Abhanga 61
Treating another's wife as mother. Not slandering. Saying the name. Trusting the saint. Speaking truth. Each costs nothing — yet you avoid them. Tell me what they cost?
The verse
पराविया नारी माउलीसमान । मानिलिया धन काय वेचे ॥१॥ न करितां परनिंदा द्रव्य अभिलाष । काय तुमचें यास वेचे सांगा ॥ध्रु.॥ बैसलिये ठायी म्हणतां रामराम । काय होय श्रम ऐसें सांगा ॥२॥ संताचे वचनीं मानितां विश्वास । काय तुमचें यास वेचे सांगा ॥३॥ खरें बोलतां कोण लागती सायास । काय वेचे यास ऐसें सांगा ॥४॥ तुका म्हणे देव जोडे याचसाटीं । आणीक ते आटी न लगे कांहीं ॥५॥
Literal translation
English: If we treat another's wife as our mother — what wealth does that cost? Not slandering others, not lusting after wealth — what does it cost you, tell me. Sitting wherever, saying Rāma-Rāma — what effort is that, tell me. Trusting the saint's word — what does it cost you, tell me. Speaking truth — what effort does it take, tell me. Tuka says: God is found by just this. No other effort is needed at all.
मराठी: परस्त्रीला मातेसमान मानलं तर तुमचं धन काय खर्च होतं? परनिंदा न करता, द्रव्याचा अभिलाष न ठेवता — तुमचं काय खर्च होतं, सांगा. बसल्या ठिकाणी राम-राम म्हटला तर श्रम काय? — सांगा. संताच्या वचनावर विश्वास ठेवला तर तुमचं काय खर्च होतं — सांगा. खरं बोलायला कोणते सायास लागतात — सांगा. तुकाराम म्हणतात — देव यानेच मिळतो; दुसरी कुठलीही आटी लागत नाही.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| पराविया नारी माउलीसमान | "another's wife — equal-to-mother" |
| मानिलिया धन काय वेचे | "if (we) consider (her so), what is the wealth-cost?" |
| न करितां परनिंदा | "not doing slander-of-others" |
| द्रव्य अभिलाष | "lust for wealth" |
| काय तुमचें यास वेचे सांगा | "what does this cost you, tell me" (refrain) |
| बैसलिये ठायी म्हणतां रामराम | "while just sitting, saying Rama-Rama" |
| संताचे वचनीं मानितां विश्वास | "trusting the saint's word" |
| खरें बोलतां कोण लागती सायास | "what effort does speaking-truth require?" |
| देव जोडे याचसाटीं | "God is found by just this" |
| आणीक ते आटी न लगे कांहीं | "no other effort is needed at all" |
What it means
This is one of Tukaram's most-cited accessibility-of-bhakti abhangs. The structure is a cost-accounting argument: each verse names a small ethical practice and asks what does it cost you? Five practices: (1) treating another's wife as mother; (2) not slandering, not lusting; (3) saying Rāma-Rāma while sitting; (4) trusting the saint's word; (5) speaking truth. The cost in each case: nothing. Yet these are precisely the practices people avoid. The closing line: देव जोडे याचसाटीं, आणीक ते आटी न लगे कांहीं — God is found by just this; no other effort is needed at all. [T] [Tradition]
The mother-frame in verse 1 is theologically dense. पराविया नारी माउलीसमान — another's wife as mother — is not asexual; it is recategorizing the relational position. The same body that desire-frames as object becomes, under the mother-frame, kin. The reframe is itself the practice. [T]
For someone today
English: This abhang is the demolition of every "I'd practice if only I had X" excuse. The practices Tukaram names are: not lusting in your gaze, not slandering, saying the name while seated, trusting wise teaching, speaking truth. None require time, money, retreat, or special skill. Each is available right now. The reason most of us avoid them is not that they're hard — they're not. It's that we prefer the lust, the slander, the lie. Tukaram's argument is precise: name the cost of giving them up. The honest answer is nothing. Then ask why we're holding on to them.
The structural claim — देव जोडे याचसाटीं — God is found by just this — is uncomfortable. It removes every advanced-practice claim. The deepest practice is also the simplest practice. The yogis with their disciplines and the scholars with their books are not closer than the householder who treats women as mothers and speaks truth. The accessibility is not a consolation prize for those without time to retreat; it is the actual claim.
मराठी: ही ओवी "मला X असता तर मी साधना केली असती" अशा प्रत्येक बहाण्याची demolition आहे. तुकाराम जी साधना सांगतात: नजरेत वासना नाही, निंदा नाही, बसताना नाम म्हणणं, विद्वान शिकवणीवर विश्वास, सत्य बोलणं. कुठल्याही गोष्टीला वेळ, पैसे, retreat, विशेष कौशल्य लागत नाही. प्रत्येक आत्ता उपलब्ध. आपण हे टाळतो ते कठीण म्हणून नाही — ते कठीण नाहीत. आपण वासना, निंदा, खोटं पसंत करतो. तुकारामांचा argument अचूक: हे सोडण्याचा खर्च नाव सांगा. प्रामाणिक उत्तर — काही नाही. मग ते का धरून ठेवतो विचारा.
रचनात्मक दावा — देव जोडे याचसाटीं — अस्वस्थ करणारा. प्रत्येक advanced-practice दावा हटतो. खोल साधना तीच सोपी साधना. योगी आणि विद्वान — गृहस्थापेक्षा जवळ नाहीत — गृहस्थ जो स्त्रियांना माता मानतो आणि सत्य बोलतो. accessibility हे retreat नसलेल्यांसाठी consolation prize नाही — खरा दावा तोच आहे.
Where this applies
- When you've been telling yourself you'd practice if only. Tukaram's practices are free. The if-only is excuse, not constraint.
- When you find yourself slandering or lusting. What does not doing it cost? Nothing. So why?
- When you're in the presence of someone you'd be tempted to objectify. Mother-frame. Cost: zero.