Abhanga 270
This abhang names a recurring social-corruption — show-without-substance ceremonies:
The verse
दिवट्या वाद्यें लावुनि खाणें । करूनि मंडण दिली हातीं ॥१॥ नवरा नेई नवरी घरा । पूजन वरा पाद्याचें ॥ध्रु.॥ गौरविली विहीण व्याही । घडिलें कांहीं ठेवूं नका ॥२॥ करूं द्यावें न्हावें वरें । ठायीचें कां रे न कळे चि ॥३॥ वर्हाडियांचे लागे पाठीं । जैसी उटिका तेलीं ॥४॥ तुका म्हणे जोडिला थुंका । पुढें नरका सामग्री ॥५॥
Literal translation
English: Lamps, music — applied; eating done; decoration made — placed in (their) hands. The groom takes the bride home; foot-pūjā for the groom. The vihiṇa-vyāhī honored; what was made — keep nothing aside. Should bathe the groom — at-the-place — why don't you understand? The wedding-party clings to (your) back — like oil-paste. Tuka says: spittle-earned — ahead, naraka-supplies.
मराठी: दिवट्या वाद्यें लावुनि खाणें — करूनि मंडण दिली हातीं. नवरा नेई नवरी घरा — पूजन वरा पाद्याचें. गौरविली विहीण व्याही — घडिलें कांहीं ठेवूं नका. करूं द्यावें न्हावें वरें — ठायीचें कां रे न कळे चि. वर्हाडियांचे लागे पाठीं — जैसी उटिका तेलीं. तुकाराम म्हणतात — जोडिला थुंका — पुढें नरका सामग्री.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| दिवट्या वाद्यें लावुनि खाणें | "lamps and vādya (music-instruments) — applied; eating done" |
| करूनि मंडण दिली हातीं | "decoration made — placed in (their) hands" |
| नवरा नेई नवरी घरा | "groom takes the bride home" |
| पूजन वरा पाद्याचें | "foot-pūjā for the vara (groom)" |
| गौरविली विहीण व्याही | "the vihiṇa-vyāhī (in-laws — wife's mother + father) honored" |
| घडिलें कांहीं ठेवूं नका | "what was made (= prepared) — keep nothing (aside)" |
| करूं द्यावें न्हावें वरें | "should bathe the groom" |
| ठायीचें कां रे न कळे चि | "at-the-place — why don't you understand?" |
| वर्हाडियांचे लागे पाठीं | "the varhāḍiyāñcē (wedding-party) clings to the pāṭhī (back)" |
| जैसी उटिका तेलीं | "like oil-paste" |
| जोडिला थुंका | "spittle-earned (= earned by thūnkā — spittle / disgust)" |
| पुढें नरका सामग्री | "ahead — naraka-supplies (= supplies for naraka)" |
What it means
A wedding-feast hypocrisy critique abhang. Reads as a 5-verse description of wedding-show-with-internal-emptiness. Three claims:
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Wedding-show items. Lamps, music, decoration, foot-pūjā, in-law-honoring, groom-bathing — all external-ceremonies. Tukaram lists them neutrally; the critique is in the closing.
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वर्हाडियांचे लागे पाठीं — जैसी उटिका तेलीं — the wedding-party clings to the back like oil-paste. The image of the wedding-party: they cling to your back (= demand things, expect-things, hover-around). Like oil-paste sticking — uṭikā-tēli — the unwanted-clinging-quality.
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तुका म्हणे जोडिला थुंका — पुढें नरका सामग्री — Tuka says: spittle-earned — ahead, naraka-supplies. The closing-judgment. Joḍilā thūnkā — what was earned was thūnkā (spittle, disgust, contempt-of-onlookers). And pudhē narakā sāmagrī — ahead, you have prepared supplies for naraka. The wedding-show-without-substance produces both thūnkā (current-disgust) and naraka-supplies (future-karma).
(Compare 244's abhimāna-renunciation is julūma; 251's vēśa-disgracer; here, the wedding-show ostentation is a parallel-corruption.)
[T]
For someone today
This abhang names a recurring social-corruption — show-without-substance ceremonies:
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Recognize the show-items. Lamps, music, decoration, ceremony, in-law-honoring, food-displays. All can be honest (when substance is present) and can be show-only (when substance is absent).
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The wedding-party clings like oil-paste. When the form has become show-only, the party-around-it clings demanding-and-extracting. Recognize when this is happening.
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Spittle-earned + naraka-supplies-ahead = the cost. Joḍilā thūnkā — pudhē narakā sāmagrī. The show-without-substance earns both immediate-disgust (people see through it) and future-karma-supplies-for-naraka (the karma is real even if the form was empty).
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Don't be the show-host of the empty-form. The implicit-instruction. Either do the wedding with substance or don't make it a show.
For today: this applies to any ceremony in your life — wedding, religious-ritual, public-event, social-gathering, professional-show. The form alone earns thūnkā and naraka-supplies; the form-with-substance is honest.
This is not anti-celebration — Tukaram has plenty of pro-celebration registers (193, 197, 212). It is anti-show-without-substance. The celebration must have the Viṭṭhal-coin in the kathā (256); without it, stones in a hopper — or here, spittle and naraka-supplies.
मराठी: ही ओवी recurring social-corruption — show-without-substance ceremonies — नाव सांगते:
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Show-items ओळखा. Lamps, music, decoration, ceremony, in-law-honoring, food-displays. सर्व honest असू शकतात (substance present असेल) आणि show-only असू शकतात (substance absent असेल).
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वऱ्हाडी oil-paste सारखं चिकटतं. Form show-only झाला — party-around-it demanding-and-extracting चिकटते. हे कधी होतंय ओळखा.
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Spittle-earned + naraka-supplies-ahead = cost. जोडिला थुंका — पुढें नरका सामग्री. Show-without-substance दोन्ही — immediate-disgust (लोक आरपार पाहतात) आणि future-karma-supplies-for-naraka (form empty असला तरी karma real) — earn करतं.
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Empty-form चे show-host होऊ नका. Implicit-instruction. एकतर substance सह wedding करा किंवा show करू नका.
आज: हे तुमच्या आयुष्यातील कोणत्याही ceremony ला लागू — wedding, religious-ritual, public-event, social-gathering, professional-show. Form alone thūnkā आणि naraka-supplies earn करतं; form-with-substance honest.
Anti-celebration नाही — तुकारामांकडे plenty of pro-celebration registers आहेत (193, 197, 212). Anti-show-without-substance आहे. Celebration ला कथेमध्ये Viṭṭhal-coin (256) हवा; नसेल — stones in a hopper — किंवा इथे, spittle आणि naraka-supplies.
Where this applies
- Ceremony-show-items. Honest if substance present; show-only if absent.
- Wedding-party clings like oil-paste. Recognize.
- Empty-form earns both disgust and naraka-supplies. Cost.
- Either substance or no-show. Implicit-instruction.