संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 1225 of 4582

Abhanga 1225

For today: the divine's transparency is one-way — it sees you, you don't see it; the title "Giver" can mask a deeper taking — only intimacy permits this kind of complaint.

When Hari shows pure-crystal transparency on the surface but uses it to expose and drown others — Tuka calls him a fake-dātāra

The verse

तूं पांढरा स्पटिक मणी । करिसी आणिकां त्याहुनि ॥१॥ म्हणोनि तुझ्या दारा । न येत ठकती दातारा ॥ध्रु.॥ तुझी ठावी नांदनूक । अवघा बुडविला लोक ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे ज्याचें घेसी । त्यास हें चि दाखविसी ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: You are a white sphaṭika maṇī — by it you make others (also). Therefore those who do not come to your door are cheated, dātārā! Your nāndanūka is known — you've drowned the whole loka. Tuka says: from whom you take, to him you show this very (face).

मराठी: तू पांढरा स्पटिक मणी — त्यानें-च (दिसणार्‍या-पारदर्शकानें-च) तू दुसर्‍यांना (फसवीत) करतोस. म्हणून तुझ्या दारीं न येणारेच ठकले — दातार-हो (= ठक-दातार)! तुझी नांदनूक माहीत — तू सगळा लोक बुडविलास. Tukā म्हणे — ज्याचें-घेसी — त्यास हें-च दाखवीसी.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
तूं पांढरा स्पटिक मणी "you are a pāmḍharā (white) spaṭika (crystal) maṇī (bead)"
करिसी आणिकां त्याहुनि "by it (tyāhuni) you make others (so-too / transparent / exposed)"
म्हणोनि तुझ्या दारा न येत ठकती दातारा "therefore those who do not come to your door are cheated, dātārā (giver)!"
तुझी ठावी नांदनूक "your nāndanūka (way-of-running / lifestyle / con) is known"
अवघा बुडविला लोक "you've drowned (buḍavilā) the whole loka"
ज्याचें घेसी त्यास हें चि दाखविसी "from whom you take, to him you show this very (face)"

What it means

Crystal-bead deceit and sarcastic-dātāra address. The image is precise: spaṭika maṇī (rock-crystal bead, perfectly transparent) — Hari shows this pāmḍharā (white, pure, see-through) face. Through that very transparency, karisī āṇikām tyāhuni — you make others (the bhaktas) so-too: exposed, see-through, vulnerable. The crystal lets Hari see into the bhakta — but his own depths are unfathomable.

The vocative is sarcastic: dātārāO Giver! — Hari's classic title in bhakti, here turned to mockery. Those who don't come to your door are cheated, O Giver — i.e., your "giving" is so dubious that staying away is the better deal.

The nāndanūka-image is sharp: your household-running / way-of-doing is now known to me — avaghā buḍavilā lōka — you've drowned the entire world. Closing: jyācē ghēsī tyāsa hē chi dākhavīsīto whoever you take from, you show only this face — the Hari who takes always presents the see-through-crystal face to the giver, hiding his own depths.

[T]

For someone today

For today: the divine's transparency is one-way — it sees you, you don't see it; the title "Giver" can mask a deeper taking — only intimacy permits this kind of complaint.

Where this applies

Related verses