संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 1259 of 4582

Abhanga 1259

For today: don't sleep at the pēṇā — the māyā-thief deceives first, escapes second; from someone else's blow, take fear.

When you would sleep through the warning — Tuka shouts jāgē rē bhā'īm — the thief escapes when you sleep; from one's blow, take fear

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

English: 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 rēwake 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 bhayēfrom 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

Related verses