Abhanga 174
English: Setting the jīva-Śiva rounds; aham and soham — both falter well.
The verse
जीवशिवाच्या मांडूनि हाला । अहं सोहं दोन्ही भेडती भला ॥१॥ घाली हुतुतू फिरोनि पाही आपुणासि । पाही बळिया तो मागिला तुटी पुढिलासि ॥ध्रु.॥ खेळिया तो हाल सांभाळी । धुम घाली तो पडे पाताळीं ॥२॥ बळिया गांढ्या तो चि खेळे । दम पुरे तो वेळोवेळां खेळे ॥३॥ हातीं पडे तो चि ढांग । दम पुरे तो खेळिया चांग ॥४॥ मागें पुढें पाहे तो जिंके । हातीं पडे तो चि आधार फिके ॥५॥ आपल्या बळें खळे रे भाई । गडियाची सांडोनि सोई ॥६॥ तुका म्हणे मी खेळिया नव्हें । जिकडे पडें त्याचि सवें ॥७॥
Literal translation
English: Setting the jīva-Śiva rounds; aham and soham — both falter well. The hutuhutu-runner runs and looks back at himself; the strong one sees the back-tear (the disconnection-from-base) or the front-attack (the opponent ahead). The good player safeguards the round; the dust-raiser falls into the underworld. The strong-or-thin keeps playing; the breath-holder plays time-after-time. Whoever falls in the hand becomes the long-stride/lock; the breath-holder is the good player. He who looks back-and-forth wins; in-the-hand, the support becomes pale-without-flavor. Play with your own strength, brother — abandoning the comrade-arrangement. Tuka says: I am not a (skilled) player — wherever I fall, that is my company.
मराठी: जीव-शिव चे हाल मांडून — अहं-सोहं दोघे भला भेडतात. हुतुतू-धावक धावतो आणि स्वतःकडे फिरून पाहतो; बळिया पाहतो — मागील तुटी किंवा पुढिलासि? खेळ्या हाल सांभाळतो; धुम घालणारा पाताळात पडतो. बळिया-गांढ्या तो खेळतो; दम पुरे तो वेळो-वेळा खेळतो. हाती पडला तो ढांग; दम पुरे तो चांग. मागे-पुढे पाहतो तो जिंकतो; हाती पडला त्याचा आधार फीके. आपुल्या बळे खेळ रे भाई — गडियाची सोय सांडून. तुकाराम म्हणतात — मी खेळ्या नव्हे — जिकडे पडें त्याचि सवें.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| जीवशिवाच्या मांडूनि हाला | "setting the rounds (hāla) of jīva-Śiva (individual-soul / cosmic-Soul)" |
| अहं सोहं दोन्ही भेडती भला | "aham and soham — both falter well" |
| घाली हुतुतू फिरोनि पाही आपुणासि | "the hutuhutu-runner runs and looks back at himself" |
| पाही बळिया तो मागिला तुटी पुढिलासि | "the strong one sees — the back-tear or the front-attack" |
| खेळिया तो हाल सांभाळी | "the (good) player safeguards the hāla (round)" |
| धुम घाली तो पडे पाताळीं | "the dust-raiser (one who plays-recklessly) falls into the underworld" |
| बळिया गांढ्या तो चि खेळे | "the strong-or-thin one keeps playing" |
| दम पुरे तो वेळोवेळां खेळे | "the breath-holder plays time-after-time" |
| हातीं पडे तो चि ढांग | "whoever falls into the hand becomes the ḍhāng (long-stride / lock)" |
| मागें पुढें पाहे तो जिंके | "he who looks back-and-forth wins" |
| हातीं पडे तो चि आधार फिके | "in-hand, the support becomes fīkē (without flavor / pale)" |
| आपल्या बळें खळे रे भाई | "play with your own strength, brother" |
| गडियाची सांडोनि सोई | "abandoning the comrade-arrangement" |
| मी खेळिया नव्हें | "I am not a (skilled) player" |
| जिकडे पडें त्याचि सवें | "wherever I fall — that is my company" |
What it means
A hutuhutu (a Marathi village game closely related to kabaddi) abhang — Tukaram's longest folk-game allegory in this stretch (7 verses). Hutuhutu requires a player to cross into the opponents' half holding the breath chanting "hutuhutu"; while breath holds, opponents try to catch him; if he runs out of breath in the opponents' half, he is out; if he tags an opponent and returns to the base-line still holding-breath, that opponent is out. The game's central skill is breath-holding.
Tukaram's mapping is dense:
- जीवशिवाच्या मांडूनि हाला — the rounds are jīva-Śiva (individual-soul / cosmic-Soul). The play is the encounter.
- अहं सोहं दोन्ही भेडती — aham (I-claim) and soham (I-am-That mantra) both falter well. Both the assertive-I and the meditative-I-am-That get tested in the play.
- घाली हुतुतू फिरोनि पाही आपुणासि — the runner holds breath and looks back at himself. The hutuhutu-skill is self-watching while in motion.
- मागें पुढें पाहे तो जिंके — he who looks back-and-forth wins. Dual-attention — the base behind, the opponent ahead — is the winning skill.
- दम पुरे तो खेळिया चांग — the breath-holder is the good player. Dam (breath / breath-control) is the central yogic-skill.
- हाती पडे तो चि ढांग — whoever falls into the hand becomes the long-stride/lock. Once caught, you are the support — but आधार फिके — the support becomes flavor-less. Being-caught is being-converted-into-prop.
- धुम घाली तो पडे पाताळीं — the dust-raiser falls into the underworld. Reckless play (without breath-control, without dual-attention) sends you to pātāla.
The closing turn: आपल्या बळें खळे रे भाई, गडियाची सांडोनि सोई — play with your own strength, brother, abandoning the comrade-arrangement. The hutuhutu requires solo breath-hold; the gaḍī-soy (comrade-arrangement) is dropped at the moment-of-the-run.
But Tuka's final closing is the deepest: तुका म्हणे मी खेळिया नव्हें — जिकडे पडें त्याचि सवें — I am not a (skilled) player — wherever I fall, that is my company. Tuka renounces the player-role. He does not try to win; wherever he falls, that becomes his company. This is the anti-hutuhutu move — surrender-as-falling, falling-as-company. [T]
For someone today
This abhang names the breath-hold-and-play practice and then names the surrender-alternative:
- Hold the breath — dam pure. The practice (any practice — meditation, work-under-pressure, navigating crisis) has breath-holding as a central skill. Dam across the difficulty is what allows time-after-time playing.
- Look back-and-forth — māgē-pudhē pāhe. Dual-attention — base (where you came from, your support) and opponent (what you are encountering). The single-attention player loses.
- Don't raise dust — dhum ghāli to paḍe pātāḷī. Reckless play sends you to pātāla.
- Once caught, you become prop-without-flavor — āḍhāra fīkē. Being-defeated has a quality-loss.
But the deeper move: मी खेळिया नव्हें — जिकडे पडें त्याचि सवें. I am not a player — wherever I fall, that is my company. Tuka renounces the winning-by-skill track entirely. The surrender-mode is fall, and the fall itself is the company. There is no losing because there is no playing-to-win.
For today: there are two honest paths. (a) Play the game well — breath-hold, dual-attention, no dust. (b) Stop playing — wherever I fall, that is my company. Both are real bhakti-moves; choose the one that fits your moment.
मराठी: ही ओवी breath-hold-and-play practice नाव सांगते आणि मग surrender-alternative सांगते:
- दम धरा — दम पुरे. कोणतीही practice (ध्यान, pressure-काम, crisis-navigate) ला breath-holding central skill. दम difficulty ओलांडून — वेळो-वेळा खेळणं allow होतं.
- मागे-पुढे पाहा — dual-attention — base (आधार, मूळ) आणि opponent (समोरचं). single-attention player हरतो.
- धूम घालू नका — reckless play पाताळात नेतो.
- हाती पडलात — फिके आधार. defeat ची quality-loss.
खोलवरची हालचाल: मी खेळिया नव्हें — जिकडे पडें त्याचि सवें. तुकाराम winning-by-skill track पूर्णपणे सोडतात. surrender-mode — पडा, पडणंच company. हरण्याचा प्रश्नच नाही — कारण winning-to-win नाहीये.
आज: दोन प्रामाणिक मार्ग. (a) चांगलं खेळा — दम-धरून, dual-attention, dust-नको. (b) खेळणं थांबवा — जिकडे पडें त्याचि सवें. दोन्ही खऱ्या bhakti-हालचाली; तुमच्या क्षणाला जे जुळतं ते निवडा.
Where this applies
- Dam pure — breath-holding is the central skill. Recognize this in your practice.
- Dual-attention wins. मागें पुढें पाहे तो जिंके.
- I am not a player; wherever I fall, that is my company. The surrender-mode.