Abhanga 442
Guard yourself against intoxication and self-forgetting, speak the plain truth instead of hiding, stay rooted in your foundation, and in hardship choose quiet steadiness over endless talk.
The verse
सब संबाल भ्याने लौंढे खडा केऊं गुंग । मदिरथी मता हुवा भुलि पाडी भंग ॥१॥ आपसकुं संबाल आपसकुं संबाल । मुंढे खुब राख ताल । मुथिवोहि बोला नहीं तो करूँगा हाल ॥ध्रु.॥ आवलका तो पीछें नहीं मुदल बिसर जाय । फिरते नहीं लाज रंडी गधे गोते खाय ॥२॥ जिन्हो खातिर इतना होता सो नहीं तुझे बेफाम । उचा जोरो लिया तुंबा तुंबा बुरा काम ॥३॥ निकल जावे चिकल जोरो मुंढे दिलदारी । जबानीकी छोड दे बात फिर एक तारी ॥४॥ कहे तुका फिसल रुका मेरेको दान देख । पकड धका गांडगुडघी मार चलाऊं आलेख ॥५॥
Literal translation
All sambāl fearfully — boy standing gunga. Wine-intoxicated — mata confused — fell broken. Control yourself, control yourself, mute keep good tāla — if you don't speak muthi-vōhi, I'll make hāl. Behind no āval — mudal forgotten — turning without lāja — raṇḍī, gadhē take blows. For whom this much — not yours unrestrained — high-tilted, took tumbā — gourd-bad-work. Cikala-jōrō pulls — mute dilī-dārī — leave jubānī-kī talk — then ēka-tārī. Tuka says: the fisala-rukā — see my dāna — caught the dhakā, gāmḍa-guḍagī mār — I drive the ālēkha.
मराठी: सब संबाल भ्याने लौंढे खडा केऊं गुंग — मदिरथी मता हुवा भुलि पाडी भंग. आपसकुं संबाल आपसकुं संबाल — मुंढे खुब राख ताल — मुथिवोहि बोला नहीं तो करूँगा हाल. आवलका तो पीछें नहीं मुदल बिसर जाय — फिरते नहीं लाज रंडी गधे गोते खाय. जिन्हो खातिर इतना होता सो नहीं तुझे बेफाम — उचा जोरो लिया तुंबा तुंबा बुरा काम. निकल जावे चिकल जोरो मुंढे दिलदारी — जबानीकी छोड दे बात फिर एक तारी. तुकाराम म्हणतां — फिसल रुका मेरेको दान देख — पकड धका गांडगुडघी मार चलाऊं आलेख.
Word-by-word gloss
| Hindavi/Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| सब संबाल भ्याने लौंढे खडा केऊं गुंग | "all sambāl fearfully — boy standing gunga" |
| मदिरथी मता हुवा भुलि पाडी भंग | "wine-intoxicated — mata confused — fell broken" |
| आपसकुं संबाल | "control yourself" |
| मुंढे खुब राख ताल | "mute, keep good tāla" |
| मुथिवोहि बोला नहीं तो करूँगा हाल | "if you don't speak muthi-vōhi, I'll make hāl" |
| आवलका तो पीछें नहीं मुदल बिसर जाय | "behind no āval, mudal forgotten" |
| फिरते नहीं लाज रंडी गधे गोते खाय | "turning without lāja — raṇḍī, gadhē take blows" |
| जिन्हो खातिर इतना होता सो नहीं तुझे बेफाम | "for whom this much — not yours unrestrained" |
| उचा जोरो लिया तुंबा तुंबा बुरा काम | "high-tilted, took tumbā — gourd-bad-work" |
| निकल जावे चिकल जोरो मुंढे दिलदारी | "cikala-jōrō pulls — mute dilī-dārī" |
| जबानीकी छोड दे बात फिर एक तारी | "leave jubānī-kī talk — then ēka-tārī" |
| फिसल रुका मेरेको दान देख | "the fisala-rukā — see my dāna" |
| पकड धका गांडगुडघी मार चलाऊं आलेख | "caught dhakā — gāmḍa-guḍagī mār — drive ālēkha" |
What it means
A Hindavi-fakir-warning-against-intoxication abhang. Second of the Hindavi-fakir cluster. The vocabulary is Hindavi/Dakhani street-fakir — fierce-fakir warnings to disciples. Six claims:
-
सब संबाल भ्याने लौंढे खडा केऊं गुंग — मदिरथी मता हुवा भुलि पाडी भंग — all sambāl fearfully — boy standing gunga — wine-intoxicated, mata confused, fell broken. The opening-warning: control yourself, all of you, fearfully — the boy is standinggunga(mute, dazed); intoxicated by wine,mata(mind) became confused, fell broken. Intoxication-warning.
-
आपसकुं संबाल आपसकुं संबाल — मुंढे खुब राख ताल — मुथिवोहि बोला नहीं तो करूँगा हाल — control yourself, control yourself — mute, keep good tāla — if you don't speak muthi-vōhi, I'll make hāl. The self-control refrain: control yourself, control yourself; mute, keep good rhythm; if you don't speak themuthi-vōhi(the truth-of-the-handful, the inner-truth), I'll makehāl(state / suffering / ecstatic-state). The fakir threatenshāl(the Sufi ecstatic-state) on those who don't speak truth.
-
आवलका तो पीछें नहीं मुदल बिसर जाय — फिरते नहीं लाज रंडी गधे गोते खाय — behind no āval — mudal forgotten — turning, no lāja — raṇḍī, gadhē take blows. The forgotten-capital warning: behind there is noāval(the original / first principle); themudal(capital, root) is forgotten; (those who) turn withoutlāja— likeraṇḍīandgadhē(low-woman and donkey) — take blows.Capital-forgetters take a beating.
-
जिन्हो खातिर इतना होता सो नहीं तुझे बेफाम — उचा जोरो लिया तुंबा तुंबा बुरा काम — for whom this much — not yours unrestrained — high-tilted, took tumbā — gourd-bad-work. The gourd-image: for whom (Allah?) so much exists — that's not yours to be unrestrained-with; high-tilted, you took thetumbā(gourd, the wine-vessel); the gourd-work was bad. (Tumbā = gourd-vessel; the fakir-tradition's wine-symbol can refer to Sufi-mystic-wine but here is literal-intoxication-as-error.)
-
निकल जावे चिकल जोरो मुंढे दिलदारी — जबानीकी छोड दे बात फिर एक तारी — cikala-jōrō pulls — mute dilī-dārī — leave jubānī-kī talk — then ēka-tārī. The one-string-claim: when thecikala-jōrō(dirty-hand / hard-pull) pulls (you), (stay) mute,dilī-dārī(heart-keeping); leave thejubānī-kī(tongue-talk) — thenēka-tārī(one-string, single-stringed instrument / one-tone) (sounds). Outer-talk-cessation reveals the inner-one-string.
-
कहे तुका फिसल रुका मेरेको दान देख — पकड धका गांडगुडघी मार चलाऊं आलेख — Tuka says: the fisala-rukā — see my dāna — caught dhakā — gāmḍa-guḍagī mār — drive ālēkha. The closing-claim: Tuka says: the slipped-and-stuck (one) — see mydāna; caught thedhakā(push),gāmḍa-guḍagī mār(knee-strike from below); I drive theālēkha(script / writing of Allah). The fakir-Tuka threatens with knee-strike to drive the disciple to the Allah-script.
[T]
For someone today
This is Tukaram speaking in the voice of a fierce street fakir, scolding disciples who have lost themselves in intoxication. He describes someone dazed and broken by wine, mind confused, and warns everyone else to control themselves before that happens to them too. He insists people speak the plain, inner truth rather than staying evasively silent, or else they will be pushed into a harder reckoning. He warns against forgetting your root, your original foundation, because those who wander from it without any shame end up taking hard knocks like a stubborn donkey. Chasing the gourd of wine, tilting it high for one more drink, he says plainly, is bad business. When life's rough hand pulls at you, he says the wiser move is to stay quiet and keep your heart steady rather than talk your way through it, and let a single, simple inner note carry you instead. In the end he says he himself will push, even strike, to drive real truth home in a disciple who keeps slipping, because that is what real teaching sometimes takes.
मराठी: ही ओवी तुकारामांनी एका कठोर फकिराच्या आवाजात रचली आहे, जो नशेत हरवलेल्या शिष्यांना खडसावतो. दारूच्या नशेने गोंधळलेला आणि तुटलेला माणूस ते वर्णन करतात आणि बाकी सर्वांना सावध करतात की स्वतःवर ताबा ठेवा, नाहीतर हीच अवस्था तुमचीही होईल. लोकांनी लपून राहण्याऐवजी खरं, आतलं सत्य बोलावं असा त्यांचा आग्रह आहे, नाहीतर त्यांना अधिक कठीण परिस्थितीला सामोरे जावे लागेल. आपली मूळ पायाभूत गोष्ट विसरू नका असा इशाराही ते देतात, कारण लाज सोडून भरकटणारे शेवटी हट्टी गाढवासारखे फटके खातात. दारूचा तुंबा उंच धरून आणखी एक घोट घेणे हा साफ वाईट धंदा आहे, असे ते स्पष्ट सांगतात. जेव्हा आयुष्याचा कठोर हात तुम्हाला ओढतो, तेव्हा बोलत राहण्यापेक्षा शांत राहून मन स्थिर ठेवणे शहाणपणाचे आहे, आणि एका साध्या आतल्या सुरालाच तुम्हाला घेऊन जाऊ द्या, असे ते सांगतात. शेवटी ते म्हणतात, जो शिष्य सतत घसरतो त्याला खरं सत्य रुजवण्यासाठी ते स्वतः धक्का देतील, अगदी मारही देतील, कारण खऱ्या शिकवणीत कधीकधी हेच लागतं.
Where this applies
- Don't trust intoxication. Confuses mata.
- Speak truth or expect hāl. Sufi-state.
- Don't forget mudal. Root-principle.
- Gourd-wine work is bad. Anti-intoxication.
- Ēka-tārī sounds when outer-talk ceases. Inner-string.
- Fakir drives ālēkha. Master-mark.