संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 957 of 4582

Abhanga 957

Being sent off with a formal bow or a polite gesture doesn't actually lift you up; that kind of distant courtesy can be hollow. What is real and good only becomes clear through an actual meeting, eye to eye, presence to presence; without that direct encounter, all the talk is just dry words. Tukaram himself falls silent here, and asks you to listen not to what is said, but to what is witnessed inside, in that quiet meeting itself. Real change comes from real contact, not from formalities or secondhand accounts.

When sending back; what kind of uplift? — and you have to recognize this register
When what happens with meeting will appear well to all — and you accept this image
When without gaze-meeting, only dry stories — and you allow this image

The verse

पाठवणें पडणें पायां । उद्धार वांयां काशाचा ॥१॥ घडलें तें भेटीसवें । दिसेल बरवें सकळां ॥ध्रु.॥ न घडतां दृष्टादृष्टी । काय गोष्टी कोरड्या ॥२॥ अबोल्यानें असे तुका । अंतर ऐका साक्षीतें ॥३॥

Literal translation

Pāṭhavaṇē — paḍaṇē — pāyā — uddhāra — vāyā. Bhēṭi-savē — baravē. Dṛṣṭā-dṛṣṭi — gōṣṭi — kōraḍyā. Tuka — abōlyānē — antara — sākṣitva.

मराठी: पाठवणें — पायां पडणें — काशाचा उद्धार वांयां?. घडलें तें भेटी-सवें — सकळांना बरवें दिसेल. न-घडतां दृष्ट-दृष्टी — गोष्टी काय? — कोरड्या. Tuka अबोल्यानें असे — अंतर साक्षीनें ऐका.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
पाठवणें पडणें पायां "pāṭhavaṇē — paḍaṇē — pāyā"
उद्धार वांयां काशाचा "uddhāra — vāyā"
घडलें तें भेटीसवें "ghaḍalē — bhēṭi-savē"
दिसेल बरवें सकळां "baravē — sakaḷa"
न घडतां दृष्टादृष्टी "dṛṣṭā-dṛṣṭi"
काय गोष्टी कोरड्या "gōṣṭi — kōraḍyā"
अबोल्यानें असे तुका "abōlyānē"
अंतर ऐका साक्षीतें "antara — sākṣitva"

What it means

A sending-back-falling-at-feet-what-uplift-and-vāyā-with-meeting-will-appear-well-without-gaze-meeting-only-dry-stories-Tuka-in-silence-listen-by-witness-mode abhang. Tuka-stays-in-silence-listen-by-sākṣitva register. Three claims:

  1. पाठवणें-पायां-पडणें — उद्धार-वांयां — भेटी-सवें-बरवें-दिसेल. Direct-meeting-needed-claim. Sending (me) back, falling-at-feet — what (kind of)uddhāra?; what happens with thebhēṭiwill appearbaravēto all. Direct-encounter-needed.

  2. दृष्ट-दृष्टी-न-घडतां — गोष्टी-कोरड्या. Gaze-meeting-needed-claim. Withoutdṛṣṭā-dṛṣṭi; whatgōṣṭi— onlykōraḍyā.

  3. Tuka: अबोल्यानें — साक्षीनं-अंतर-ऐका. Listen-by-sākṣitva-claim. Tuka stays inabōlyā; listen toantarabysākṣitva. Inside-listening-by-witness-mode.

[T]

For someone today

Being sent off with a formal bow or a polite gesture doesn't actually lift you up; that kind of distant courtesy can be hollow. What is real and good only becomes clear through an actual meeting, eye to eye, presence to presence; without that direct encounter, all the talk is just dry words. Tukaram himself falls silent here, and asks you to listen not to what is said, but to what is witnessed inside, in that quiet meeting itself. Real change comes from real contact, not from formalities or secondhand accounts.

मराठी: औपचारिक नमस्कार किंवा शिष्टाचाराने पाठवणी केल्याने खरी उन्नती होत नाही - असा दुरून केलेला सभ्यपणा पोकळ असू शकतो. जे खरं आणि चांगलं आहे ते प्रत्यक्ष भेटीतूनच, डोळ्यांत डोळे घालून, समोरासमोर उभं राहिल्यावरच स्पष्ट होतं; अशी प्रत्यक्ष भेट झाल्याशिवाय सगळं बोलणं म्हणजे केवळ कोरड्या गोष्टी. तुकाराम इथे स्वतः मौन धरतात, आणि सांगतात की बोललेलं ऐकण्याऐवजी, त्या शांत भेटीत आतून जे साक्षीने जाणवतं तेच ऐका. खरा बदल प्रत्यक्ष संपर्कातून घडतो, औपचारिकतेतून किंवा दुसऱ्याच्या तोंडून ऐकलेल्या गोष्टींतून नाही.

Where this applies

Bhakti

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