Abhanga 1234
For today: near saints, keep much maryādā; the prattler who doesn't know the time gets only revolting recognition — and sounds, Tuka says, like a leaking bowel.
The verse
संतापाशीं बहु असावें मर्यादा । फलकटाचा धंदा उर फोडी ॥१॥ वासर तो भुंके गाढवाचेपरी । उडे पाठीवरि दंड तेणें ॥ध्रु.॥ समय नेणें तें वेडें चाहाटळ । अवगुणाचा ओंगळ मान पावे ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे काय वांयां चाळवणी । पिटपिटघाणी हागवणेची ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: Near saints — much maryādā must be kept; the wastrel's business breaks the chest. The calf brays like a donkey — on his back the stick falls. One who doesn't know the time — that mad-prattler — gets the revolting honor of avaguṇa. Tuka says: what's the use of vain shaking? — the chatter-noise of a leaking bowel.
मराठी: संतांच्या जवळ — बहु मर्यादा पाळावी — फलकट्याचा (बडबड्याचा) धंदा उरास फोडतो. वासरूं गाढवासारखें भुंकतें — मग पाठीवर दंड (काठी) पडतो. समय (वेळ-योग्यता) न जाणणारें वेडें-चहाटळ — अवगुणाचा ओंगळ मान पावतें. Tukā म्हणे — व्यर्थ चाळवणी काय? — पिटपिट-घाणी, हागवणेची-च.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| संतापाशीं बहु असावें मर्यादा | "near saints (samta-pāśīm), much maryādā must be (kept)" |
| फलकटाचा धंदा उर फोडी | "the phalakaṭa (chatterer/wastrel)'s dhandā breaks the ura (chest)" |
| वासर तो भुंके गाढवाचेपरी | "the vāsara (calf) brays in the manner of a donkey" |
| उडे पाठीवरि दंड तेणें | "on his back falls the daṇḍa (stick)" |
| समय नेणें तें वेडें चाहाटळ | "one who doesn't know the samaya (time/occasion) — that vēḍē-cāhāṭaḷa (mad-prattler)" |
| अवगुणाचा ओंगळ मान पावे | "gets the ōngaḷa (revolting/disgusting) honor of avaguṇa" |
| काय वांयां चाळवणी | "what's the use of vāyām-cāḷavaṇī (vain shaking)?" |
| पिटपिटघाणी हागवणेची | "the piṭa-piṭa-ghāṇī (chatter-chatter noise) of hāgavaṇē (a leaking bowel)" |
What it means
Near-saints-keep-maryādā warning with brutal closing.
The opening rule: samta-pāśīm bahu asāvē maryādā — near saints, much maryādā (decorum, restraint, the limit-respecting) is required. Three escalating images:
- Phalakaṭācā dhandā ura phōḍī — the wastrel/chatterer's business breaks the chest (i.e. the saint's heart, or the prattler's own).
- Vāsara bhunkē gāḍhavāce-parī — uḍē pāṭhī-vari daṇḍa — the calf braying like a donkey gets the stick on his back. (When a young one acts like a donkey instead of obeying its proper bovine nature, it gets a beating.)
- Vēḍē cāhāṭaḷa — avaguṇācā ōngaḷa māna pāvē — the mad-prattler gets the revolting honor of avaguṇa.
The closing image is among Tukaram's most coarse — piṭa-piṭa-ghāṇī hāgavaṇē-cī. Piṭa-piṭa is onomatopoeic chatter; ghāṇī is a stinking-sound; hāgavaṇē is a leaking-bowel (loose-stool / dysentery). The prattler-near-saints sounds — and is — like the piṭa-piṭa of a leaking bowel. Tuka uses crude images to land what genteel rebuke cannot.
[T]
For someone today
For today: near saints, keep much maryādā; the prattler who doesn't know the time gets only revolting recognition — and sounds, Tuka says, like a leaking bowel.
Where this applies
- Near-saints-much-maryādā.* Samta-pāśīm-bahu-maryādā.
- Wastrel-breaks-chest.* Phalakaṭācā-ura-phōḍī.
- Calf-braying-like-donkey.* Vāsara-bhunkē-gāḍhavāce-parī.
- Crude-closing-image.* Piṭa-piṭa-ghāṇī-hāgavaṇē.