Abhanga 599
A person who has wealth but no integrity, who dozes through what's sacred and wakes eagerly for what's shameful, has sunk lower than a donkey.
The verse
द्रव्य असतां धर्म न करी । नागविला राजद्वारीं ॥१॥ माय त्यासि व्याली जेव्हां । रांड सटवी नव्हती तेव्हां ॥ध्रु.॥. कथाकाळीं निद्रा लागे । कामीं श्वानापरी जागे ॥२॥ भोग स्त्रियेसि देतां लाजे । वस्त्र दासीचें घेउनि निजे ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे जाण । नर गाढवाहुनी हीन ॥४॥
Literal translation
Dravya — dharma not done — nāgavilā — rāja-dvāra. Mother bore — when — rāṇḍa Saṭvī — not then. Kathā — nidrā — kāma — śvāna — wakes. Bhōga — wife — ashamed — dāsī vastra — sleeps. Tuka says: know — nara — gaḍhava — hīna.
मराठी: द्रव्य असतां धर्म न करी — नागविला राजद्वारीं. माय त्यासि व्याली जेव्हां — रांड सटवी नव्हती तेव्हां. कथाकाळीं निद्रा लागे — कामीं श्वानापरी जागे. भोग स्त्रियेसि देतां लाजे — वस्त्र दासीचें घेउनि निजे. तुकाराम म्हणतां — जाण — नर गाढवाहुनी हीन.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| द्रव्य असतां धर्म न करी | "dravya — dharma not done" |
| नागविला राजद्वारीं | "nāgavilā — rāja-dvāra" |
| माय त्यासि व्याली जेव्हां | "mother bore — when" |
| रांड सटवी नव्हती तेव्हां | "rāṇḍa Saṭvī — not then" |
| कथाकाळीं निद्रा लागे | "kathā — nidrā" |
| कामीं श्वानापरी जागे | "kāma — śvāna — wakes" |
| भोग स्त्रियेसि देतां लाजे | "bhōga — wife — ashamed" |
| वस्त्र दासीचें घेउनि निजे | "dāsī vastra — sleeps" |
| नर गाढवाहुनी हीन | "nara — gaḍhava — hīna" |
What it means
A drvya-no-dharma-nara-lower-than-donkey abhang. Sharp social-critique register. Five claims:
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द्रव्य असतां धर्म न करी — नागविला राजद्वारीं — dravya — dharma not done — nāgavilā — rāja-dvāra. The opening-wealth-without-dharma-claim: (one who) hasdravya(wealth) but doesn't dodharma; getsnāgavilā(stripped, made-naked) at therāja-dvāra(king's-gate, the court). Wealth-without-dharma-leads-to-public-stripping.
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माय त्यासि व्याली जेव्हां — रांड सटवी नव्हती तेव्हां — mother bore — when — rāṇḍa Saṭvī — not then. The no-fate-was-written-claim: when his mother bore him; (it seems) therāṇḍa Saṭvī(the goddess who writes the fate on the sixth-night-after-birth) was not (present) then. No-fate-was-written-by-the-deity. (The folk-belief: Saṭvī comes on the 6th-night and writes the child's-fate; if she's-absent, no-fate-no-good-fortune.)
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कथाकाळीं निद्रा लागे — कामीं श्वानापरी जागे — kathā — nidrā — kāma — śvāna — wakes. The inverted-state-claim: duringkathā(deva-narrative-recital) — nidrā (sleep) takes him;in kāma (lust)— he wakes like aśvāna(dog). Sleeps-during-kathā-wakes-during-kāma. Inverted-state of priorities.
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भोग स्त्रियेसि देतां लाजे — वस्त्र दासीचें घेउनि निजे — bhōga — wife — ashamed — dāsī — vastra — sleeps. The inversion-of-relations-claim: ashamed to givebhōgato (his own)strī(wife); (but) sleeps having taken thevastra(clothes / shawl) of thedāsī (servant-woman).Inverted-relation: avoids-wife-sleeps-with-dāsī.
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तुका म्हणे जाण — नर गाढवाहुनी हीन — Tuka says: know — nara — gaḍhava — hīna. The closing-fortiori-claim: Tuka says: know — thenara(man) ishīna(lower, more-base) than thegaḍhava(donkey). Such-a-man-lower-than-the-donkey. Final-belittlement.
[T]
For someone today
This verse is a blunt, biting portrait of a hypocrite: a man with wealth who never uses it for good, and who ends up stripped of everything at the king's own gate. Tukaram says it is almost as if no fate was properly written for him at birth, because his behavior gives him away — he dozes off the moment a sacred story is being told, but wakes wide alert, like a dog, the instant lust is on offer. He is too ashamed for honest intimacy with his own wife, yet feels no shame sneaking off with a servant woman. Tukaram does not soften the verdict: know this, he says, such a man is lower than a donkey. It is a warning about the gap between what someone has and what they actually do with it, and about how true priorities reveal themselves in what puts you to sleep and what keeps you awake.
मराठी: ही ओवी एका ढोंगी माणसाचं तिखट चित्र रेखाटते: ज्याच्याकडे संपत्ती आहे पण तो तिचा चांगला उपयोग कधीच करत नाही, आणि शेवटी राजद्वारी सर्वस्व गमावून बसतो. तुकाराम म्हणतात की जणू त्याच्या जन्मावेळी त्याचं भाग्यच नीट लिहिलं गेलं नव्हतं, कारण त्याचं वागणंच ते उघड करतं — कथा सुरू असताना त्याला झोप येते, पण वासनेची संधी मिळताच तो कुत्र्यासारखा जागा होतो. स्वतःच्या पत्नीशी प्रामाणिक जवळीक साधायला तो लाजतो, पण दासीबरोबर लपून राहायला त्याला काहीच लाज वाटत नाही. तुकाराम इथे कोणतीही सूट देत नाहीत — जाणा, ते म्हणतात, असा माणूस गाढवापेक्षाही खालचा आहे. एखाद्या माणसाकडे काय आहे आणि तो त्याचा प्रत्यक्षात काय उपयोग करतो, यातल्या तफावतीचा हा इशारा आहे — आणि खरं प्राधान्य कशामुळे झोप येते आणि कशामुळे जाग येते यातूनच उघड होतं.
Where this applies
- Wealth-no-dharma stripped. King's-gate.
- Kathā-asleep;kāma-awake. Inversion.
- Wife-avoided; dāsī taken. Inversion-relations.
- Nara lower than donkey. Fortiori.