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 1003 of 4582

Abhanga 1003

Even when your faith is weak or your commitment incomplete, taking hold of the divine on credit, promising a sincerity you do not fully have yet, still counts as truly taking God in.

When take Dēva, He came asking the house — and you have to recognize this register
When we don't need Dēva, storage full at the place — and you accept this image
When Dēva's rate is down, bhāva has sunk — and you allow this image

The verse

देव घ्या कोणी देव घ्या कोणी । आइता आला घर पुसोनी ॥१॥ देव न लगे देव न लगे । सांटवणेचे रुधले जागे ॥ध्रु.॥ देव मंदला देव मंदला । भाव बुडाला काय करूं ॥२॥ देव घ्या फुका देव घ्या फुका । न लगे रुका मोल कांहीं ॥३॥ दुबळा तुका भावेंविणें । उधारा देव घेतला रुणें ॥४॥

Literal translation

Take Dēva, anyone — āitā — came — ghara — asking. Dēva — na lagē — sāṭavaṇa — rudhalē — jāga. Dēva — mandalā — bhāva — buḍālā — what. Phukā — rukā — mōla — none. Dubaḷā Tuka — no bhāva — udhārā — ruṇa.

मराठी: Dēva घ्या कोणी, Dēva घ्या कोणी — आइता आला, घर पुसोनी. 'Dēva न लगे, Dēva न लगे — सांटवणेचे जागे रुधले'. 'Dēva मंदला, Dēva मंदला — भाव बुडाला, काय करूं?' 'Dēva फुका घ्या, Dēva फुका घ्या — रुका मोल कांहीं न लगे'. दुबळा Tuka, भावें-विणें — उधारा-रुणें Dēva घेतला.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
देव घ्या कोणी देव घ्या कोणी "take Dēva, anyone"
आइता आला घर पुसोनी "āitā — came — ghara — asking"
देव न लगे देव न लगे "Dēva — na lagē"
सांटवणेचे रुधले जागे "sāṭavaṇa — rudhalē — jāga"
देव मंदला देव मंदला "Dēva — mandalā"
भाव बुडाला काय करूं "bhāva — buḍālā — what to do"
देव घ्या फुका देव घ्या फुका "phukā — for free"
न लगे रुका मोल कांहीं "rukā — mōla"
दुबळा तुका भावेंविणें "dubaḷā Tuka — without bhāva"
उधारा देव घेतला रुणें "udhārā — ruṇa"

What it means

A take-Dēva-He-came-asking-the-house-we-don't-need-storage-full-Dēva's-rate-down-faith-sunk-take-Dēva-for-free-weak-Tuka-bought-Dēva-on-credit abhang. Bought-Dēva-on-credit register. One of Tukaram's most-brilliant marketplace-satire abhangs. The bhāva pun — meaning both faith and market-rate — runs throughout. Five voices/scenes:

  1. 'देव-घ्या-कोणी — आइता-आला-घर-पुसोनी.' Take-Dēva-claim. (The seller's cry:) 'Anyone, takeDēva, take Dēva';(He) has come of-himself (āitā, ready-made), asking-the-ghara (going-house-to-house). (Hari is beingpeddled door-to-door like a vendor's wares.)

  2. 'देव-न-लगे — सांटवणे-रुधले.' Buyer-rejects-claim. (The buyer's response:) 'We don't needDēva, don't need Dēva'—the sāṭavaṇa (storage-spaces, store-rooms) are rudhalē (full, blocked) at the jāga (place). (We have no room for Dēva — our houses are already full of other things.)

  3. 'देव-मंदला — भाव-बुडाला.' Dēva's-rate-down-faith-sunk-claim. 'Dēvaismandalā (rate-dropped, demand-low), Dēva is mandalā'—the bhāva (the price-rate — and pun: the faith) has buḍālā (sunk), what to do?(The market for Dēva has crashed —bhāvais bothpriceandbhakti; both have sunk together.)

  4. 'देव-घ्या-फुका — रुका-मोल-नाहीं.' Take-Dēva-for-free-claim. (The desperate seller:) 'TakeDēvaforphukā (free), take for free';not even a rukā (small copper coin) price. (Even free, no one wants. Thebhāva is so dead that giving-away doesn't move stock.)

  5. Tuka: दुबळा — भाव-विण — उधार-रुणें-घेतला. Bought-Dēva-on-credit-claim. Weak Tuka, withoutbhāva;bought Dēva on udhārā (debt), on ruṇa (loan). (The wry self-confession:I, weak Tuka, without bhāva — bought Dēva on credit. Even though I had no faith / no cash, I took Him on a debt-promise. Theudhārāandruṇaarethe bhakti-debt one promises to repay.)

[T]

For someone today

This is Tukaram's witty marketplace satire about how little most people actually value God. He imagines God being peddled door to door like cheap goods, a vendor crying, anyone, take God, take God, he has come right to your doorstep. The buyers turn him away, we do not need God, our storerooms are already full of other things. The demand for God has crashed, the word bhava in Marathi means both market price and religious faith, so Tukaram is punning: the price of God has dropped because people's faith has sunk. Even given away for free, no one wants him. In the end Tukaram confesses that he himself, weak and short on genuine faith, still took God on credit, promising the debt of real devotion later rather than having earned it outright. It is an honest, funny picture of how casually people treat the most valuable thing, and an admission that even imperfect faith taken on credit still counts as truly taking God in.

मराठी: ही तुकाराम महाराजांची एक चतुर बाजारसदृश उपरोधिक ओवी आहे, जी सांगते की बहुतेक लोक देवाला किती कमी महत्त्व देतात. ते कल्पना करतात की देव जणू स्वस्त मालासारखा घरोघरी विकला जातो आहे, विक्रेता ओरडतो आहे, कोणीही घ्या देवाला, कोणीही घ्या देवाला, तो स्वतःहून तुमच्या दारापर्यंत आला आहे. पण घेणारे नकार देतात, आम्हांला देव नको, आमची कोठारं आधीच इतर गोष्टींनी भरलेली आहेत. देवाची मागणी घसरली आहे; मराठीतील भाव या शब्दाचा अर्थ बाजारभाव आणि श्रद्धा असे दोन्ही होतो, म्हणून तुकाराम इथे शब्दखेळ करतात, देवाचा भाव उतरला कारण लोकांची श्रद्धा बुडाली आहे. फुकट दिला तरी कोणी घ्यायला तयार नाही. शेवटी तुकाराम कबूल करतात की ते स्वतः दुबळे, खरी श्रद्धा नसतानाही, त्यांनी देव उधारीवर घेतला, खरी भक्ती पुढे फेडण्याचे वचन देऊन. ही ओवी लोक सर्वात मौल्यवान गोष्टीला किती हलक्यात घेतात याचे प्रामाणिक आणि विनोदी चित्र आहे, आणि हेही कबूल करते की उधारीवर घेतलेली अपूर्ण श्रद्धासुद्धा देवाला खरोखर स्वीकारल्यासारखीच मोजली जाते.

Where this applies

Bhakti

Related verses