Abhanga 1232
Trouble is not hidden; it lives openly in imbalance and lies, while honest speech produces overflowing happiness, and gain and loss are always just one choice apart.
The verse
एका पुरुषा दोघी नारी । पाप वसे त्याचे घरीं ॥१॥ पाप न लगे धुंडावें । लागेल तेणें तेथें जावें ॥ध्रु.॥ कांहीं दुसरा विचार । न लगे करावा चि फार ॥२॥ असत्य जे वाणी । तेथें पापाची च खाणी ॥३॥ सत्य बोले मुखें । तेथें उचंबळती सुखें ॥४॥ तुका म्हणे दोन्ही । जवळी च लाभहानी ॥५॥
Literal translation
To one puruṣa, two nārī — pāpa lives in his house. Don't search for pāpa — wherever it touches, go there. No other vicāra needs to be done much. Vāṇī that is asatya — that very is pāpa's mine. Satya spoken from mouth — there sukhas overflow. Tuka says: both — lābha and hānī — close-by.
मराठी: एका पुरुषाला दोन नारी (बायका) — त्याच्या घरीं पाप वसतें. पाप शोधायला (धुंडावें) लागत नाहीं — लागेल तिथें जावें. कांहीं दुसरा विचार फार करायला लागत नाहीं. असत्य वाणी — तिथें-च पापाची खाणी. तोंडानें सत्य बोलें — तिथें सुखें उचंबळतात. Tukā म्हणे — दोन्ही — जवळ-च — लाभ-हानि.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| एका पुरुषा दोघी नारी | "(if) to one puruṣa, two nārī (women)" |
| पाप वसे त्याचे घरीं | "pāpa lives in his house" |
| पाप न लगे धुंडावें | "no need to search (dhuṇḍāvē) for pāpa" |
| लागेल तेणें तेथें जावें | "wherever it touches (lāgēla), go there" |
| असत्य जे वाणी | "the vāṇī (speech) that is asatya" |
| तेथें पापाची च खाणी | "that very is pāpa's khāṇī (mine)" |
| सत्य बोले मुखें | "(when) satya is spoken from mouth" |
| तेथें उचंबळती सुखें | "there sukhas overflow (ucambaḷatī)" |
| दोन्ही जवळी च लाभहानी | "both lābha (gain) and hānī (loss) — close (right next to each other)" |
What it means
Pāpa-localizer abhang. Two markers of pāpa-in-the-household: 1. Ēkā puruṣā dōghī nārī — one man, two women. The polygyny-criticism is sharp; pāpa vasē (pāpa resides) in such a house — pāpa here doesn't mean sin in the abstract but trouble, quarrel-cause, the unsettling. The unbalanced household is a pāpa-residence. 2. Asatya vāṇī — speech that lies. Pāpāci chi khāṇī — that very is the mine of pāpa, where it's quarried.
Conversely: - Satya bōlē mukhē — tēthē ucambaḷatī sukhē — when satya is spoken, sukhas overflow (ucambaḷatī = bubble up over the brim).
The closing aphorism: dōnnhī javaḷī chi lābha-hānī — both lābha and hānī are right next to each other. The same person is one satya-speech away from sukha-overflow, one asatya-speech away from being a pāpa-mine.
[T]
For someone today
You don't need to go searching for where trouble lives — it settles naturally in a household where one man keeps two women, and in speech that isn't true. There's no need to overthink it much beyond that. Dishonest speech is itself a mine of trouble, quarried again and again. But when the mouth speaks the truth, happiness overflows there instead. Tuka says: gain and loss both live right next door to each other — one choice away.
मराठी: संकट कुठे आहे हे शोधायला जायची गरज नाही — जिथे एका पुरुषाच्या दोन बायका असतात, आणि जिथे खोटे बोलले जाते, तिथेच ते वस्तीला असते. यापेक्षा फार वेगळा विचार करायची गरज नाही. असत्य वाणी हीच पापाची खाण आहे, जिथून ते वारंवार उपसले जाते. पण जिथे मुखातून सत्य निघते, तिथे सुख उचंबळून वाहते. तुका म्हणतात, लाभ आणि हानी दोन्ही अगदी शेजारीच असतात — एका निवडीच्या अंतरावर.
Where this applies
- When you wonder why tension keeps surfacing in a household or relationship built on unfairness or divided loyalty
- When you're tempted to tell a small lie and think it won't matter
- When you notice how much lighter and happier things feel after you choose to be honest
- When you're trying to figure out where recurring trouble in your life is actually coming from