Abhanga 116
This abhang offers a self-diagnostic and an other-diagnostic. Self: when you find yourself emoting in a spiritual context, ask what you are actually grieving. The grief is real; the question is whether it is for what you are appearing to grieve. The puranika's listener is not faking the tears; he is redirecting tears about a real goat-loss to a performance about a sermon. Other: when someone's emotional display feels heavy but not quite right, look for the real loss underneath. भाव पोटीं — the actual feeling in the gut — eventually surfaces in detail. The honest move is naming what is actually being grieved, in self and (carefully) in others.
The verse
देखोनि पुराणिकांची दाढी । रडे स्फुंदे नाक ओढी ॥१॥ प्रेम खरें दिसे जना । भिन्न अंतरीं भावना ॥ध्रु.॥ आवरितां नावरे । खुर आठवी नेवरे ॥२॥ बोलों नयें मुखावाटां । म्हणे होतां ब्यांचा तोटा ॥३॥ दोन्ही सिंगें चारी पाय । खुणा दावी म्हणे होय ॥४॥ मना आणितां बोकड । मेला त्याची चरफड ॥५॥ होता भाव पोटीं । मुखा आलासे शेवटीं ॥६॥ तुका म्हणे कुडें । कळों येतें तें रोकडें ॥७॥
Literal translation
English: Seeing the puranika's (long) beard — he weeps, sobs, sniffs his nose. Love looks real to people; (but) inside, the feeling is different. (He) cannot hold it back — he is remembering hooves and ears. He cannot say it by mouth — but says "there has been a loss". Two horns, four legs — making signs, he says "yes". Remembering his dead goat, his lament wells up. The feeling inside comes to the mouth at the end. Tuka says: falsity is recognized — in cash, immediately.
मराठी: पुराणिकांची दाढी पाहून — रडतो, स्फुंदतो, नाक ओढतो. लोकांना प्रेम खरं वाटतं — पण आतली भावना भिन्न. आवरत नाही — खुर-नेवरे आठवतात. तोंडाने बोलू शकत नाही — म्हणतो बकऱ्याचा तोटा झाला. दोन्ही शिंगं, चार पाय — खुणा करत म्हणतो होय. मनात बोकड — मेल्याची चरफड. आतला भाव शेवटी मुखाला येतो. तुकाराम म्हणतात — कुडं रोकडं कळतं.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| देखोनि पुराणिकांची दाढी | "seeing the puranika's beard" |
| रडे स्फुंदे नाक ओढी | "(he) weeps, sobs, draws the nose" |
| प्रेम खरें दिसे जना | "love appears real to the people" |
| भिन्न अंतरीं भावना | "(but) different is the feeling inside" |
| खुर आठवी नेवरे | "he remembers (the goat's) hooves, ears" |
| बोलों नयें मुखावाटां | "he cannot say (it) by mouth" |
| म्हणे होतां ब्यांचा तोटा | "(he) says — there has been a loss of (a goat)" |
| दोन्ही सिंगें चारी पाय | "two horns, four legs" |
| मना आणितां बोकड मेला त्याची चरफड | "remembering his (dead) goat, (he is) wailing" |
| भाव पोटीं मुखा आलासे शेवटीं | "the bhava in the gut comes to the mouth at the end" |
| तुका म्हणे कुडें कळों येतें तें रोकडें | "Tuka says: falsity is recognized in cash" |
What it means
A brilliant satirical abhang. The setting: a puranika (storyteller of religious texts) is delivering a sermon; one listener weeps copiously, sobs, performs grief. Audience reads it as deep devotional emotion. Inside, he is remembering his missing goats — their hooves, ears, two horns, four legs. The grief is real — but it is grief for the dead goat, not for the deity. The structural claim: भाव पोटीं मुखा आलासे शेवटीं — the feeling in the gut comes to the mouth at the end. Whatever you actually grieve will leak out, regardless of what you perform. The closing — कुडें कळों येतें तें रोकडें — falsity is recognized in cash, immediately — names what Tukaram is doing in this very abhang: the falseness is exposed by detail. [T]
For someone today
This abhang offers a self-diagnostic and an other-diagnostic. Self: when you find yourself emoting in a spiritual context, ask what you are actually grieving. The grief is real; the question is whether it is for what you are appearing to grieve. The puranika's listener is not faking the tears; he is redirecting tears about a real goat-loss to a performance about a sermon. Other: when someone's emotional display feels heavy but not quite right, look for the real loss underneath. भाव पोटीं — the actual feeling in the gut — eventually surfaces in detail. The honest move is naming what is actually being grieved, in self and (carefully) in others.
मराठी: ही ओवी self-diagnostic आणि other-diagnostic देते. Self: आध्यात्मिक context मध्ये भावना दाखवताना विचारा — खरंच कशाचा शोक? शोक खरा; प्रश्न हा की तो आपण दाखवतो त्याचा आहे का. पुराणिकाचा श्रोता अश्रू बनवत नाहीये — खऱ्या बोकड-तोट्याचे अश्रू sermon-performance कडे redirect करतोय. Other: कुणाचं emotional display heavy पण योग्य न वाटणारं — खाली खरा तोटा शोधा. भाव पोटीं — पोटातला खरा भाव — तपशीलात बाहेर येतो. प्रामाणिक हालचाल — खरंच कशाचा शोक होतोय ते नाव सांगणं, स्वतःत आणि (काळजीपूर्वक) इतरांत.
Where this applies
- Performance grief in spiritual context. Real loss is somewhere else.
- Your own emotion not for what it appears. Be honest. The goat-loss matters; just name it.
- Heavy but off display from someone else. Look for the actual loss.