संत साहित्य
Work in progress. Translations and commentary are AI-generated and may contain inaccuracies or hallucinations — please use your own judgement and check against the original sources.

Abhanga 77

Sometimes the wicked person is one whose mother once welcomed his birth as joy. The pattern can be recognized early — but often is not. The earth shakes from such a one's weight; his body is destined for hell.

When you suspect someone close has the pattern but you don't want to admit it — and you have to face it
When a parent is in denial about a child's pattern — and you have to find words
When you have to accept that some early-celebrated lives become harm-spreading later

The verse

देखोनि हरखली अंड । पुत्र जाला म्हणे रांड ॥ तंव तो जाला भांड । चाहाड चोर शिंदळ ॥१॥ जाय तिकडे पीडी लोकां । जोडी भांडवल थुंका ॥ थोर जाला चुका । वर कां नाहीं घातली ॥ध्रु.॥ भूमि कांपे त्याच्या भारें । कुंभपाकाचीं शरीरें ॥ निष्टुर उत्तरें । पापदृष्टी मळिणचित्त ॥२॥ दुराचारी तो चांडाळ । पाप सांगातें विटाळ ॥ तुका म्हणे खळ । म्हणोनियां निषद्धि तो ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: Seeing him, the womb rejoiced — the woman said "a son is born." But he became a quarreler, gossip, thief, fornicator. Wherever he goes, he troubles people; gathers spit-as-capital. The great mistake — why was no curse placed (early)? The earth shakes from his weight; his body is destined for kumbhīpāka. Harsh words, sinful gaze, impure heart. The depraved is a chandala — sin and impurity are his companions. Tuka says: depraved — therefore forbidden.

मराठी: पाहून मातेची कूख हर्षली — "पुत्र जाला" म्हणाली स्त्री. पण तो भांड-चाहाड-चोर-शिंदळ झाला. जातो तिथे लोकांना त्रास; भांडवल थुंका. मोठी चूक — सुरुवातीलाच का घातलं नाही? भूमी त्याच्या भाराने कांपते; कुंभपाकाची शरीरं. निष्ठुर उत्तरं, पापी दृष्टी, मळीन चित्त. दुराचारी तोच चांडाळ; पाप-विटाळ सांगाती. तुकाराम म्हणतात — खळ — म्हणून निषिद्ध.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
देखोनि हरखली अंड "seeing (him), the womb rejoiced"
पुत्र जाला म्हणे रांड "the woman said: 'a son has come!'"
जाला भांड चाहाड चोर शिंदळ "(he) became a quarreller, gossip, thief, fornicator"
पीडी लोकां जोडी भांडवल थुंका "harms people; gathers spit-as-capital"
थोर जाला चुका वर कां नाहीं घातली "the great mistake — why was no curse / discipline placed (early)?"
भूमि कांपे त्याच्या भारें "the earth shakes from his weight"
कुंभपाकाचीं शरीरें "(his) body destined for kumbhīpāka (a specific hell)"
दुराचारी तो चांडाळ "the depraved is a chandala"
पाप सांगातें विटाळ "sin and impurity are his companions"
खळ म्हणोनियां निषद्धि तो "depraved — therefore forbidden"

What it means

Continuation of 0075's harsh portrait, with the added biographical layer: the wicked person was once a celebrated newborn. The mother rejoiced at his birth; the lineage gathered to bless him; he turned out to be a quarreler, gossip, thief, fornicator. The verse थोर जाला चुका वर कां नाहीं घातलीthe great mistake — why no curse was placed (early)? — is the abhang's cutting line: someone should have recognized the pattern in time. The pattern is recognizable, but is often missed because the family is invested in the welcome-narrative. [T]

For someone today

This abhang is for the moment when you suspect someone you've welcomed (a child, a sibling, a family member) has the pattern Tukaram describes — and you've been refusing to see it because you helped welcome them. The honest thing the abhang allows: recognize earlier, not later. The early recognition saves the world from the harm; late recognition only confirms what others have suffered. The mother who said "पुत्र जाला" and the relatives who blessed could have, in time, named what was emerging. The not-naming is the abhang's mistake.

The harder application: parents in denial about their child's pattern. The abhang permits — even instructs — early correction. The denial is not compassion; it is paap-sangāte vitāḷ in slow motion.

मराठी: ही ओवी अशा क्षणासाठी जेव्हा तुम्ही ज्याचं स्वागत केलं (मूल, भावंड, कुटुंबीय) त्याच्यात तुकाराम वर्णिलेला pattern दिसतो — आणि तुम्ही ते बघायला नकार देत आहात कारण तुम्ही त्याचं स्वागत केलं होतं. ओवी जे प्रामाणिक वागायला परवानगी देते: लवकर ओळखा, उशीर नको. लवकर ओळख जगाला हानीपासून वाचवते; उशीराची ओळख फक्त इतरांनी सोसलेलं confirm करते.

कठीण लागू: मुलाच्या pattern बद्दल पालकांचा denial. ओवी लवकर सुधारणा परवानगी देते — अगदी सूचना. denial करुणा नाही; तो पाप-संगाते विटाळ slow motion मध्ये.

Where this applies

Related verses