Abhanga 127
English: Mother-father, my greeting — I have come as vesakara to collect the accounts.
The verse
मायबाप जोहार । सारा साधावया आलों वेसकर ॥१॥ मागील पुढील करा झाडा । नाहीं तरी खोडा घालिती जी ॥ध्रु.॥ फांकुं नका रुजू जालिया वांचून । सांगा जी कोण घरीं तीं धण्या ॥२॥ आजि मायबाप करा तडामोडी । उद्यां कोणी घडी राहेना हो ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे कांहीं न चले ते बोली । अखरते सालीं झाडा घेती ॥४॥
Literal translation
English: Mother-father, my greeting — I have come as vesakara to collect the accounts. Settle the past-and-future tally — otherwise they put you in the stocks. Do not scatter without proper verification — tell me, who are the masters of the house? Today, mother-father, make the reckoning; tomorrow no one's moment holds. Tuka says: no speech works (against this) — at the year's end, the tally is taken.
मराठी: मायबाप जोहार — मी सारा-वसूल करायला वेसकर म्हणून आलो. मागील-पुढील झाडा करा; नाहीतर खोडा घालतात. रुजू झाल्याशिवाय फांकू नका; घरी धणी कोण आहेत सांगा. आजच मायबाप तडा-मोडी करा; उद्या घडी टिकत नाही. तुकाराम म्हणतात — बोली काही चालत नाही; अखेरच्या साली झाडा होतो.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| मायबाप जोहार | "mother-father, my greeting (johāra)" — addressing the household |
| सारा साधावया आलों वेसकर | "I have come as vesakara (toll-collector) to collect the sārā (tax / accounts)" |
| मागील पुढील करा झाडा | "settle the past-and-future tally" |
| खोडा घालिती जी | "(otherwise) they put (you) in the stocks" |
| फांकुं नका रुजू जालिया वांचून | "do not scatter without (proper) verification" |
| आजि मायबाप करा तडामोडी | "today, mother-father, make the splits-and-mendings (do the reckoning)" |
| उद्यां कोणी घडी राहेना हो | "tomorrow no one's moment holds" |
| अखरते सालीं झाडा घेती | "at the year's end, they take the tally" |
What it means
Tukaram speaks as the vesakara — the toll-collector / tax-collector — come to a household to collect the karma-tally. The johāra greeting at the door is bureaucratic-formal; the next move is the demand: settle the accounts now. Three structural claims: (1) cosmic-bookkeeping happens at the year's end (akhar-sāli); (2) आजि मायबाप करा तडामोडी — today do the splits-and-mendings — settlement is now-or-never; (3) उद्यां कोणी घडी राहेना — tomorrow no moment holds. The bhakta's vesakara-voice is a satirical-religious move: he is collecting on behalf of cosmic order. [T]
For someone today
This abhang is a settle-now prompt. The structural claim: the audit is real and arrives at अखर (the year's-end / life's-end). Today's reckoning is cheaper than tomorrow's. The cure is not better-arguments-against-the-audit (none work — बोली न चले); the cure is आजि करा तडामोडी — make the settlement today. The settlement isn't only spiritual — it is also relational, financial, the apologies you've been postponing, the obligations you've been letting slide. Settle. Today.
मराठी: ही ओवी settle-now prompt. रचनात्मक दावा: audit खरा आणि अखर (वर्षान्त / जीवनान्त) ला येतो. आजची settlement उद्याच्यापेक्षा स्वस्त. उपाय better-arguments-against-the-audit नाही (काही चालत नाही — बोली न चले); उपाय आजि करा तडामोडी — आज settlement करा. settlement फक्त आध्यात्मिक नाही — relational, financial, postponed-apologies, slacking-obligations. Settle. आज.
Where this applies
- Delaying a settlement. Audit arrives. Today is cheaper.
- Imagining tomorrow is reliable. उद्यां कोणी घडी राहेना.
- Cosmic-toll-collector frame helps. Use it.