Abhanga 1143
Tukaram strings together five sharp little pictures of wasted effort: doze off while guarding the field and birds eat the crop; walk the road with a thief and you end up ruined too; shut your eyes at night but let your lamp fall in broad daylight and you've watched at the wrong time; feed and tend a barren cow and you'll never get milk from her; try to cross a river on a broken raft and you'll never reach the far shore. Each image says the same thing: effort spent carelessly, in bad company, at the wrong time, or on something that cannot deliver is effort wasted. Stay alert, and choose your company and your means wisely, because trying hard is not the same as trying rightly.
The verse
वोनव्या सोंकरीं । सेत खादलें पांखरीं ॥१॥ तैसा खाऊं नको दगा । निदसुरा राहुनि जागा ॥ध्रु.॥ चोरासवें वाट । चालोनि केलें तळपट ॥ २॥ डोळे झांकुनि राती । कूर्पी पडे दिवसा जोती ॥३॥ पोसी वांज गाय । तेथें कैची दुध साय ॥४॥ फुटकी सांगडी । तुका म्हणे न पवे थडी ॥५॥
Literal translation
Vōnavyā sōnkarī — pānkharī. Dagā — nida-surā jāgā. Cōra — taḷa-paṭa. Ḍōḷē-jhānkun — kūrpī. Vāñja gā'ī — no dudha-sāya. Tuka says: phuṭakī sāngaḍī — na pavē thaḍī.
मराठी: वोनव्या सोंकरी — पांखरीं सेत खादलें. तैसा दगा खाऊं नको — निद-सुरा राहुनि जागा. चोरा-सवें वाट — चालोनि केलें तळ-पट. डोळे झांकुनि रातीं — दिवसा जोती कूर्पी पडे. वांज गाय पोसी — तेथें कैची दूध-साय? फुटकी सांगडी — Tuka म्हणे: न पवे थडी.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| वोनव्या सोंकरीं | "vōnavyā sōnkarī" |
| सेत खादलें पांखरीं | "pānkharī" |
| तैसा खाऊं नको दगा | "dagā" |
| निदसुरा राहुनि जागा | "nida-surā jāgā" |
| चोरासवें वाट | "cōra" |
| चालोनि केलें तळपट | "taḷa-paṭa" |
| डोळे झांकुनि राती | "ḍōḷē-jhānkun" |
| कूर्पी पडे दिवसा जोती | "kūrpī" |
| पोसी वांज गाय | "vāñja gā'ī" |
| तेथें कैची दुध साय | "no dudha-sāya" |
| फुटकी सांगडी | "phuṭakī sāngaḍī" |
| न पवे थडी | "na pavē thaḍī" |
What it means
Five proverb-like images of vain effort. Five claims:
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सोंकरी-पांखर. Half-watch-birds-eat-claim.
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चोर-वाट-तळ-पट. Walked-with-thief-claim.
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रात-डोळ-कूर्पी-दिवसा. Wrong-time-claim.
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वांज-गाय — दूध-नाहीं. Barren-cow-claim.
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Tuka: फुटकी-सांगडी — थडी-न-पवे. Broken-raft-claim.
[T]
For someone today
Tukaram strings together five sharp little pictures of wasted effort: doze off while guarding the field and birds eat the crop; walk the road with a thief and you end up ruined too; shut your eyes at night but let your lamp fall in broad daylight and you've watched at the wrong time; feed and tend a barren cow and you'll never get milk from her; try to cross a river on a broken raft and you'll never reach the far shore. Each image says the same thing: effort spent carelessly, in bad company, at the wrong time, or on something that cannot deliver is effort wasted. Stay alert, and choose your company and your means wisely, because trying hard is not the same as trying rightly.
मराठी: तुकाराम वाया गेलेल्या प्रयत्नांची पाच धारदार चित्रं मांडतात - राखणीत डोळा लागला की पाखरं पीक खाऊन जातात; चोराबरोबर वाट चालली की स्वतःचाही सर्वनाश होतो; रात्री डोळे मिटून राहायचं आणि दिवसा दिवा पाडायचा म्हणजे चुकीच्या वेळी जागरूक राहण्यासारखं आहे; वांझ गाय पोसली तरी तिच्यापासून दूध-साय कधीच मिळत नाही; आणि फुटक्या तराफ्यावर कधीही पैलतीर गाठता येत नाही. या सगळ्या प्रतिमांचा एकच अर्थ आहे - निष्काळजीपणे, वाईट संगतीत, चुकीच्या वेळी किंवा निष्फळ गोष्टीवर केलेला प्रयत्न वाया जातो. जागरूक राहा आणि आपली संगत व साधन शहाणपणाने निवडा, कारण जोर लावणं आणि योग्य दिशेने प्रयत्न करणं यात फरक असतो.
Where this applies
- Half-watch. Sōnkarī.
- Walked-with-thief. Vāṭa.
- Wrong-time. Kūrpī.
- Barren-cow. Vāñja.
- Broken-raft. Sāngaḍī.