Abhanga 121
This abhang names a precise category of bad counsel: counsel that is structurally not-wrong but catastrophically wrong-timed. The senile elder's curses are valid at a funeral; at a wedding, they are catastrophic. Modern application: the relative who lectures about money at a funeral; the friend who gives career-advice during a breakup; the priest who recites mortality-verses at a baby-shower. Tukaram is plain: even valid words can be aviveki (un-discerning) when timed wrong. The cure is सम्य (timing-awareness) — knowing what is appropriate at this hour.
The verse
मांडवाच्या दारा । पुढें आणिला म्हातारा ॥१॥ म्हणे नवरी आणा रांड । जाळा नवर्याचें तोंड ॥ध्रु.॥ समय न कळे । काय उपयोगीं ये वेळे ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे खरा । येथूनिया दूर करा ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: The elder was brought to the door of the wedding-canopy. He says: "bring the bride, the wretched-one — burn the groom's face!" He does not know the moment — what is appropriate at this hour. Tuka says: the genuine man — keep him far from such a one.
मराठी: मांडवाच्या दारी म्हाताऱ्याला आणला. तो म्हणतो — "नवरी रांड आणा — नवऱ्याचं तोंड जाळा!" समय कळत नाही — या वेळी काय उपयोगी? तुकाराम म्हणतात — खरा माणूस — त्याच्यापासून दूर करा.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| मांडवाच्या दारा पुढें आणिला म्हातारा | "the elder was brought to the door of the wedding-canopy" |
| म्हणे नवरी आणा रांड | "he says — bring the bride, the wretched-one (slur)" |
| जाळा नवर्याचें तोंड | "burn the groom's face" |
| समय न कळे | "(he) does not know the moment" |
| काय उपयोगीं ये वेळे | "what is useful at this hour" |
| खरा येथूनिया दूर करा | "the genuine — keep (him) far from this place" |
What it means
A satirical-image abhang. The figure: a senile elder is wheeled into a wedding — the most auspicious occasion in the household — and starts shouting curses at the bride (the slur रांड) and demanding the groom's face be burned. The verses he is using might be appropriate at a funeral — but he can't tell the events apart. The structural claim: समय न कळे, काय उपयोगीं ये वेळे — he doesn't know the time; what is useful in this moment. Wisdom-out-of-time becomes its opposite. The closing — खरा येथूनिया दूर करा — keep the genuine away from such a one — extends the warning: time-blind elders contaminate the genuine. [T]
For someone today
This abhang names a precise category of bad counsel: counsel that is structurally not-wrong but catastrophically wrong-timed. The senile elder's curses are valid at a funeral; at a wedding, they are catastrophic. Modern application: the relative who lectures about money at a funeral; the friend who gives career-advice during a breakup; the priest who recites mortality-verses at a baby-shower. Tukaram is plain: even valid words can be aviveki (un-discerning) when timed wrong. The cure is सम्य (timing-awareness) — knowing what is appropriate at this hour.
The harder application: notice when you are the wrong-time-elder. About to give an unsolicited correction at a celebration; about to share a serious truth in someone's relief-moment; about to lecture a child during a break-down. Pause. Ask समय कळे?
मराठी: ही ओवी एक precise category of bad counsel नाव सांगते: counsel जो structurally चूक नाही पण catastrophically चुकीच्या वेळी. म्हाताऱ्याची शिव्या अंत्यविधीला योग्य; लग्नात catastrophic. आधुनिक lागू: अंत्यविधीला पैशांचं lecture देणारा relative; ब्रेकअपच्या वेळी career-advice देणारा मित्र; baby-shower ला mortality-verses म्हणणारा पुजारी. तुकाराम स्पष्ट: valid शब्दसुद्धा अविवेकी — चुकीच्या वेळी. उपाय समय (timing-awareness) — या वेळी काय योग्य कळणं.
कठीण lागू: तुम्ही कधी wrong-time-elder आहात ते लक्षात घ्या. celebration मध्ये unsolicited correction देणार; कुणाच्या relief क्षणात serious truth share करणार; मुलाच्या break-down मध्ये lecture देणार. थांबा. विचारा — समय कळे?
Where this applies
- Structurally-correct but catastrophically-wrong-timed advice. Decline.
- Elder contributing wrong things to a celebration. Find the words.
- You about to give unwanted ill-timed counsel. समय कळे?