Abhanga 720
Speech can trap you and silence can fail you, so the real discipline is knowing when to speak and when to hold back, trusting that what grows quietly inside will show itself in time.
The verse
वचनें ही नाड । न बोले तें मुकें खोड ॥१॥ दोहीं वेगळें तें हित । बोली अबोलणी नीत ॥ध्रु.॥ अंधार प्रकाशी । जाय दिवस पावे निशी ॥२॥ बीज पृथिवीच्या पोटीं । तुका म्हणे दावी दृष्टी ॥३॥
Literal translation
Vacanē — nāḍa — na bōlē — mukē-khōḍa. From both, separate — hita. Bōlī-abōlaṇī — nīta. Andhāra-prakāśa — divasa goes — niśī arrives. Bīja — earth-pōṭa — Tuka says — dāvī dṛṣṭī.
मराठी: वचनं ही नाड (फांस) — न-बोलणं — मुक्या-खोडं (दोष). दोन्हींपासून वेगळं — हें च हित —bōlī-abōlaṇī— नीत. अंधार-प्रकाश — दिवस जातो, निशी पावते. बीज पृथ्वीच्या पोटीं — Tuka म्हणे: दृष्टी ने दावी.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| वचनें ही नाड | "vacanē — nāḍa (snare)" |
| न बोले तें मुकें खोड | "not-speaking — mukē-khōḍa (mute-defect)" |
| दोहीं वेगळें तें हित | "from-both — separate — hita" |
| बोली अबोलणी नीत | "bōlī-abōlaṇī — nīta (rule)" |
| अंधार प्रकाशी | "andhāra-prakāśa" |
| जाय दिवस पावे निशी | "divasa goes — niśī arrives" |
| बीज पृथिवीच्या पोटीं | "bīja — earth-pōṭa" |
| दावी दृष्टी | "dāvī dṛṣṭī" |
What it means
A words-snare-silence-defect-between-the-two-bōlī-abōlaṇī-cycle-seed-shows abhang. Between-speech-and-silence register. Three claims:
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वचनं नाड — न-बोलणं मुक्य-खोड — दोहीं-वेगळं हित — बोली-अबोलणी नीत. Words-snare-silence-defect-between-claim. Words too are anāḍa(snare, trap, halter — like the rope-with-noose for catching cattle); not-speaking is amukē-khōḍa(the defect of muteness, the fault of dumbness); separate fromboth— that ishita (welfare); bōlī-abōlaṇī (the speaking-not-speaking, the in-between-mode) is nīta (the rule, the proper-way).Words-snare-silence-defect-between-them-is-the-rule. (Thebōlī-abōlaṇīis thespeaking-when-needed-and-not-speaking-when-not-needed — the discriminating-speech.)
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अंधार-प्रकाश — दिवस-जाय-निशी-पावे. Cycle-of-light-and-darkness-claim. Andhāra-prakāśa (darkness-and-light);day goes — niśī (night) arrives.The natural-cycle alternates. (The reading: just as day-and-night alternate, speech-and-silence alternate; you need-both-at-the-right-time.)
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Tuka: बीज पृथ्वी-पोटीं — दृष्टी ने दावी. Seed-in-earth-shows-by-sight-claim. Tuka says: thebīja(seed) in the earth'spōṭa(belly); dāvī dṛṣṭī (shows by sight — i.e., when it sprouts, you see it).Hidden-seed-eventually-shows-itself-visibly. (The reading: the seed (the innerbījaof bhāva, ofbōlī-abōlaṇī-discrimination) ripens-in-secret in the earth-of-the-heart andeventually-shows-itself.)
[T]
For someone today
Tukārām warns that speech itself can become a trap, catching you in arguments, gossip, or falsehood, while staying silent when you should speak is its own fault, a kind of dumbness. The real path is neither always talking nor always staying quiet, but knowing when to speak and when to hold back. Just as day gives way to night and night gives way to day in an endless, natural rhythm, your speech and silence should move together in their own right rhythm. And like a seed buried in the earth that seems hidden but eventually breaks the surface and becomes visible, what you're truly cultivating inside will show itself in time, whether or not you rush to put it into words.
मराठी: तुकाराम इशारा देतात की बोलणे हेच एक सापळा बनू शकते, जे तुम्हाला भांडण, चहाड्या किंवा खोटेपणात अडकवते, तर जिथे बोलायला हवे तिथे गप्प राहणे हाही एक दोष आहे, एक प्रकारचे मुकेपण. खरा मार्ग म्हणजे सतत बोलणेही नाही आणि सतत गप्प राहणेही नाही, तर कधी बोलावे आणि कधी थांबावे हे ओळखणे. जसा दिवस जाऊन रात्र येते आणि रात्र जाऊन पुन्हा दिवस येतो, त्याच नैसर्गिक लयीत तुमचे बोलणे आणि मौन यांनीही आपापली लय सांभाळावी. आणि जसे पृथ्वीच्या पोटात पेरलेले बीज लपलेले वाटले तरी शेवटी अंकुरून दिसू लागते, तसेच तुमच्या मनात खरोखर जे वाढते आहे ते वेळ आल्यावर आपोआप दिसून येईल, तुम्ही घाईने शब्दांत मांडले नाहीत तरी.
Where this applies
- Vacanē-nāḍa—mukē-khōḍa. Both-traps.
- Bōlī-abōlaṇī. Rule.
- Seed-shows. Hidden-eventually.