Abhanga 139
This abhang gives a precise frame for the three qualities of experience — sattva (clarity), rajas (activity), and tamas (inertia). The mistake is holding on to any of them as your own: clarity isn't your property, activity isn't your doing, and rest isn't your inertia to keep. They are balls being tossed to you. A bhakta's posture is to catch the ball and toss it back up, eyes fixed on what's above. Holding on to any guna brings the blow on your back — clinging to clarity turns you into a spiritual aesthete, clinging to activity makes you a workaholic, and clinging to inertia leaves you depressed. The cure is agility in the toss: let each quality pass through you without gripping it, eyes always kept 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
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 gives a precise frame for the three qualities of experience — sattva (clarity), rajas (activity), and tamas (inertia). The mistake is holding on to any of them as your own: clarity isn't your property, activity isn't your doing, and rest isn't your inertia to keep. They are balls being tossed to you. A bhakta's posture is to catch the ball and toss it back up, eyes fixed on what's above. Holding on to any guna brings the blow on your back — clinging to clarity turns you into a spiritual aesthete, clinging to activity makes you a workaholic, and clinging to inertia leaves you depressed. The cure is agility in the toss: let each quality pass through you without gripping it, eyes always kept above.
The come-and-go (येरझारी) image is precise: running errands between one attachment and the next is what catches the slow player. The agile one simply passes through.
मराठी: ही ओवी अनुभवाच्या तीन गुणांसाठी — सत्त्व (स्पष्टता), रजस् (क्रिया) आणि तमस् (जडत्व) — अचूक चौकट देते. चूक ही आहे की आपण यांपैकी कुठलाही गुण 'आपला' म्हणून धरून ठेवतो — स्पष्टता तुमची मालमत्ता नाही, क्रिया तुमचं कर्तृत्व नाही, विश्रांती तुमचं जडत्व राखून ठेवण्याची गोष्ट नाही. हे सगळे तुमच्याकडे फेकले जाणारे चेंडू आहेत. भक्ताची भूमिका म्हणजे चेंडू झेलून पुन्हा वर फेकणं, डोळा नेहमी वरच्या दिशेला ठेवून. कुठलाही गुण धरून ठेवला की पाठीवर टोला बसतो — स्पष्टतेला धरलं की माणूस केवळ आध्यात्मिक रसिक बनतो, क्रियेला धरलं की वर्कहॉलिक बनतो, जडत्वाला धरलं की खिन्न होतो. उपाय आहे झुगारण्यातली चपळाई — प्रत्येक गुण न धरता आतून जाऊ द्यावा, डोळा नेहमी वर ठेवावा.
येरझारीची प्रतिमा अचूक आहे — एका आसक्तीकडून दुसऱ्या आसक्तीकडे धावाधाव करणं हेच मंद खेळाडूला अडकवतं. चपळ खेळाडू फक्त पुढे जात राहतो.
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.