Abhanga 165

Come with me, all of you — fall in line right behind me. Today I'll give you food till you say 'enough'. Walk slowly; don't talk to anyone. Tuka says: drop the heavy headloads — don't fill your bellies that way.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A follow-me-to-the-feast abhang in continuation of 164. Where 164 described the kālā-feast at the riverbank, 165 is the saint inviting people to come with him to it.

Four specific instructions:

1. अवघे माझ्या मागें मागें — all of you, behind-behind me, single file. The line-discipline. No jostling, no rushing past.
2. आजि देतों पोटभरी, पुरे म्हणाल तोंवरी — today I give belly-fill until you say 'enough'. The supply is the bhakta's-not-mine; the limit is the receiver's hunger, not the giver's gift.
3. हळू हळू चला, कोणी कोणाशीं न बोला — walk slowly, no one talk to anyone. The pace and the silence. Talking on the way drains the expectancy that the feast requires.
4. सांडा घाटे, तेणें नका भरूं पोटें — drop the heavy headloads, don't fill the belly with that. The ghāṭa — the headload of belongings, identities, prior arguments, achievements — fills the belly spuriously. Drop it; come empty-bellied. Otherwise the kālā cannot get in.

The voice is not commanding-from-above; it is the elder-bhakta's inviting-from-just-ahead voice — the saint who has been to the riverbank showing the line-discipline that gets others there. [T]

For someone today

This abhang is for the guide-role. If you have had a real experience and want to bring others to it, Tukaram's instructions are the four-line discipline:

1. Single file behind you, not alongside (so attention stays on the destination, not on social comparison).
2. Promise belly-fill, not appetizers — the limit is set by their hunger. Don't ration.
3. Walk slowly, no talking — the silence and pace are part of the practice; conversation on the way spoils the meal.
4. Drop the headloads — the ghāṭa of identity, achievement, prior arguments. Otherwise the new-thing cannot land; the spurious-fullness blocks.

It is also for the follower-role. If you are following someone to a real feast, the instructions go in reverse: fall in line, walk slowly, don't fill the silence with chatter, drop your headloads at the door. The discipline is mutual.

मराठी: ही ओवी guide-role साठी. खरी experience झाली असेल आणि इतरांना तिथे न्यायचंय — तुकारामांच्या सूचना चार-line discipline:

1. तुमच्या मागे एका रांगेत, बाजूला नाही (लक्ष destination वर राहो, social comparison वर नाही).
2. पोटभरी आश्वासन, appetizers नाही — limit त्यांच्या भुकेने. Ration करू नका.
3. हळू-हळू चला, बोलू नका — silence आणि pace practice चा भाग; वाटेवरचं conversation जेवण बिघडवतं.
4. घाटे सांडा — identity, achievement, prior arguments चं ghāṭa. नाहीतर नवं-काही land होऊ शकत नाही; spurious-fullness blocks.

follower-role साठी पण: खऱ्या feast कडे कुणामागे जात असाल — सूचना उलट: रांगेत या, हळू चला, silence chatter ने भरू नका, headloads दारात सांडा. discipline mutual आहे.

Where this applies

• Bringing others to the feast. Single-file, slow, silent.
• Carrying ghāṭa (headloads). Drop at the door; don't fill belly with that.
• Following someone to a real experience. Honor the line-discipline.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2448
• Abhanga 2467
• Abhanga 2494
• Abhanga 4481