Abhanga 181
Real companionship tells you the plain truth about your failure and still says it will walk with you until you arrive.
The verse
कां रे गमाविल्या गाई । आली वळती तुझी जाई । मागें जालें काई । एका तें का नेणसी ॥१॥ केलास फजित । मागें पुढें ही बहुत । लाज नाहीं नित्य । नित्य दंड पावतां ॥ध्रु.॥ वोला खोडा खळि गाढी । ऐसा कोण तये काढी । धांवेल का पाडी । तुझी आधीं वोढाळा ॥२॥ चाल धांवें । मी ही येतों तुजसवें । तुका म्हणे जंव । तेथें नाहीं पावली ॥३॥
Literal translation
Why did you lose the cows? Your homing-time has come — you've turned. What happened behind (you)? Why don't you hear that one (cry/cow)? You've been disgraced — many times before, and (now) more. (You have) no shame — daily, receiving punishment. Wet-knot, hard-bind — who pulls you out of such? Will the calf run? — your stubborn one first. Walk, run — I am also coming with you. Tuka says: until we reach there.
मराठी: का रे गाई गमावल्या? तुझी वळती आली — तू वळलास / निघालास. मागे काय झालं? एका-तं का ऐकत नाहीस? फजित केलास — मागे-पुढे बहुत. लाज नाही नित्य — नित्य दंड पावतोस. वोला-खोडा-खळि-गाढी — असा कोण काढतो? पाडी धावेल का? — तुझी वोढाळा (हट्टी) आधी. चाल, धाव — मी पण तुझ्यासह येतो. तुकाराम म्हणतात — जंव तेथें नाहीं पावली.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| कां रे गमाविल्या गाई | "why did you lose the cows?" |
| आली वळती तुझी जाई | "your vaḷatī (homing-turn) has come — you've turned / are leaving" |
| मागें जालें काई | "what happened behind (you)?" |
| एका तें का नेणसी | "why don't you hear that one (cow / cry)?" |
| केलास फजित | "you've been fajita (disgraced / put-to-shame)" |
| मागें पुढें ही बहुत | "many times before and (now) more" |
| लाज नाहीं नित्य | "(have) no shame — daily" |
| नित्य दंड पावतां | "daily, receiving punishment" |
| वोला खोडा खळि गाढी | "wet-knot, hard-bind" |
| ऐसा कोण तये काढी | "who pulls (you) out of such?" |
| धांवेल का पाडी तुझी आधीं वोढाळा | "will the pāḍī (calf) run? — your vōḍhāḷā (stubborn-one) first" |
| चाल धांवें मी ही येतों तुजसवें | "walk, run — I am also coming with you" |
| जंव तेथें नाहीं पावली | "until we reach there" |
What it means
A cow-loser scolding abhang — but with an extraordinary closing-twist. The opening is harsh:
- Why did you lose the cows? (The cows are responsibilities / charges / practices.)
- Your homing-time has come; you've turned. (You're heading home / wandering off, leaving the cows behind.)
- Why don't you hear theone? (One cow is calling / one signal is there — you don't hear it.)
- Disgraced many times before — no shame, daily punishment.
- Wet-knot, hard-bind — who pulls you out? (Folk image: a beast tangled in wet rope-bonds — a hard rescue.)
But the closing: चाल धांवें मी ही येतों तुजसवें — जंव तेथें नाहीं पावली — walk, run, I'm coming with you, until we reach there.
The harsh-scolding voice does not abandon the scolded. After the full litany of failures, the saint says: I am coming with you — until we reach there. The companion-amid-scolding register is rare and precise. The shame and the punishment do not disqualify; the coming-with is unconditional.
This is the warkari saint's voice: truth-telling about the failure, and yet walking-with toward the recovery. [T]
For someone today
This abhang describes a rare kind of love that scolds and stays at the same time. The opening verses give a harsh, accurate diagnosis: you've lost what was placed in your care, you don't hear the cry that's being made to you, you've been disgraced again and again, you show no shame, and you keep receiving the consequences daily.
And then comes the turn: I am coming with you, until we get there. This isn't forgiveness offered instead of truth — it's truth and companionship held together at the same time. The honest naming of failure doesn't cancel the love, and the love doesn't soften the honest naming. Both stand, undiminished, side by side.
For today: if you're in a real moment of having failed at what was entrusted to you — you know it, others know it, you've been told before — Tukaram's voice here doesn't say it's fine. It names exactly how it isn't fine, and then says, I'll walk with you toward setting it right. Take in both messages; either one alone is incomplete. And if you're the one standing beside someone who's failing, don't soften the truth to spare them, and don't withdraw your company to punish them — hold both together.
मराठी: ही ओवी अशा दुर्मीळ प्रेमाबद्दल सांगते जे एकाच वेळी रागावतं आणि सोबतही राहतं. सुरुवातीच्या ओळी कठोर पण अचूक निदान देतात: तुझ्यावर सोपवलेलं तू गमावलंस, तुला केली जाणारी हाक तू ऐकत नाहीस, तू पुन्हा-पुन्हा फजित झालास, तुला लाज वाटत नाही, आणि रोजच त्याची शिक्षा भोगतो आहेस.
आणि मग वळण येतं — मी तुझ्यासोबत येतो, आपण तिथे पोहोचेपर्यंत. हे सत्याऐवजी दिलेली क्षमा नाही — हे सत्य आणि सोबत एकत्र धरून ठेवणं आहे. अपयशाचं प्रामाणिक नामकरण प्रेमाला रद्द करत नाही, आणि प्रेम त्या प्रामाणिक नामकरणाला मऊ करत नाही. दोन्ही जसंच्या तसं, शेजारी शेजारी उभं राहतं.
आजसाठी: तुझ्यावर सोपवलेल्या गोष्टीत तू खरोखर अपयशी ठरला आहेस अशा क्षणात असशील — हे तुला माहीत आहे, इतरांनाही माहीत आहे, आधीही सांगितलं गेलंय — तर तुकारामांचा हा स्वर सर्व ठीक आहे असं म्हणत नाही. तो नेमकं काय ठीक नाही ते सांगतो, आणि मग म्हणतो — ते सुधारण्यासाठी मी तुझ्यासोबत चालेन. दोन्ही निरोप स्वीकार; एकटा कोणताही अपुरा आहे. आणि जर तू अपयशी ठरणाऱ्या कुणाच्या शेजारी उभा असशील, तर त्याला वाचवण्यासाठी सत्य मऊ करू नकोस, आणि त्याला शिक्षा देण्यासाठी सोबतही सोडू नकोस — दोन्ही एकत्र धर.
Where this applies
- You've been losing the cows repeatedly. लाज नाहीं नित्य.
- Diagnosis is harsh — and a companion is offered. Both messages.
- In companion-role. Do not soften truth; do not withdraw company.