Abhanga 60
When you have nothing the thief wants, the thief runs from your door. Voluntary poverty is the house that can't be broken into.
The verse
आम्ही सदैव सुडके । जवळीं येतां चोर धाके ॥ जाऊं पुडी भिकें । कुतरीं घर राखती ॥१॥ नांदणूक ऐसी सांगा । नाहीं तरी वांयां भागा ॥ थोरपण अंगा । तरी ऐसें आणावें ॥ध्रु.॥ अक्षय साचार । केलें सायासांनी घर ॥ एरंडसिंवार । दुजा भार न साहती ॥२॥ धन कण घरोघरीं । पोट भरे भिकेवरी ॥ जतन तीं करी । कोण गुरें वासरें ॥३॥ जाली सकळ निश्चिंती । भांडवल शेण माती ॥ झळझळीत भिंती । वृंदावनें तुळसीचीं ॥४॥ तुका म्हणे देवा । अवघा निरविला हेवा ॥ कुटुंबाची सेवा । तो चि करी आमुच्या ॥५॥
Literal translation
English: We are perpetually patched-up; as a thief approaches, he runs from our door. We go ahead begging; the dogs guard the house. This is living, do tell — otherwise your turn was wasted. Bigness — if it is in you, show it like this. We have built an imperishable house with effort — only erand-grass grows; no other burden could rest on it. Wealth-and-grain are in (other) people's houses; we eat by begging. Cows-and-calves keep watch — who needs to guard? All our anxiety is gone — our capital is dung-and-dust. The walls glow — they are the tulsi-vrindavans. Tuka says: O God, all rivalry is laid aside. He Himself does our family's service.
मराठी: आम्ही सदैव सुडके; चोर जवळ येतो आणि घाबरून पळतो. आम्ही पुढे जाऊन भीक मागतो; कुत्रे घर राखतात. ही नांदणूक — हे जगणं — सांगा; नाहीतर वारी वाया गेली. थोरपण अंगात असेल तर — असं आणून दाखवा. अक्षय खरं घर सायासांनी बांधलं — एरंड-सिंवार; दुसरा भार न पेलणारं. इतरांच्या घरी धन-कण; आम्हाला भिकेवर पोट भरतं. गुरं-वासरं — कोण जतन करेल? सगळी निश्चिंती झाली — भांडवल शेण-माती. भिंती झळझळतात — तुळसी-वृंदावनं. तुकाराम म्हणतात — देवा, अवघा हेवा निरविला; आमच्या कुटुंबाची सेवा तोच करतो.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| आम्ही सदैव सुडके | "we are always patched / poorly-clothed" |
| जवळीं येतां चोर धाके | "as a thief approaches, he runs in fear" (i.e., there's nothing here to steal) |
| जाऊं पुडी भिकें | "we go ahead, begging" (पुडी = forward) |
| कुतरीं घर राखती | "dogs guard the house" |
| थोरपण अंगा तरी ऐसें आणावें | "if you have bigness, bring it (out) like this" |
| अक्षय साचार केलें सायासांनी घर | "an imperishable, true house — built with effort" |
| एरंडसिंवार दुजा भार न साहती | "(only) erand-grass and bushes; no other burden it can bear" |
| धन कण घरोघरीं | "wealth and grain in (other) houses" |
| जतन तीं करी कोण | "who would keep watch?" |
| भांडवल शेण माती | "(our) capital is dung and dust" |
| झळझळीत भिंती वृंदावनें तुळसीचीं | "the walls glow — tulsi-vrindavans" |
| अवघा निरविला हेवा | "all rivalry has been resolved" (निरवणे = to lay aside, settle) |
| कुटुंबाची सेवा तो चि करी आमुच्या | "He himself does our family's service" |
What it means
This is a long comic-autobiographical voluntary-poverty abhang. The core argument is structural: when you have nothing, the things that pursue people-with-things stop pursuing you. The thief runs from your door (no point breaking in). The dogs guard your house (because you don't need a guard). The cows-and-calves watch over themselves (nothing to lose). Anxiety has dissolved because भांडवल शेण माती — the capital is dung and dust. The walls glow because they are not walls in the wealth sense — they are the tulsi-pots. The whole arrangement is the opposite of how a wealthy household is structured, and Tukaram is claiming it is more secure, not less. [T]
The closing — कुटुंबाची सेवा तो चि करी आमुच्या — He himself does our family's service — names the bhakta's invisible economic engine. The family that has chosen this kind of poverty is not abandoned; the deity serves them. The reversal is precise: the bhakta does not serve God; God serves the bhakta. [T] [Tradition]
For someone today
English: This abhang is permission to be less than the world expects you to be. The voluntarily-poor household that Tukaram describes is not pitiable; it is unbreakable. The thief runs because there is nothing to take; the worry runs because there is nothing to lose. The capital is dung and dust — and the walls glow with tulsi-light. By worldly standards this is failure. By the abhang's standards this is the most secure form a household can take.
The deeper teaching: कुटुंबाची सेवा तो चि करी आमुच्या. The household that has chosen this poverty is served by the deity, not abandoned by it. This is not a financial-planning claim; it is a structural one. Whatever sustains the bhakta's household when wealth is gone is the deity's continuing service. If you have chosen less and the household is sustaining — note who is doing the sustaining.
मराठी: ही ओवी जगाला अपेक्षित आहे त्यापेक्षा कमी असण्याची परवानगी आहे. तुकारामांनी वर्णन केलेलं स्वेच्छा-गरीब कुटुंब दीन नाही; अभेद्य आहे. चोर पळतो कारण घ्यायला काही नाही; काळजी पळते कारण गमावायला काही नाही. भांडवल शेण-माती; भिंती तुळसी-प्रकाशाने झळझळतात. जागिक standards नुसार हे अपयश. ओवीच्या standards नुसार हे कुटुंबाचं सर्वात सुरक्षित रूप.
खोल शिकवण: कुटुंबाची सेवा तो चि करी आमुच्या. ज्या कुटुंबाने ही गरीबी निवडली त्याची सेवा देव करतो, ते सोडलं जात नाही. हे financial-planning नाही — रचनात्मक दावा. wealth गेल्यावर bhakta चं कुटुंब टिकतं ते देवाच्या चालू सेवेमुळे. तुम्ही कमी निवडलं आणि कुटुंब टिकत आहे — कोण ते टिकवत आहे ते लक्षात घ्या.
Where this applies
- When you've chosen less and people are pitying you. They don't see what you've gained — but Tukaram does.
- When the dread of not enough is keeping you up. Tukaram's claim: when there is nothing to lose, the dread runs.
- When you find yourself unburdened invisibly. Trust the quiet contentment. Note the deity's quiet service.