Abhanga 1132
This verse warns that abandoning honest speech for flattery or empty formality has real consequences; Tukaram says those who talk that way will suffer for it. He gives the example of thieves: when a thief is caught, even the person who merely revealed where the hideout was loses hands and feet along with the actual thief, because being complicit, even at a distance, is enough to share the punishment. Tukaram insists this is not his own opinion but a judgment already found in the Puranas, so people should take it seriously rather than dismiss it as his personal ranting.
The verse
यथार्थ वाद सांडूनि उपचार । बोलती ते अघोर भोगितील ॥१॥ चोरा धरितां सांगे कुठोर्याचें नांव । दोघांचे ही पाव हात जाती ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे असे पुराणीं निवाड । माझी हे बडबड नव्हे कांहीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Yathārtha vāda upacāra — aghōra bhōgitīla. Kuṭhōrī nāva — pāva-hāta. Tuka says: purāṇī nivāḍa — not baḍa-baḍa.
मराठी: यथार्थ वाद सांडूनि उपचार — जे बोलती ते अघोर भोगितील. चोरा धरितां — कुठोर्याचें नांव सांगे — दोघांचे-च पाव-हात जाती. Tuka म्हणे: हें पुराणीं निवाड असे — माझी ही बड-बड नव्हे कांहीं.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| यथार्थ वाद सांडूनि उपचार | "yathārtha vāda upacāra" |
| बोलती ते अघोर भोगितील | "aghōra bhōgitīla" |
| चोरा धरितां सांगे कुठोर्याचें नांव | "kuṭhōrī nāva" |
| दोघांचे ही पाव हात जाती | "pāva-hāta" |
| असे पुराणीं निवाड | "purāṇī nivāḍa" |
| माझी हे बडबड नव्हे कांहीं | "not baḍa-baḍa" |
What it means
A strong ethical-rhetorical claim — that consenting-witnesses are punished alongside doers. Three claims:
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यथार्थ-वाद-सांडून-उपचार — अघोर-भोग. Abandon-truth-suffer-aghōra-claim.
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चोरा-धरितां-कुठोरी — दोघांचे-पाव-हात-जाती. Witness-loses-too-claim. (When pursuing a thief, even the one who just tells where the thieves' treasure-room is loses their feet-and-hands as punishment — implication in crime is enough.)
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Tuka: पुराणी-निवाड — बड-बड-नव्हे. In-purāṇa-not-prattle-claim.
[T]
For someone today
This verse warns that abandoning honest speech for flattery or empty formality has real consequences; Tukaram says those who talk that way will suffer for it. He gives the example of thieves: when a thief is caught, even the person who merely revealed where the hideout was loses hands and feet along with the actual thief, because being complicit, even at a distance, is enough to share the punishment. Tukaram insists this is not his own opinion but a judgment already found in the Puranas, so people should take it seriously rather than dismiss it as his personal ranting.
मराठी: हा अभंग सांगतो की खरे बोलणे सोडून खुशामत किंवा औपचारिकता स्वीकारण्याचे खरे परिणाम भोगावे लागतात - तुकाराम म्हणतात की असे बोलणारे त्रास सोसतील. ते चोराचे उदाहरण देतात: चोर पकडला जाताना, ज्याने फक्त लपण्याची जागा सांगितली त्यालाही चोराबरोबरच हातपाय गमवावे लागतात - थोडासाही सहभाग शिक्षेस पुरेसा असतो. तुकाराम स्पष्ट करतात की हे त्यांचे स्वतःचे मत नसून पुराणांत आधीच नोंदलेला निवाडा आहे, त्यामुळे हे केवळ त्यांची बडबड समजून दुर्लक्ष करू नये.
Where this applies
- Abandon-truth. Aghōra.
- Witness-implicated. Kuṭhōrī.
- In-purāṇa. Nivāḍa.