संत साहित्य
Work in progress. Translations and commentary are AI-generated and may contain inaccuracies or hallucinations — please use your own judgement and check against the original sources.
संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 719 of 4582

Abhanga 719

English: Some people's uttarē — gōḍa amṛta madhurē.

When some people's words are sweet, others' bitter — and you have to recognize this register
When these are deva's vibhūti, divided by prārabdha-gati — and you accept this image
When deva has made three kinds of people — and you receive this final aphorism

The verse

एकांचीं उत्तरें । गोड अमृत मधुरें ॥१॥ ऐशा देवाच्या विभुती । भिन्न प्रारब्धाची गती ॥ध्रु.॥ एकांचीं वचनें । कडु अत्यंत तीक्षणें ॥२॥ प्रकाराचें तीन । तुका म्हणे केलें जन ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: Some people's uttarēgōḍa amṛta madhurē. Such are deva's vibhūtī — by bhinna prārabdha-gati. Some people's vacanēkaḍu atyanta tīkṣaṇē. Tuka says: prakāra — three — has-made jana.

मराठी: एकांचीं उत्तरें — गोड, अमृत, मधुर. अशा देवाच्या विभूती — भिन्न प्रारब्धाची गती. एकांचीं वचनें — कडू, अत्यंत तीक्ष्ण. Tuka म्हणे: तीन प्रकार — जन केले.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
एकांचीं उत्तरें "some people's uttarē"
गोड अमृत मधुरें "gōḍa amṛta madhurē"
ऐशा देवाच्या विभुती "such — devavibhūtī"
भिन्न प्रारब्धाची गती "bhinnaprārabdha-gati"
एकांचीं वचनें "some people's — vacanē"
कडु अत्यंत तीक्षणें "kaḍu atyanta tīkṣaṇē"
प्रकाराचें तीन "prakāra-tīna (three-kinds)"
केलें जन "has-made — jana"

What it means

A some-words-sweet-some-bitter-deva's-vibhūti-three-kinds-of-people abhang. Three-kinds-of-people-aphorism register. Three claims:

  1. एकांचीं उत्तरें — गोड-अमृत-मधुर — देवाच्या-विभूती — प्रारब्ध-गति-भिन्न. Some-sweet-words-deva's-vibhūti-claim. Some people's uttarē (replies) are gōḍa amṛta madhurē (sweet, like-amṛta, mellifluous); such are deva's vibhūtī (manifest-glories, distinctive-displays); (divided) by bhinna prārabdha-gati (different prārabdha-paths). Sweet-speakers-are-deva's-vibhūti-by-prārabdha.

  2. एकांचीं वचनें — कडू-तीक्ष्ण. Some-bitter-words-claim. Some people's vacanē (words) are kaḍu atyanta tīkṣaṇē (bitter, extremely sharp). Bitter-speakers-too.

  3. Tuka: तीन प्रकार — जन केले. Three-kinds-claim. Tuka says: prakārācē tīna (three kinds) — has-made the jana (people). Three-kinds-of-people-made (sweet, bitter, and presumably-the-third — neutral / mixed / somewhere-in-between).

[T]

For someone today

This abhang names the three-kinds-of-people-aphorism register:

  1. Some people's words are sweet — these are deva's vibhūti, by different prārabdha-gati. Sweet-speakers-deva's-vibhūti.

  2. Some people's words are bitter and very sharp. Bitter-speakers.

  3. Three kinds of people — deva has made. Three-kinds-aphorism.

For today: the variation in human-speech (some sweet, some bitter, some between) is by prārabdha-gati; each kind is a vibhūtī of deva; deva has-made three kinds of people.

This abhang is Tukaram's three-kinds-of-people-aphorism registerone of the most-compact diversity-of-people-as-divine-vibhūti statements. Compare 0658 paradox-list-of-Pāṇḍuranga (Tuka's mudra); same diversity-as-divine-display but here applied to people not the deity. The prakārācē tīna (three kinds) is left under-specified: the bhakta names sweet and bitter explicitly; the third is the in-between — the ordinary.

मराठी: ही ओवी three-kinds-of-people-aphorism register नाव सांगते:

  1. Some sweet words — deva-vibhūti — prārabdha-गति. Sweet-deva's-vibhūti.

  2. Some bitter-tīkṣaṇa words. Bitter.

  3. Three-kinds — deva ने केले. Three-kinds.

आज: Human-speech-variation (some sweet, some bitter, some between) prārabdha-gati-ने; Each-kind deva-च-vibhūtī; Deva-ने-three-kinds-of-people-केले.

Tukaram च-three-kinds-of-people-aphorism-registerMost-compact diversity-of-people-as-divine-vibhūti statements पैकी एक. 0658 paradox-list-of-Pāṇḍuranga (Tuka mudra) compare; तीच diversity-as-divine-display पण इथे people-ला applied, deity-ला नाही. Prakārācē tīna under-specified — sweet, bitter, third = ordinary.

Where this applies

Related verses