Abhanga 167
This abhang names three ways people fail right at the threshold of grace.
The verse
पळाले ते भ्याड । त्यांसि येथें जाला नाड ॥१॥ धीट घेती धणीवरी । शिंकीं उतरितो हरी ॥ध्रु.॥ आपुलिया मतीं । पडलीं विचारीं तीं रितीं ॥२॥ तुका लागे घ्यारे पायां । कैं पावाल या ठाया ॥३॥
Literal translation
Those who fled were cowards — for them, here came nothing. The bold drink to satisfaction — Hari brings down the shikā. Those caught in their own thinking — fallen into reasoning, they (became) empty. Tuka says: come, take Hari's feet — when else will you reach this place?
मराठी: पळाले ते भ्याड — त्यांना इथे नाड (काही नाही) आलं. धीट घेतात धणीवरी (तृप्तीपर्यंत) — हरी शिंकं उतरवतो. आपुल्या मतीत — विचारात पडले — ते रिते. तुकाराम म्हणतात — चला, हरीच्या पायांना धरा — कधी पोहोचाल या ठाया?
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| पळाले ते भ्याड | "those who fled were cowards" |
| त्यांसि येथें जाला नाड | "for them, here came nāḍa (loss / nothing)" |
| धीट घेती धणीवरी | "the bold ones take to dhaṇī (satisfaction / fullness)" |
| शिंकीं उतरितो हरी | "Hari brings down the shikā (milk-pot cradle)" |
| आपुलिया मतीं | "(those caught) in their own mati (intellect / opinion)" |
| पडलीं विचारीं तीं रितीं | "fell into thinking — they (became) empty" |
| तुका लागे घ्यारे पायां | "Tuka says: come, take the feet (of Hari)" |
| कैं पावाल या ठाया | "(when else) will you reach this place?" |
What it means
Continuation of 166's shikā-stealing scene. Where 166 was Krishna distributing equally to those-with-open-mouth, 167 sorts the attendees vs. absentees:
- The cowards (भ्याड): those who fled at the moment Krishna was bringing down the shikā. They got nothing (नाड). The lila was available — they did not show up.
- The bold (धीट): those who stayed and drank to satisfaction (धणीवरी). Hari himself was the one bringing the shikā down — the bold-ones were not the doers, only the receivers; but they had to be there.
- The thinkers (आपुलिया मतीं): those who got caught in their own mati (intellect/opinion) — fell into reasoning, became empty. The mati-trap: while-they-were-thinking-about-whether-to-go, the lila happened and ended.
The structural claim: bhakti's event is time-bound. कैं पावाल या ठाया — when else will you reach this place? The take-Hari's-feet move is what the bold do; it is not for the fled or the over-thinking. [T]
For someone today
This abhang names three ways people fail right at the threshold of grace.
The coward: when a real opportunity comes — a real teaching, a real love, a real chance — he flees. He ends up empty-handed, not because grace was scarce, but because he simply wasn't there.
The over-thinker: caught up in his own opinions and calculations — should I? is this right? have I considered every angle? — while he deliberates, the moment arrives and passes. He too ends up empty.
The bold one: simply stays, mouth open, and drinks to satisfaction. He didn't create the gift — he only received it, by staying present.
The closing instruction is precise — take hold of Hari's feet now, because you may never reach this place again. That gesture of taking hold is bhakti's version of staying present, not fleeing, and not overthinking. It isn't heroic — it's simply being there.
मराठी: ही ओवी कृपेच्या उंबरठ्यावर घडणाऱ्या तीन प्रकारच्या चुका सांगते.
भ्याड: खरी संधी येते — खरी शिकवण, खरं प्रेम, खरी संधी — तेव्हा तो पळून जातो. शेवटी हात रिकामे राहतात — कृपा दुर्मीळ होती म्हणून नाही, तर तो तिथे नव्हताच म्हणून.
अती-विचारी: स्वतःच्या मतांमध्ये आणि हिशोबांमध्ये अडकतो — करावं का? हे बरोबर आहे का? सगळ्या बाजू विचारात घेतल्या का? — तो विचार करत असतानाच क्षण येतो आणि निघून जातो. तोही रिकामाच राहतो.
धीट: तो फक्त तिथेच थांबतो, तोंड उघडं ठेवून, आणि तृप्त होईपर्यंत पितो. त्याने देणगी निर्माण केली नाही — फक्त उपस्थित राहून ती स्वीकारली.
शेवटची सूचना नेमकी आहे — आत्ताच हरीचे पाय धरा, कारण ही जागा पुन्हा कधी मिळेल हे सांगता येत नाही. पाय धरण्याची ही कृती म्हणजे भक्तीतलं उपस्थित राहणं, न पळणं, आणि अति-विचार न करणं. यात वीरता नाही — फक्त तिथे असणं आहे.
Where this applies
- At the threshold, fled. भ्याड → नाड.
- Caught in own mati. पडलीं विचारीं तीं रितीं.
- The bold stayed. धणीवरी; took the feet.