संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 186 of 4582

Abhanga 186

Long, long — we are God's cowherds. He doesn't let the rice spoil; he sits-eats together. Long, long is my blanket-cover. Tuka says: nothing — there is nothing between his and ours.

When the relationship has reached long-tenured status — and you have to recognize the bahu-kāḷī (long-time) register

When the blanket-cover (the everyday-shared-warmth) is the marker — and you recognize the long-time-shared register

The verse

बहु काळीं बहु काळी । आम्ही देवाचीं गोवळीं ॥१॥ नाहीं विटों देत भात । जेऊं बेसवी सांगातें ॥ध्रु.॥ बहु काळें बहु काळें । माझें पांघरे कांबळें ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे नाहीं नाहीं । त्याचें आमचें सें कांहीं ॥३॥

Literal translation

Long, long — we are God's cowherds. He does not let the rice grow cold; he seats (us) together to eat. Long-old, long-old is my blanket. Tuka says: no, no — there is nothing of his and ours (separately).

मराठी: बहु काळी, बहु काळी — आम्ही देवाची गोवळी. भात विटू देत नाही — सांगाती बसवून जेवायला घालतो. बहु जुनं, बहु जुनं माझं पांघरूनं-कांबळं. तुकाराम म्हणतात — नाही, नाही — त्याचं-आमचं असं काही नाही.

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
बहु काळीं बहु काळी	"long-long (time), long-long"
आम्ही देवाचीं गोवळीं	"we are God's govaḷī (cowherds)"
नाहीं विटों देत भात	"(he) does not let the rice viṭō (go-stale, get-cold)"
जेऊं बेसवी सांगातें	"(he) seats us together to eat"
बहु काळें बहु काळें	"long-old, long-old"
माझें पांघरे कांबळें	"my pānghare kāmbaḷē (blanket-coverlet)"
नाहीं नाहीं त्याचें आमचें सें कांहीं	"no, no — there is no his / ours difference at all"

What it means

A long-tenured comrade abhang. Three markers of bahu-kāḷa (long-time) co-habit:

बहु काळीं — आम्ही देवाचीं गोवळीं — long, long — we are God's cowherds. The relation is not new; it has tenure. The bhakta and the deity have been together a long time in this cowherd-relation.
नाहीं विटों देत भात — जेऊं बेसवी सांगातें — he doesn't let the rice grow cold; he seats us together to eat. The deity ensures the daily-bread of the bhakta and eats-with-them. The everyday-mode of mutual-sustenance.
बहु काळें — माझें पांघरे कांबळें — long-old is my blanket. The bhakta's everyday-warmth is worn-in; the kāmbaḷē (blanket) is long-used. Material poverty is fine because the blanket-warmth is long-tenured.

The closing claim: नाहीं नाहीं त्याचें आमचें सें कांहीं — no, no — there is no his/ours distinction. The bahu-kāḷa relation has erased the property-distinctions. The bhakta's blanket is also Krishna's; Krishna's rice is also the bhakta's. The merger is complete. [T]

For someone today

This abhang names the long-tenured, shared-life register. Some relationships (with the deity, a real teacher, a long-married partner, a saint-figure, a real friend) have a property that new relationships cannot have: bahu-kāḷa — long-time. Three markers:

Daily-sustenance is mutual. The deity ensures your daily-rice doesn't vita (grow cold); you reciprocate. Bes-savī sāngāte — seats us together. The everyday-meal is the relational sign.
The blanket is long-old. Material wealth-versus-poverty is the wrong axis. The right marker: is the blanket-warmth long-tenured?
No his-and-ours distinction. The property-line dissolves. This is not mystical-merger; it is a long shared life that has worn away the property line.

For today: when you think about your most-tenured relationships, don't look for spectacular events. Look for the long-time markers: rice that never turns cold, a well-worn blanket, no line left between his and ours. These markers tell you the relation is seasoned. New relations can have intensity; only seasoned relations have bahu-kāḷa.

मराठी: ही ओवी दीर्घकाळ एकत्र राहिलेल्या, सरावलेल्या नात्याबद्दल बोलते. काही नाती — देवाशी, खऱ्या गुरूशी, दीर्घ वैवाहिक साथीदाराशी, एखाद्या संत-व्यक्तीशी, खऱ्या मित्राशी — यांना असा एक गुण असतो जो नव्या नात्यांना नसतो: बहु-काळ, म्हणजे दीर्घकाळाचा साठा. यात तीन खुणा दिसतात.

रोजची गुजराण परस्परांची असते — देव तुमचा भात थंड होऊ देत नाही, तुम्हीही त्याला परतफेड करता. एकत्र बसून जेवणं हीच नात्याची खूण आहे.
पांघरूण खूप जुनं असतं — इथे श्रीमंती-गरिबी हा योग्य निकष नाहीच. खरा निकष असा — या पांघरुणाची ऊब किती जुनी, किती सरावलेली आहे?
त्याचं-आमचं असा भेद उरत नाही — मालकीची रेषा विरघळून जाते. हे कोणतं गूढ ऐक्य नाही, तर दीर्घकाळ एकत्र राहिल्यामुळे झिजून गेलेली मालकीची रेषा आहे.

आज एवढंच — तुमच्या सर्वात जुन्या, दीर्घकाळ टिकलेल्या नात्यांचा विचार करताना नाट्यमय घटना शोधू नका. या साध्या खुणा शोधा — कधीही थंड न होणारा भात, जुनं-सरावलेलं पांघरूण, त्याचं-आमचं असा उरलेला भेद नाही. या खुणा सांगतात की नातं मुरलेलं आहे. नवीन नात्यांत उत्कटता असू शकते; पण मुरलेलं, दीर्घकाळाचं नातं फक्त जुन्या, सरावलेल्या नात्यांतच असतं.

Where this applies

Long-tenured relationship. बहु-काळ markers, not spectacular events.
Mutual daily-sustenance. भात विटू न देणं.
Property-line dissolved. त्याचं-आमचं काही नाही.