Abhanga 410

Even Krishna's own companions are unreliable and uncooperative, and only ordinary household discipline keeps their chaos in check, so do not expect any spiritual community to be flawless.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A short gōpī-elder-complaint about Krishna's cowherd-friends abhang. Three claims:

1. आणीक काय थोडीं — परि तें फार खोटीं कुडीं — aren't there other ones — but they're very false-and-broken. The opening-rhetorical-question: aren't there other (cowherd-boys / friends) too? — but they arefāra khōṭīm kuḍīm(very false-and-broken / very deceptive-and-untrustworthy). Krishna's-friends are themselves untrustworthy.

2. सदा मोकळीं च गुरें — होती फजीत तीं पोरें — always-loose gurē — those pōrē phajīta. The complaint-image: thegurē(cattle) are always loose (not contained); thosepōrē(boys, the cowherd-friends) arephajīta(disgraced / put-to-shame). The cowherd-establishment is in disarray.

3. सदा घालिता हुंबरी — एक एकांचे न करी — always humbarī — one doesn't do another's. The non-cooperation claim: alwayshumbarī(mooing, calling-out chaotically); no one does another's (work). The cowherd-friends don't cooperate.

4. तुका म्हणे घरीं माय — वेळोवेळां मारी — Tuka says: at home, māya, every-now-and-then beats. The closing-domestic-image: at home, themāya(mother) — every-now-and-then beats (the boys). The domestic-mother's discipline is the only restraint on the chaotic-cowherd-band.

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For someone today

This verse pictures a mother scolding Krishna's cowherd friends: they let the cattle wander loose, they shout at each other instead of cooperating, and frankly, they are unreliable. Tukaram is not attacking devotion itself, only the illusion that everyone around a spiritual circle is automatically trustworthy or disciplined. Even Krishna's own playmates need an ordinary mother's occasional scolding to keep them in line. So when your fellow devotees or companions let you down, don't be shocked, and don't let it shake your faith in the path itself.

मराठी: या अभंगात तुकाराम एका आईचे चित्र रंगवतात, जी कृष्णाच्या गुराख्या मित्रांना रागावते. ती मुले गुरे मोकळी सोडतात, एकमेकांना मदत करण्याऐवजी नुसता गोंधळ घालतात आणि त्यांच्यावर विश्वास ठेवणे कठीण आहे. तुकाराम इथे भक्तीवर टीका करत नाहीत, तर भक्तीसमूहातील माणसे आपोआप शहाणी किंवा शिस्तबद्ध असतील या भ्रमावर बोट ठेवतात. खुद्द कृष्णाच्या सवंगड्यांनाही आईच्या अधूनमधून बसणाऱ्या फटक्यानेच शिस्त लागते. त्यामुळे तुमच्या सोबतीचे लोक किंवा सहसाधक तुम्हाला निराश करतात तेव्हा धक्का बसू देऊ नका आणि त्यामुळे साधनेवरचा विश्वासही ढळू देऊ नका.

Where this applies

• Bhakti-community is not perfect. Don't expect.
• Cattle loose, boys disgraced. Disarray.
• Humbarī without cooperation. Honest-fact.
• Mother's beating restrains. Domestic-discipline.

Related verses

• Abhanga 4481 — Tukaram promises that sincerely calling on the Lord's name, knowingly or unknowingly, with
• Abhanga 4482 — Tukaram teaches that no ritual equals sincerely speaking the Lord's name, that self-center
• Abhanga 4495 — Tukaram tells how Krishna's mother and the cowherd families, absorbed in their own practic
• Abhanga 4497 — Tukaram describes a life so soaked in devotion that Krishna's presence fills every ordinar