संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 837 of 4582

Abhanga 837

Quarrels over mine versus yours are false because the same loving presence is equally close to both sides; seeing this ends the exhausting fight.

When the māulī makes the children quarrel for-sport; she watches all — and you have to recognize this register
When each says mine-mine and strikes; but mother is not far from either — and you accept this image

The verse

भांडवी माउली कवतुकें बाळा । आपणा सकळां साक्षित्वेसीं ॥१॥ माझी माझी म्हणे एकएकां मारी । हें तों नाहीं दुरी उभयतां ॥ध्रु.॥ तुझें थोडें भातें माझें बहु फार । छंद करकर वाद मिथ्या ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे एके ठायीं आहे वर्म । हें चि होय श्रम निवारितें ॥३॥

Literal translation

Bhāṇḍavīmāulīkavatukēbāḷā. Herself — all — sākṣitva. Mine-mine — strikes — each-other. Not — durīubhayatām. Yours — thōḍē; mine — bahu phāra. Chanda kara-karavādamithyā. Tuka says: ekē ṭhāyīmvarma — this-itself — śramanivāritā.

मराठी: माउली कवतुकें (कौतुकाने / गंमतीसाठी) बाळांना भांडवते — आपण सकळांची साक्षित्वें. "माझी, माझी" म्हणून एकमेकांना मारतात — पण ती (माउली) उभयतां-कुणाकडून-च-दुरी नाही. "तुझें थोडें भातें, माझें बहु फार" — हा छंद, कर-कर वाद मिथ्या. Tuka म्हणे: एके ठायीं वर्म आहे — हें-च श्रम निवारितें.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
भांडवी माउली कवतुकें बाळा "bhāṇḍavīmāulīkavatukēbāḷā"
आपणा सकळां साक्षित्वेसीं "herself — all — sākṣitva"
माझी माझी म्हणे एकएकां मारी "mine-mine — says — each-other — strikes"
हें तों नाहीं दुरी उभयतां "(it) — not — durī (far) — ubhayatām"
तुझें थोडें भातें माझें बहु फार "yours — little; mine — bahu phāra"
छंद करकर वाद मिथ्या "chanda kara-karavādamithyā"
एके ठायीं आहे वर्म "ekē ṭhāyīmvarma"
हें चि होय श्रम निवारितें "this-itself — śramanivāritā"

What it means

A mother-makes-children-quarrel-for-sport-each-says-mine-mine-and-strikes-mother-not-far-from-either-yours-less-mine-much-dispute-mithyā-secret-in-one-place-removes-toil abhang. Mother-watches-quarrel-secret-removes-toil register. Three claims:

  1. माउली-कवतुकें-भांडवी-बाळा — साक्षित्वेसी. Mother-makes-children-quarrel-for-sport-claim. Themāulī (mother) makes the bāḷā (children) quarrel — kavatukēm (for-her-sport, for-her-amusement);herself in sākṣitva (witness-hood) of-all.Mother-watches-the-quarrel-she-instigated-for-fun. (TheHari-as-māulīimage: the apparent-quarrel-of-the-world is, from-the-mother's-side,kavatuka — divine-sport.)

  2. माझी-माझी-म्हणे-एकेकां-मारी — हें-तों-नाहीं-दुरी-उभयतां — तुझें-थोडें-भातें-माझें-बहु-फार — छंद-कर-कर-वाद-मिथ्या. Mine-mine-each-strikes-mother-not-far-dispute-mithyā-claim. Each-one saysmājhī mājhī and mārī the-other-each;but (the mother) is not durī from ubhayatām (either-of-the-two);(one says:) 'yours is thōḍē; mine is bahu phāra';the chanda — the kara-kara (the rattle-rattle of bickering) — the vāda is mithyā (false).Mine-mine-quarrel-but-mother-is-equal-to-both; the dispute is mithyā. (The same-mother is in both-children — theubhayatām-not-durīclaim — the dispute overmine-vs-yoursis, therefore,mithyā (false).)

  3. Tuka: एके-ठायीं-वर्म — श्रम-निवारितें. Secret-in-one-place-removes-toil-claim. Tuka says: inekē ṭhāyīm (one-place — the one-place where the mother-witness-of-both is) is the varma (the secret-of-the-meaning);that-itself is the nivāritā of śrama. In-one-place-is-the-secret-that-removes-toil. (The closing-claim: the vāda is mithyā; the varma is one-place (the māulī's witnessing); recognizing this removes the toil of the kara-kara-bickering.)

[T]

For someone today

Picture a mother who lets her children quarrel a little, almost for the fun of watching them, while she stays equally close and equally devoted to each one. That's what our fights over mine versus yours look like from a higher view: petty, and honestly false, because the same loving presence is equally near to both people quarreling. Tukaram says that once you see this, that there's one shared source of love behind the argument, the whole exhausting struggle of bickering falls away. You don't have to win the argument; you just have to notice the truth underneath it.

मराठी: एका आईची कल्पना करा जी आपल्या मुलांना जरा भांडू देते, जणू त्यांना पाहण्याच्या गमतीसाठी, पण ती दोघांच्याही तितकीच जवळ आणि तितकीच प्रेमळ राहते. आपल्या 'माझं विरुद्ध तुझं' या भांडणांकडे उंचावरून पाहिलं तर तसंच दिसतं: क्षुल्लक, आणि खरं तर खोटं, कारण भांडणाऱ्या दोघांच्याही तितकीच जवळ तीच प्रेमळ उपस्थिती असते. तुकाराम म्हणतात की एकदा हे लक्षात आलं — की भांडणामागे प्रेमाचा एकच समान स्रोत आहे — की बडबडीचा तो सगळा दमवणारा संघर्ष विरून जातो. वाद जिंकायची गरज नसते; फक्त त्याखालचं सत्य लक्षात घ्यायचं असतं.

Where this applies

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