संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 185 of 4582

Abhanga 185

This abhang names a late-stage bhakti-loyalty register that arrives once the exclusive-comrade threshold is crossed. Five postures:

When you've reached exclusive-comrade moment with the loved one — and the abhang names the won't-let-anywhere posture
When carrying the tiffin-bag is the practical service — and you have to recognize the everyday-protection register
When those who don't honor your word require teaching a lesson — and you recognize the bhakta's protective-anger

The verse

कान्होबा आतां तुम्ही आम्ही च गडे । कोणाकडे जाऊं नेदूं ॥१॥ वाहीन तुझी भारशिदोरी । वळतीवरी येऊं नेदीं ॥ध्रु.॥ ढवळे गाईचें दूध काढूं । एकएकल्यां ठोंबे मारूं ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे टोकवूं त्यांला । जे तुझ्या बोला मानीत ना ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: Kānhobā, now we are just comrades — we won't let (you) go to anyone (else). I'll carry your tiffin-bag — won't let (anyone) come on the homing-path. We'll milk the white-cow; any one-by-one (loner) we'll smack. Tuka says: we'll teach a sharp lesson to those who do not honor your word.

मराठी: कान्होबा, आता तुम्ही-आम्ही फक्त गडे — कोणाकडे जाऊ देणार नाही. भार-शिदोरी तुझी मी वाहीन — वळतीवरी येऊ देणार नाही. ढवळ्या गायीचं दूध काढू; एक-एकल्यांना ठोंबे मारू. तुकाराम म्हणतात — टोकवू त्यांला — जे तुझ्या बोला मानीत ना.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
कान्होबा आतां तुम्ही आम्ही च गडे "Kānhobā, now you-and-we are just comrades"
कोणाकडे जाऊं नेदूं "we won't let (you) go to anyone (else)"
वाहीन तुझी भारशिदोरी "I'll carry your bhāra-shidorī (tiffin-bag, food-bag)"
वळतीवरी येऊं नेदीं "won't let (anyone) come on the vaḷatī (homing-path)"
ढवळे गाईचें दूध काढूं "we'll milk the ḍhavale (white) cow"
एकएकल्यां ठोंबे मारूं "any eka-ekalyām (one-by-one / lone-strays) we'll ṭhombē (smack)"
टोकवूं त्यांला "we'll ṭokavūm (teach a sharp lesson) to them"
जे तुझ्या बोला मानीत ना "those who do not honor your word"

What it means

A protective-loyalty abhang in the gopa-comrade register. The bhakta is speaking to Krishna, declaring exclusive-comrade status:

  1. तुम्ही आम्ही च गडेnow you-and-we are just comrades. No one else admitted to the comrade-band. The bhakta-deity relation has reached exclusivity.
  2. कोणाकडे जाऊं नेदूंwon't let (you) go anywhere (else). The bhakta now guards Krishna's location. (Reverse of the standard don't leave me; here it is I won't let you go.)
  3. वाहीन तुझी भारशिदोरीI'll carry your tiffin-bag. The practical-service register. The bhakta carries Krishna's bhāra-shidorī (food-bag, lunch-pack) on the day's wandering. Ordinary servitude, not heroic worship.
  4. वळतीवरी येऊं नेदींwon't let (anyone) come on the homing-path. The vaḷatī (homing / return-route) is where vulnerability is highest; the bhakta guards it.
  5. ढवळे गाईचें दूध काढूंwe'll milk the white cow. Shared work. The bhakta and Krishna together milk the cow; this is co-labor.
  6. एकएकल्यां ठोंबे मारूंany one-by-one we'll smack. Eka-ekalyām — strays / loners / interlopers — get a ṭhombā (smack). The protective-zone is enforced.
  7. तुका म्हणे टोकवूं त्यांला — जे तुझ्या बोला मानीत नाwe'll teach a sharp lesson to those who don't honor your word. The closing claim: those who dishonor Krishna's word will be taught. The bhakta-band's secondary role is defending the deity's word.

The voice is the gopa-band defending Krishna — the band as the deity's comrade-and-protection-team. [T]

For someone today

This abhang names a late-stage bhakti-loyalty register that arrives once the exclusive-comrade threshold is crossed. Five postures:

  1. Exclusive-comrade. The bhakta-deity relation becomes just-us. Other relations re-arrange around this primary one.
  2. Practical-service. Carrying the tiffin-bag. Not heroic worship — practical, daily, embodied service. The bhakta does the small concrete things.
  3. Guarding the homing-path. Protect the loved-one's vulnerability-times. The everyday returns are when the loved-one is most exposed; that is when the comrade is most needed.
  4. Co-labor. Milking the cow together. Shared work, not asymmetric service.
  5. Defending the word. Those who don't honor your word get taught a lesson. The bhakta has a defending-role against dishonor of the loved-one's word.

For today: when you have reached exclusive-comrade with a real presence — note the postures: carry the tiffin-bag, guard the homing-path, milk together, defend the word, smack the strays. Each is practical and concrete. Exclusive does not mean isolated — it means primary; everything else arranges around this primacy.

A caution: this register can be misused (defending one's own version of the loved-one's word against legitimate questioners). Tukaram's check is the embodied-practical frame: if the exclusivity is producing practical-service-and-shared-labor, it is real; if it is producing only enforcement-against-others, the register has tipped into something else.

मराठी: ही ओवी late-stage bhakti-loyalty register नाव सांगते — exclusive-comrade threshold ओलांडला की येतो. पाच postures:

  1. Exclusive-comrade. bhakta-देव relation फक्त-आम्ही. इतर nate या primary भोवती re-arrange होतात.
  2. Practical-service. भार-शिदोरी वाहणं. heroic worship नाही — practical, daily, embodied service. bhakta लहान concrete गोष्टी करतो.
  3. Vaḷatī-वर guard. प्रिय-व्यक्तीच्या vulnerability-times चं रक्षण. रोजची returns सर्वात exposed; तेव्हाच comrade सर्वात गरजेचा.
  4. Co-labor. एकत्र दूध काढणं. Shared work, asymmetric service नाही.
  5. Word defend करणं. जे तुझ्या बोला मानीत ना त्यांना टोकवणं. प्रिय-व्यक्तीच्या word च्या dishonor विरुद्ध bhakta ला defending-role.

आज: real presence सह exclusive-comrade पोहोचलात — postures notice करा: भार-शिदोरी वाहा, vaḷatī guard करा, एकत्र दूध काढा, word defend करा, strays ला smack करा. प्रत्येक practical आणि concrete. Exclusive isolated नाही — primary; बाकी सर्व या primacy भोवती arrange.

सावधगिरी: हा register misused होऊ शकतो (तुमच्या स्वतःच्या version च्या प्रिय-व्यक्तीच्या word ला legitimate questioners विरुद्ध defend करणं). तुकारामांची check embodied-practical frame: exclusivity practical-service-and-shared-labor produce करत असेल — real आहे; फक्त enforcement-against-others — register tip झाला.

Where this applies

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