Abhanga 166
This abhang describes the fairness built into real grace. If you've worried that the bhakti economy is unfair — that others got more and you got less — Tukaram's Krishna answers no: the one holding the pouring-spout controls the flow, and he won't let one person have more and another less.
The verse
शिंकें लावियेलें दुरी । होतों तिघांचे मी वरी ॥१॥ तुम्ही व्हारे दोहींकडे । मुख पसरूनि गडे ॥ध्रु.॥ वाहाती त्या धारा । घ्यारे दोहींच्या कोंपरा ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे हातीं टोका । अधिक उणें नेदी एका ॥३॥
Literal translation
The shikā is tied far up — I am above the three of you. You stand on both sides, mouths spread open, comrades. Those streams flow — take with both elbows / corners. Tuka says: with the pouring-spout in hand, I will not let one have more or another less.
मराठी: शिंकं दूरवर उंच लावलंय — मी तिघांच्या वर आहे. तुम्ही दोन्हीकडे व्हा — मुख पसरून, गडे. त्या धारा वाहत आहेत — दोन्ही कोंपरांनी (कोपरा / कोणा-तून) घ्या. तुकाराम म्हणतात — हातात टोका (वाटी-तोंड), अधिक-उणं एकालाही देत नाही.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| शिंकें लावियेलें दुरी | "the shikā (hanging cradle for milk-pots) is tied (high) far up" |
| होतों तिघांचे मी वरी | "I am above the three of you" |
| तुम्ही व्हारे दोहींकडे | "you stand on both sides" |
| मुख पसरूनि गडे | "with mouth spread open, comrades" |
| वाहाती त्या धारा | "those streams flow" |
| घ्यारे दोहींच्या कोंपरा | "take with both elbows / both corners" |
| हातीं टोका | "with the toka (spout / pouring-beak) in hand" |
| अधिक उणें नेदी एका | "I will not let one have more or another less" |
What it means
A shikā-stealing abhang. The shikā (शिंकें) is the rope-hung overhead cradle that Vraja-women used to keep milk-and-butter pots out of reach of children and cats. The standard Krishna-leelā: child Krishna and his comrades (Sudama, Subala, Madhumangala et al.) build human-pyramids to reach the shikā, knock it down, and share the milk and butter.
Here Tukaram is Krishna's voice — I am above, you stand on either side, mouths open. The closing line is the structural claim: अधिक उणें नेदी एका — I will not let one have more or another less. The deity-as-distributor enforces equity in the gift. The shikā-feast is not first-come-first-served; the spout-holder (the deity) maintains the equity.
The image is cherished in warkari tradition as the first of the kālā-cluster — the children's-feast at the riverbank's pre-history (the milk first stolen from the shikā, then enjoyed at Yamunā-tat). [T]
For someone today
This abhang describes the fairness built into real grace. If you've worried that the bhakti economy is unfair — that others got more and you got less — Tukaram's Krishna answers no: the one holding the pouring-spout controls the flow, and he won't let one person have more and another less.
But there's a condition for receiving: your mouth has to be spread open. The fairness is guaranteed in the giving, but receiving it requires you to actually be positioned to receive — standing to the side with your mouth open. If you're not in that posture, the stream won't reach you, not because Krishna favored someone else, but because your receiving posture was missing.
For today: before complaining about how things are distributed, check your own posture for receiving. Are you standing where the stream flows? Is your mouth actually open?
मराठी: ही ओवी खऱ्या कृपेत असलेल्या समतेबद्दल सांगते. भक्तीच्या अर्थव्यवस्थेत अन्याय झाल्यासारखं वाटत असेल — इतरांना जास्त मिळालं, मला कमी — तर तुकारामांचा कृष्ण म्हणतो, नाही. वाटीचं तोंड ज्याच्या हातात आहे तो प्रवाह नियंत्रित करतो, आणि तो एकाला जास्त, दुसऱ्याला कमी देऊ देत नाही.
पण मिळवण्याची एक अट आहे: तोंड उघडं असायला हवं. देण्यात समता निश्चित आहे, पण ती मिळवण्यासाठी तुम्ही खरोखर घेण्याच्या स्थितीत असायला हवं — बाजूला उभं राहून, तोंड उघडं ठेवून. जर तुम्ही त्या स्थितीत नसाल, तर धार तुमच्यापर्यंत पोहोचणार नाही — कृष्णाने कुणाला झुकतं माप दिलं म्हणून नाही, तर तुमची घेण्याची स्थितीच चुकली म्हणून.
आजच्यासाठी: वाटणीबद्दल तक्रार करण्याआधी स्वतःची घेण्याची स्थिती तपासा. धार जिथे वाहते तिथे तुम्ही उभे आहात का? तुमचं तोंड खरोखर उघडं आहे का?
Where this applies
- Worried about unfair distribution in bhakti-economy. अधिक उणें नेदी एका.
- In dispenser/teacher role. Honor the equity-discipline.
- Mouth not open while complaining about no-stream. Check posture first.