पाहा; संकोच धरू नका. लोकांना नवरा आवडला नाही — त्याला सोडलं; डोकं भादरलं, मोह सोडला. रागाने शेजारणीकडे गेली — मागे कुत्र्यांनी घर भरलं. पिसा-रागानं घर जाळलं — किती गमावलं हे कळलं नाही. तुकाराम म्हणतात — वांच्या (पैजेच्या / द्वेषाच्या) रागाने सावली फेडली — जग पाहत आहे.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| तेलनीशीं रुसला वेडा | "the fool got cross with the oil-seller-woman" |
| रागें कोरडें खातो भिडा | "in anger, eats dry food, cornered" |
| आपुलें हित आपण पाही | "look after your own benefit" |
| संकोच तो न धरी कांहीं | "do not hold any reserve / shyness" |
| नावडे लोकां टाकिला गोहो | "(she) didn't like (her husband), abandoned the household" |
| बोडिले डोकें सांडिला मोहो | "shaved the head, gave up the world" (a dramatic renunciation gesture) |
| शेजारणीच्या गेली रागें | "(she) left in anger, to the neighbour's" |
| कुत्र्यांनी घर भरिलें मागें | "(while she was gone) dogs filled the house behind her" |
| पिसारागें भाजिलें घर | "in mad anger she set fire to the house" |
| नागविलें तें नेणे फार | "she does not realize how much she has lost" |
| वांच्या रागें फेडिलें सावलें | "out of grudge / spite, lost the shade" |
| देखिलें जगें | "the world has seen (it)" |
What it means
This is Tukaram's comic-satirical register again (after 0036) — pure social-criticism through escalating absurdity. The structure is a cascade of spite-gestures, each more self-harming than the last: - Quarrels with the oil-seller → eats dry food (denied himself oil) - Doesn't like the husband → abandoned, shaved head, took to wandering - Got angry at the neighbor → went there in spite, while at home dogs ran amok - In rage burned her own house → still doesn't see how much she lost - The closing image: लोक पाहतोय — the world is watching the absurdity
The structural teaching is the refrain: आपुलें हित आपण पाही, संकोच तो न धरी कांहीं — look after your own benefit; don't hold reserve. The anger-gestures are self-harming; the spite-cascade always ends with the angry one having lost more than the target. [T] [Tradition]
For someone today
English: Tukaram is offering a comic mirror for the spite-cascade pattern: each gesture of anger toward someone else hurts you more than them, and the pattern compounds. The oil-seller still has her shop; the angry man has only dry food. The neighbor's house still has its furniture; your house has dogs. Burned-down house: theirs still standing. The verses are funny because the pattern is universal and clear once shown.
The corrective is the refrain: आपुलें हित आपण पाही — look after your own benefit. This is not selfishness; it is not letting spite obscure your own well-being. The angry move feels like power; usually it is the surrender of your own well-being for the satisfaction of a gesture. Tukaram's claim: stop. The other person is mostly fine. You are the one with dry food and a house full of dogs.
मराठी: तुकाराम द्वेष-झंझा नमुन्याचा कॉमिक आरसा देत आहेत: इतर कुणावर केलेली प्रत्येक रागाची हालचाल त्यांच्यापेक्षा तुम्हाला जास्त दुखवते — आणि नमुना वाढत जातो. तेलणीचं दुकान अजून सुरू; रागावलेल्या माणसाकडे फक्त कोरडं अन्न. शेजारणीचं घर तसंच; तुमच्या घरात कुत्रे. जळालं घर — त्यांचं अजून उभं. ओव्या मजेदार आहेत कारण नमुना दिसल्यावर सार्वत्रिक आणि स्पष्ट होतो.
सुधारणा refrain मध्ये: आपुलें हित आपण पाही. हे selfishness नाही — द्वेष तुमच्या स्वतःच्या भल्याला झाकू देऊ नका. रागाची हालचाल power वाटते; बहुतेक ती एका हालचालीच्या समाधानासाठी स्वतःच्या भल्याची surrender. तुकारामांचा दावा: थांबा. दुसरी व्यक्ती बहुधा बरी आहे. तुम्हीच आहात कोरडं अन्न खाणारा आणि कुत्र्यांचं घर असलेला.
Where this applies
- When you're refusing something good because you're angry at the giver. Refusal hurts you, not them.
- When spite-gestures are compounding. Notice the cascade. Each one made it worse.
- When you watch someone destroy their own home in stages out of anger. Tukaram's satire is the gentle mirror.