Abhanga 1202
For today: every cord that strangles you, you tied yourself with your own hand — the only escape is to drop everything (sarvasva) and walk away.
The verse
सुखें होतो कोठें घेतली सुती । बांधविला गळा आपुले हातीं ॥१॥ काय करूं बहु गुंतलों आतां । नये सरतां मागें पुढें ॥ध्रु.॥ होतें गांठी तें सरलें येतां । आणीक माथां रीण जालें ॥२॥ सोंकरिलियाविण गमाविलें पिक । रांडापोरें भिके लावियेलीं ॥३॥ बहुतांचीं बहु घेतलीं घरें । न पडे पुरें कांहीं केल्या ॥४॥ तुका म्हणे कांहीं न धरावी आस । जावें हें सर्वस्व टाकोनियां ॥५॥
Literal translation
English: I was happy somewhere — (then) I took a rope, tied my own throat with my own hand. What can I do — I'm so entangled now I cannot move forward or back. Whatever was tied (saved) got spent in the coming, and debt piled on the head. Without saving, the crop (pika) was lost; widow-and-children put to begging. Borrowed from many houses; nothing is enough, no matter what's done. Tuka says: don't keep any āsa — go, leaving all this (sarvasva).
मराठी: सुखें होतो कुठें — मी सुती (दोरी) घेतली, आपल्या हातानें आपलाच गळा बांधला. आतां काय करूं — फार गुंतलों आहें — पुढेंमागें सरत नाहीं. गाठीचें होतें तें सरलें — आणि माथ्यावर रीण झालें. सोंकर (साठ) न करतां पीक गमावलें — रांडा-पोरें भीक मागत आहेत. बहुतांच्या घरांतून कर्ज घेतलें — पण काही केल्या पुरें पडत नाहीं. Tukā म्हणे — कांहीं आस ठेवूं नका — हें सर्वस्व टाकून जावें.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| सुखें होतो कोठें घेतली सुती | "I was happy somewhere — (then) took a sutī (rope/thread)" |
| बांधविला गळा आपुले हातीं | "tied my own throat with my own hand" |
| बहु गुंतलों आतां | "I have become much-entangled now" |
| नये सरतां मागें पुढें | "cannot move (saraṇē) forward or back" |
| होतें गांठी तें सरलें येतां | "what was tied (gāṇṭhī = pouch/savings) was used up coming" |
| आणीक माथां रीण जालें | "and on top of head, debt (rīṇa) accumulated" |
| रांडापोरें भिके लावियेलीं | "widow-and-children put to begging (bhikā)" |
| बहुतांचीं बहु घेतलीं घरें | "borrowed much from many houses" |
| न पडे पुरें कांहीं केल्या | "nothing is enough, no matter what is done" |
| जावें हें सर्वस्व टाकोनियां | "go, leaving all this (sarvasva)" |
What it means
Sharp samsāra-trap regret abhang. I was free and happy somewhere — then I tied my own throat with my own hand — Tukaram's most concise self-indictment of the samsāra-trap. The accumulating images — savings spent, debt piled, crop lost without saving, widow-children begging, debts to many houses — are all bāndhalā āpulē hātīm (self-tied-by-own-hand). The escape: kāmhīm na dharāvī āsa; jāvēm sarvasva ṭākōniyām — don't hold any hope, leave all of this. Whether read literally (Tuka's own famine-ruined household) or as everyone's samsāra-bondage, the image is one of self-imposed bondage.
[T]
For someone today
For today: every cord that strangles you, you tied yourself with your own hand — the only escape is to drop everything (sarvasva) and walk away.
Where this applies
- Self-tied-throat.* Bāndhavilā-gaḷā-āpulē-hātīm.
- No-forward-no-back.* Nayē-saratām-māgēm-puḍhē.
- Leave-everything.* Jāvēm-sarvasva-ṭākōniyām.