संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 88 of 4582

Abhanga 88

Joy is grain-sized; sorrow is mountain-sized. Half of life goes to night; childhood and old-age take more. Hold the saint's word in the small remainder.

When you tally honest life-math and notice how small the productive remainder is — and you have to decide what to do with it

When you've been pretending sorrows are smaller than joys — and you have to face Tukaram's actual proportions

When you're tempted to waste a year on something incidental — and you remember the math

The verse

सुख पाहतां जवापाडें । दुःख पर्वता एवढें ॥१॥ धरीं धरीं आठवण । मानीं संताचें वचन ॥ध्रु.॥ नेलें रात्रीनें तें अर्धें । बाळपण जराव्याधें ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे पुढा । घाणा जुंती जसी मूढा ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: Looking at it: joy is grain-sized, sorrow is mountain-sized. Hold this in mind; honor the saint's word. Half of life is taken by night; childhood, age, and illness take more. Tuka says: the fool yokes himself to the mill (= worldly business) like a beast.

मराठी: बघितलं तर — सुख जवापाडें (दाण्याएवढं), दुःख पर्वता एवढं. ही आठवण धर, धर — संताचं वचन मान. रात्रीने अर्धं नेलं; बाळपण-जरा-व्याधी (आणखी). तुकाराम म्हणतात — पुढं घाण्याला जुंपतो — जनावरासारखा मूढ.

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
सुख पाहतां जवापाडें	"looking at joy — grain-sized" (जवापाडें = the size of a grain)
दुःख पर्वता एवढें	"sorrow — mountain-sized"
धरीं धरीं आठवण	"hold (this) in mind, hold it"
मानीं संताचें वचन	"honor the saint's word"
नेलें रात्रीनें तें अर्धें	"the night took half (of life)"
बाळपण जराव्याधें	"childhood, age, illness (took more)"
पुढा घाणा जुंती जसी मूढा	"the fool yokes (himself) to the (oil-)mill, like a beast"

What it means

A short life-math abhang. Tukaram's count: joy = grain-sized, sorrow = mountain-sized. Half of life is night-sleep. Childhood and old-age-illness take more. The remainder — the productive-aware-life — is small. The fool yokes that small remainder to the oil-mill (the worldly business that grinds endlessly without product). The structural argument: the time available for spiritual life is quantitatively small, so do not waste it. Hold the saint's word in the small remainder. [T]

For someone today

The math is uncomfortable when honest. Joy moments are tiny relative to sorrow. Half of every day is unconscious sleep. Childhood and old age are not productive in the same way as middle years. The actual available years are far fewer than the lifespan suggests. Tukaram's claim: do not give the small remainder to the oil-mill of incidental business. Hold the saint's word during what is actually available. The math is the prayer-frame.

मराठी: प्रामाणिक केल्यावर गणित अस्वस्थ करतं. सुखाचे क्षण दुःखाच्या तुलनेत छोटे. प्रत्येक दिवसाचा अर्धा भाग बेशुद्ध झोप. बाळपण आणि म्हातारपण मध्यवयीसारखे productive नाहीत. प्रत्यक्ष उपलब्ध वर्षं आयुष्याहून खूप कमी. तुकारामांचा दावा: तो लहान शिल्लक incidental business च्या घाण्याला देऊ नका. उपलब्ध काळात संताचं वचन धरा. गणितच prayer-frame आहे.

Where this applies

Honest life-math. Joy grain-sized, sorrow mountain. Productive remainder small.
Pretending the proportions are reverse. Tukaram's count holds.
Yoking a year to incidental. घाणा जुंती जसी मूढा. Don't.