Abhanga 126
This abhang offers two diagnostics. Self: if your public-narrative and your household-reality don't match, the rot is happening at the gap. The cure is not better public-narrative; it is fixing the household. Other: when someone offers public-greatness, ask the question Tukaram implicitly asks — can I go home with him? If the taking-home is something they avoid, the greatness is external-only, and the household-rot is the actual measure. आम्ही जाणों त्या प्रमाण — be among the not-deceivable.
The verse
घरीं रांडा पोरें मरती उपवासीं । सांगे लोकांपासीं थोरपण ॥१॥ नेऊनियां घरा दाखवावें काय । काळतोंडा जाय चुकावूनि ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे आम्ही जाणों त्या प्रमाण । ठकावे हे जन तैसे नहों ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: Women and children at home dying of hunger — yet he tells outsiders his greatness. What is there to show by taking home? — the dark-faced one slinks away. Tuka says: we know his measure; we are not the kind to be deceived.
मराठी: घरी बाया-पोरं उपासाने मरतायत — आणि लोकांना थोरपण सांगतो. घरी नेऊन काय दाखवावं? — काळतोंडा चुकवून जातो. तुकाराम म्हणतात — आम्ही त्याची प्रमाण ओळखतो; ठकवायला आम्ही नाहीत.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| घरीं रांडा पोरें मरती उपवासीं | "at home, women and children are dying of hunger" |
| सांगे लोकांपासीं थोरपण | "(yet) he tells outsiders of (his) greatness" |
| नेऊनियां घरा दाखवावें काय | "what is there to show by taking home?" |
| काळतोंडा जाय चुकावूनि | "(when guests come) the dark-faced (= ashamed) one slinks away" |
| आम्ही जाणों त्या प्रमाण | "we know his measure" |
| ठकावे हे जन तैसे नहों | "we are not the people to be deceived" |
What it means
A short external-vs-internal contradiction satire. The image is precise: the man speaks of his greatness in public — सांगे लोकांपासीं थोरपण — while his household is actually starving. When someone tries to come home with him to verify, he slinks away (काळतोंडा = dark-faced, embarrassed-of-rot). The closing — आम्ही जाणों त्या प्रमाण, ठकावे हे जन तैसे नहों — we know his measure; we are not the kind to be deceived — names the saint's non-deceivability. The bhakta has a measuring-eye that public-greatness doesn't pass. [T]
For someone today
This abhang offers two diagnostics. Self: if your public-narrative and your household-reality don't match, the rot is happening at the gap. The cure is not better public-narrative; it is fixing the household. Other: when someone offers public-greatness, ask the question Tukaram implicitly asks — can I go home with him? If the taking-home is something they avoid, the greatness is external-only, and the household-rot is the actual measure. आम्ही जाणों त्या प्रमाण — be among the not-deceivable.
मराठी: ही ओवी दोन diagnostics देते. Self: तुमचं public-narrative आणि household-reality जुळत नसेल — सड त्या gap मध्ये होतंय. उपाय better public-narrative नाही — घर ठीक करणं. Other: कुणी public-greatness offers करत असेल, तुकाराम implicit प्रश्न विचारा — मला त्याच्याबरोबर घरी जाता येईल का? घरी नेणं ते टाळत असतील — greatness external-only; household-rot खरी measure. आम्ही जाणों त्या प्रमाण — non-deceivable लोकांत राहा.
Where this applies
- Public-narrative ≠ household-reality. The gap is the rot.
- You're avoiding bringing people home. Ask why.
- Need the not-deceived gaze. Tukaram models it.