Abhanga 139
English: Catch, brother, catch — catch from above-of-above.
The verse
झेला रे झेला वरचेवर झेला । हातिचें गमावी तो पाठीं साहे टोला ॥१॥ त्रिगुणाचा चेंडू हातें झुगारी निराळा । वरिलिया मुखें मन लावी तेथें डोळा ॥ध्रु.॥ आगळा होऊनि धरी वरिचिया वरी । चपळ तो जिंके गांढ्या ठके येरझारीं ॥२॥ हातीं सांपडलें उभें बैसों नेदी कोणी । सोरीमागें सोरी घेती ओणवें करूनि ॥३॥ डाई पडिलिया सोसी दुःखाचे डोंगर । पाठीवरी भार भोंवता ही उभा फेर ॥४॥ तुका म्हणे सुख पाहे तयाचें आगळें । जिंकी तो हरवी कोणी एका तरी काळें ॥५॥
Literal translation
English: Catch, brother, catch — catch from above-of-above. Whoever loses the catch — bears the blow on the back. The triguna ball — toss it apart-and-out with the hand; fix the mind above, the eye there. Becoming agile, hold it above-of-above; the agile wins, the slow gets stuck in the come-and-go. If caught in the hand, no one lets you sit; one sori (round) after another, they throw at you. If you've fallen out, you bear mountains of suffering — the load on the back, the spinning all around. Tuka says: whoever sees joy is the most agile — the winner defeats even Time at some moment.
मराठी: झेला रे झेला, वरच्यावर झेला. हाताचं गमावलं — पाठीवर टोला. त्रिगुणाचा चेंडू हाताने निराळा झुगारा; वरचं मुख — मन तिथे, डोळा तिथे. आगळा होऊन वरच्या-वरी धर; चपळ जिंकतो, गांढ्या (मंद) येर-झारीत ठकतो. हातात सापडलं — कुणी बसू देत नाही; सोरी-मागे-सोरी ओणवं करून येतात. डाई (बाहेर) पडलात — दुःखाचे डोंगर सोसता; पाठीवर भार, भोवती उभा फेर. तुकाराम म्हणतात — आगळ्याला सुख दिसतं — जिंकणारा एका तरी क्षणी काळालाही हरवतो.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| झेला रे झेला वरचेवर झेला | "catch, brother, catch — catch from above-of-above" |
| हातिचें गमावी तो पाठीं साहे टोला | "(whoever) loses the catch — bears the blow on the back" |
| त्रिगुणाचा चेंडू | "the triguna (three-quality) ball — sattva, rajas, tamas" |
| हातें झुगारी निराळा | "with the hand, toss it apart-and-out" |
| वरिलिया मुखें मन लावी तेथें डोळा | "fix the mind on what is above; eye there" |
| आगळा होऊनि धरी वरिचिया वरी | "becoming agile, hold (it) above-of-above" |
| चपळ तो जिंके गांढ्या ठके येरझारीं | "the agile wins; the slow is stuck in come-and-go" |
| डाई पडिलिया सोसी दुःखाचे डोंगर | "if you've fallen-out, you bear mountains of suffering" |
| जिंकी तो हरवी कोणी एका तरी काळें | "the winner — at some moment — defeats someone (Time)" |
What it means
An extended life-as-ball-game allegory. The image: children playing a catch-and-toss game where each player must catch the ball from above and toss it up again; whoever drops gets the blow on the back and bears mountains of suffering. Tukaram allegorizes this as the spiritual life: the triguna ball (the three constituent qualities of nature — sattva, rajas, tamas) is what's being passed around in life; you must toss it up and through without holding it, eyes always above. Holding-it-down (becoming-attached-to-the-gunas) is dropping-the-ball. The agile wins; the slow gets caught in येरझारी — come-and-go errands. The closing claim: the winner defeats even Time at some moment — जिंकी तो हरवी कोणी एका तरी काळें. [T] [Tradition]
For someone today
This abhang offers a precise frame for the qualities-of-experience (sattva = clarity, rajas = activity, tamas = inertia). The mistake is holding any of them as yours — sattva is not your-property, rajas is not your-action, tamas is not your-rest. They are balls being tossed. The bhakta's posture is catch-and-toss-up with eye-on-the-above. Holding any guna brings the blow on the back: clinging-to-clarity makes you a spiritual-aesthete; clinging-to-activity makes you a workaholic; clinging-to-inertia makes you depressed. The cure is agility-of-toss: each guna passes through, you don't grip, eyes-above.
The come-and-go (येरझारी) image is precise: errand-running between attachments is what catches the slow. The agile passes-through.
मराठी: ही ओवी अनुभवाच्या-गुणांसाठी (सत्त्व=स्पष्टता, रजस्=क्रिया, तमस्=जडत्व) अचूक frame देते. चूक — कुठलाही गुण तुमचा म्हणून धरणं — सत्त्व तुमची-property नाही, रजस् तुमची-action नाही, तमस् तुमची-rest नाही. ते फेकलेले चेंडू. भक्ताची posture झेला-आणि-वर-झुगारा — डोळा-वर. कुठलाही गुण धरणं पाठीवर टोला आणतं: सत्त्वाला धरून आध्यात्मिक-aesthete होतो; रजस्ला धरून workaholic; तमस्ला धरून depressed. उपाय झुगाराची-चपळता: प्रत्येक गुण pass through, धरत नाही, डोळा-वर.
येरझारी image अचूक: attachments-च्या-दरम्यान-errand-running — मंदाला पकडतं. चपळ pass-through.
Where this applies
- Holding the gunas instead of passing them. Drop = blow on back.
- Caught in येरझारी (come-and-go). Recover the upward-toss posture.
- Mountains-of-suffering = consequence pattern. Not random.