Abhanga 838
Chasing illusions and greed without any awareness of death traps you in suffering and ends in hoarded wealth, fighting heirs, and God never remembered.
The verse
लटिकियाच्या आशा । होतों पडिलों वळसा । होउनियां दोषा । पात्र मिथ्या अभिमानें ॥१॥ बरवी उघडली दृष्टी । नाहीं तरी होतों कष्टी । आक्रंदते सृष्टी । मात्र या चेष्टांनीं ॥ध्रु.॥ मरणाची नाहीं शुद्धी । लोभीं प्रवर्तली बुद्धी । परती तों कधीं । घडे चि ना माघारीं ॥२॥ सांचूनि मरे धन । लावी पोरांसी भांडण । नाहीं नारायण । तुका म्हणे स्मरीला ॥३॥
Literal translation
Laṭikā — āśā — fallen — vaḷasā — dōṣa-pātra — mithyā abhimāna. Baravī — dṛṣṭi — opened — otherwise — kaṣṭī — ākrandatē sṛṣṭi — cēṣṭā. Maraṇa — śuddhi — none — lōbha — buddhi — paratī — never — māghārī. Tuka says: sāñcūni — dies — dhana — pōrāmsī — bhāṇḍaṇa — Nārāyaṇa — not — smarīlā.
मराठी: लटिक्याच्या आशेनं वळसा-त पडलों होतों — मिथ्या अभिमानानं दोष-पात्र होऊनि. दृष्टि बरवी उघडली — नाहीं तर कष्टी होतों — सृष्टि या चेष्टांनी आक्रंदते. मरणाची शुद्धि नाहीं — बुद्धि लोभीं प्रवर्तली — परती कधी माघारी घडत-च नाहीं. धन सांचूनि मरतो — पोरांसी भांडण लावतो — Nārāyaṇa स्मरीला-च नाहीं, Tuka म्हणे.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| लटिकियाच्या आशा | "laṭikā — āśā" |
| होतों पडिलों वळसा | "had — fallen — vaḷasā" |
| होउनियां दोषा पात्र मिथ्या अभिमानें | "becoming — dōṣa-pātra — mithyā abhimāna" |
| बरवी उघडली दृष्टी | "baravī — opened — dṛṣṭi" |
| नाहीं तरी होतों कष्टी | "otherwise — was — kaṣṭī" |
| आक्रंदते सृष्टी मात्र या चेष्टांनीं | "ākrandatē sṛṣṭi — only — cēṣṭā" |
| मरणाची नाहीं शुद्धी | "maraṇa — śuddhi — none" |
| लोभीं प्रवर्तली बुद्धी | "lōbha — pravartalī — buddhi" |
| परती तों कधीं घडे चि ना माघारीं | "paratī — never — māghārī" |
| सांचूनि मरे धन | "sāñcūni — dies — dhana" |
| लावी पोरांसी भांडण | "leaves — pōrāmsī — bhāṇḍaṇa" |
| नाहीं नारायण स्मरीला | "Nārāyaṇa — not — smarīlā" |
What it means
A false-hope-fell-into-eddy-mithyā-abhimāna-fault-gaze-opened-otherwise-suffering-world-cries-out-no-death-awareness-greed-buddhi-no-turning-back-dies-hoarding-children-fight-Nārāyaṇa-not-remembered abhang. Miser-dies-hoarding-children-fight register. Four claims:
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लटिक्याच्या-आशा — वळसा-पडलों — मिथ्या-अभिमान-दोष-पात्र. False-hope-eddy-claim. In theāśā(hope, expectation) of thelaṭikā (the false-thing — perishable wealth, status, etc.) I had-fallen into the vaḷasā (eddy, whirlpool — the samsāra-eddy that pulls one round-and-round);(I) became pātra (vessel / subject) of dōṣa by the mithyā abhimāna (false self-pride).Fell-into-eddy-by-false-hope-and-mithyā-abhimāna.
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बरवी-दृष्टि-उघडली — नाहीं-तर-कष्टी — सृष्टि-आक्रंदते-चेष्टांनीं. Gaze-opened-otherwise-suffering-world-cries-out-claim. Thedṛṣṭiopenedbaravī (well, fortunately);otherwise, I was kaṣṭī (in suffering);the sṛṣṭi (the world, the all-of-creatures) is ākrandatē (crying-out, lamenting) only by these cēṣṭā (doings — the same false-hope-driven doings).Gaze-opened-fortunately; world-laments-by-these-very-doings.
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मरण-शुद्धि-नाहीं — बुद्धि-लोभीं — परती-माघारी-घडत-नाहीं. No-death-awareness-greed-no-turning-back-claim. Nośuddhi(awareness, clear-knowledge) ofmaraṇa; thebuddhihas-turned-toward (pravartalī)lōbha; theparatī(turning-back) —māghārī (return-back) — never happens.No-death-awareness; greed-buddhi; no-turning-back.
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Tuka: सांचूनि-मरे-धन — पोरांसी-भांडण-लावी — Nārāyaṇa-स्मरीला-नाहीं. Miser-dies-hoarding-children-fight-Nārāyaṇa-not-remembered-claim. Tuka says: (one) diessāñcūni (hoarding) dhana; leaves thepōrāmsī (children) to bhāṇḍaṇa (quarrel) — over the inheritance;Nārāyaṇais not (even)smarīlā (remembered) (in all of this).Dies-hoarding-leaves-quarreling-children-Nārāyaṇa-forgotten. (Stark closing-image of the mithyā-abhimāna miser: dies before-finishing-hoarding, leaves the children to-fight-over-the-pile; theNārāyaṇa-smaraṇa — which is the entire-point — was never-done.)
[T]
For someone today
There was a time you might have gotten swept up chasing things that don't last, caught in your own false pride, going in circles without even realizing it. If your eyes hadn't opened, you'd still be stuck there suffering, like so much of the world does, endlessly caught in the same restless doings. Without any real awareness that death is coming, the mind drifts toward greed and never turns back. Tukaram's warning is stark: people die still hoarding wealth, leaving their children to fight over it, having never once turned their mind toward God.
मराठी: एक काळ असा असतो जेव्हा तुम्ही टिकणाऱ्या नसलेल्या गोष्टींच्या मागे वाहवत जाता, स्वतःच्याच खोट्या अभिमानात अडकता, आणि हे लक्षातही न येता गोल-गोल फिरत राहता. जर तुमचे डोळे उघडले नसते, तर तुम्ही अजूनही तिथेच अडकून दुःख भोगत राहिला असता, जसे जगातले बरेच जण अजूनही त्याच अस्वस्थ धडपडीत अडकलेले असतात. मृत्यू येणार आहे याची खरी जाणीव नसल्यामुळे मन हावेकडे झुकते आणि पुन्हा कधीच मागे वळत नाही. तुकारामांचा इशारा स्पष्ट आणि कठोर आहे: माणसं धन साठवत साठवतच मरतात, मुलांना त्यावरून भांडायला लावतात, आणि एकदाही मन देवाकडे वळवत नाहीत.
Where this applies
- Eddy. Samsāra-trap.
- Gaze opened. Grace.
- No turning-back. Greed-locked.
- Miser's end. Stark-warning.