Abhanga 1259
Stay alert instead of sleepwalking through life, because deception strikes those who are unprepared, and you can learn caution from watching what happens to others.
The verse
कैसें असोनि ठाउकें नेणां । दुःख पावाल पुढिले पेणा ॥१॥ आतां जागें रे भाईं जागें रे । चोर निजल्या नाडूनि भागे रे ॥ध्रु.॥ आतां नका रे भाई नका रे । आहे गांठीं तें लुटवूं लोकां रे ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे एकांच्या घायें । कां रे जाणोनि न धरा भये ॥३॥
Literal translation
Knowing how it is, you don't realize — you'll suffer in the next pēṇā. Now wake up, brothers, wake up — when you sleep, the thief, having fooled (you), escapes. Don't, brothers, don't — don't let what's in your gāṇṭhī be looted by people. Tuka says: by one's blow — why don't you, knowing, take fear?
मराठी: कसें-कसें-आहे — हें ठाउकें असून — नेणतां? — पुढच्या पेण्यांत (मुक्कामांत = जन्मांत) दुःख पावाल. आतां जागे रे भाई-हो, जागे रे! — झोपलेलें असतां — चोर — नाडवून-च — पळतो. आतां नका रे, भाई — गांठींत असेल तें — लोकांकडून लुटवूं नका. Tukā म्हणे — एकाच्या घायानें (मार खाणार्याकडून) — काय रे — जाणून — भीति न धरतां?
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| कैसें असोनि ठाउकें नेणां | "knowing how it is — you don't realize" |
| दुःख पावाल पुढिले पेणा | "you'll suffer in the next pēṇā (camp / halting-place / next birth)" |
| आतां जागें रे भाईं जागें रे | "now wake up, brothers, wake up" |
| चोर निजल्या नाडूनि भागे रे | "when you sleep, the thief — having fooled (nāḍūnī) — escapes (bhāgē)" |
| आहे गांठीं तें लुटवूं लोकां रे | "what's in your gāṇṭhī — don't let it be looted by people" |
| एकांच्या घायें | "by one's ghāya (blow / strike)" |
| कां रे जाणोनि न धरा भये | "why don't you, knowing, take bhaya (fear)?" |
What it means
Wake-up-brothers alarm-abhang. The metaphor is the village-traveler image: pēṇā is a halting-place / overnight-camp on a long road. Jāgē rē — wake up — sleep at this pēṇā and the thief makes off.
Cōra nijalyā nāḍūnī bhāgē — the thief, when you've slept, having tricked, escapes. Nāḍūnī = "after deceiving" — the thief doesn't just rob, he first deceives (with chatter, with appearance) and then escapes. The māyā-thief operates the same way.
The pedagogical move: ēkāncā ghāyē — kām rē jāṇōnī na dharā bhayē — from one's (someone else's) blow — why, knowing, don't you take fear? You don't have to be hit yourself; learn from those who have been. The śravaṇa-marga (the path of hearing-the-warning) is sufficient if you'll take fear.
[T]
For someone today
For today: don't sleep at the pēṇā — the māyā-thief deceives first, escapes second; from someone else's blow, take fear.
Where this applies
- When you keep repeating a mistake even though you already know better
- When you are being flattered or charmed by someone right before they take advantage of you
- When you see a friend get burned by a scam or bad decision and feel tempted to ignore the warning
- When you are coasting through life on autopilot and putting off the changes you know you need to make