संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 586 of 4582

Abhanga 586

Honor rewards you with nothing more than honor, but real fruit comes from committing to truth, holding steady through hardship, and finishing what you started instead of stopping at the edge.

When honor's fruit is limited but truth-resolve is greater — and you have to recognize this register
When forbearance is harder than yoga — and you accept this image
When many bring and hard going out into the battle — and you receive this final image

The verse

गौरव गौरवापुरतें । फळ सत्याचे संकल्प ॥१॥ कठिण योगाहुनि क्षम । ओकलिया होतो श्रम ॥ध्रु.॥ पावलें मरे सिवेपाशीं । क्लेश उरत ते क्लेशीं ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे बहु आणी । कठिण निघालिया रणीं ॥३॥

Literal translation

Gaurava — only-gaurava-far — phaḷa — satya-sankalpa. Kaṭhīṇa — yōga-than — kṣama — ōkalīyā — śrama. Reaches — dies — sīvē-pāśīm — kleśa — remains — kleśa. Tuka says: many — āṇī — kaṭhīṇa — nighālīyā raṇī.

मराठी: गौरव गौरवापुरतें — फळ सत्याचे संकल्प. कठिण योगाहुनि क्षम — ओकलिया होतो श्रम. पावलें मरे सिवेपाशीं — क्लेश उरत ते क्लेशीं. तुकाराम म्हणतां — बहु आणी — कठिण निघालिया रणीं.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
गौरव गौरवापुरतें "gaurava — only-as-far-as-gaurava"
फळ सत्याचे संकल्प "phaḷa — satya-sankalpa"
कठिण योगाहुनि क्षम "kaṭhīṇa — yōga-than — kṣama"
ओकलिया होतो श्रम "ōkalīyā — śrama"
पावलें मरे सिवेपाशीं "reaches — dies — sīvē-pāśīm"
क्लेश उरत ते क्लेशीं "kleśa — remains — kleśa"
बहु आणी "many — āṇī"
कठिण निघालिया रणीं "kaṭhīṇa — nighālīyā raṇī"

What it means

A honor-fruit-limited-truth-resolve-greater-kṣama-harder-than-yoga abhang. Discrimination-of-fruit-by-action register. Three claims:

  1. गौरव गौरवापुरतें — फळ सत्याचे संकल्प — gaurava — only-as-far-as-gaurava — phaḷa — satya-sankalpa. The opening-fruit-discrimination-claim: gaurava (honor, public-praise) gives fruit only-as-far-as-gaurava (= the fruit-of-honor is limited-to-honor; nothing more);the phaḷa (fruit) of satya-sankalpa (truth-resolve, the resolve-to-truth) is greater.Honor's-fruit-is-limited; truth-resolve's-fruit-is-greater.Don't-pursue-honor-pursue-truth.

  2. कठिण योगाहुनि क्षम — ओकलिया होतो श्रम — kaṭhīṇa — yōga-than — kṣama — ōkalīyā — śrama. The kṣama-harder-than-yoga-claim: kaṭhīṇa (hard);kṣama(forbearance, patience) is harder thanyōga; byōkalīyā(vomiting-out, expressing-out) — śrama (toil, exhaustion) happens.Forbearance-is-harder-than-yoga; expressing-out-causes-exhaustion.Patience-is-the-real-tapas.

  3. पावलें मरे सिवेपाशीं — क्लेश उरत ते क्लेशीं — तुका म्हणे बहु आणी — कठिण निघालिया रणीं — reaches dies — sīvē-pāśīm — kleśa remains kleśa — Tuka says: many āṇī — kaṭhīṇa — nighālīyā raṇī. The closing-difficult-completion-image: (one who) reaches — dies — at thesīvē-pāśīm(boundary-near, just-before-the-finish); kleśa (suffering) remains in (mere)-kleśa(= the suffering accomplished-nothing because the goal-wasn't-reached); Tuka says: many doāṇī(bring, accomplish) (= many can do small things); kaṭhīṇa (hard) — nighālīyā raṇī (having-gone-out into the raṇa, battle-field, struggle-arena).Many-can-bring-but-going-out-into-battle-is-hard; reaching-the-boundary-and-dying-there-leaves-only-kleśa.Hard-completion-warning.

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For someone today

Tukaram draws a sharp line between two kinds of reward. Honor only ever pays you back in honor, and that's a small, thin coin; a real commitment to truth pays a far bigger fruit. He also says forbearance is harder to hold onto than any yoga posture, and that venting your frustration outward just leaves you worn out, not healed. Worst of all is stopping just short of the goal: you can walk almost the whole way and still die at the boundary, and all that effort turns into nothing but leftover pain. Many people can manage small, easy tasks; the real test is whether you can walk out into the actual struggle and stay there.

मराठी: तुकाराम इथे दोन प्रकारच्या फळांमध्ये स्पष्ट फरक करतात. मान-सन्मानाचे फळ फक्त मान-सन्मानापुरतेच असते, ते फार तोकडे असते; पण सत्यावर उभ्या राहिलेल्या संकल्पाचे फळ त्याहून खूप मोठे असते. सहनशीलता ही योगापेक्षाही अवघड आहे, आणि मनातली चीड बाहेर ओकून टाकल्याने फक्त थकवाच येतो, समाधान मिळत नाही. सगळ्यात वाईट म्हणजे ध्येयाच्या अगदी जवळ जाऊन मध्येच थांबणे किंवा कोसळणे — इतकी मेहनत करूनही शेवटी हातात फक्त क्लेशच उरतो. लहानसहान गोष्टी अनेकजण करू शकतात, पण खऱ्या लढाईत उतरून तिथे टिकून राहणे हीच खरी कसोटी आहे.

Where this applies

Bhakti

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