Abhanga 1278
English: Nincapaṇa is good, Deva — no one's dāvā prevails.
The verse
निंचपण बरवें देवा । न चले कोणाचा ही दावा ॥१॥ महा पुरें झाडें जाती । तेथें लव्हाळे राहाती ॥ध्रु.॥ येतां सिंधूच्या लहरी । नम्र होतां जाती वरि ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे कळ । पाय धरिल्या न चले बळ ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: Nincapaṇa is good, Deva — no one's dāvā prevails. In the great flood, trees go away — there the reeds remain. When the ocean's waves come — being namra, they pass over. Tuka says: kaḷa — once the feet are grasped, no baḷa prevails.
मराठी: निंच-पण बरवें, देवा — कुणाचाहि दावा चालत नाहीं. महा-पुरांत झाडें (पाडून) जातात — तिथें लव्हाळे (लवचिक गवत) राहातें. सिंधूच्या लहरी येतां — नम्र होऊन — त्या वरून जातात. Tukā म्हणे — कळ — एकदा पाय धरले — मग बळ चालत नाहीं.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| निंचपण बरवें देवा | "nincapaṇa (smallness / low-being) is good (baravē), Deva" |
| न चले कोणाचा ही दावा | "no one's dāvā (claim / case / lawsuit) works (na cālē)" |
| महा पुरें झाडें जाती | "in the mahā pūra (great flood) — trees (jhāḍē) go away" |
| तेथें लव्हाळे राहाती | "there — the lavhāḷē (reeds / soft grass) remain" |
| येतां सिंधूच्या लहरी | "(when) the Sindhu (ocean)'s laharī (waves) come" |
| नम्र होतां जाती वरि | "being namra (low / bowed), (they) pass over (varī)" |
| तुका म्हणे कळ | "Tuka says — kaḷa (cunning / strength)" |
| पाय धरिल्या न चले बळ | "once the feet are grasped — no baḷa (force) prevails" |
What it means
THE classic nincapaṇa abhang — Tukaram's most-recited teaching on smallness/lowness as protection.
Three interlocking images:
-
Mahā purē jhāḍē jātī — tēthē lavhāḷē rāhātī — In the great flood, the trees (the proud upright ones) are uprooted and swept away — but the reeds (the bent-low) remain there. This is the image, recited by warkaris and Marathi schoolchildren alike: survival belongs to the bent-low.
-
Sindhūcyā laharī — namra hōtām jātī varī — When the ocean's waves come — being namra (bowed), (they) pass over. The reed bends; the wave passes over without uprooting.
-
Pāya dhariliyā na cālē baḷa — once the feet are grasped, no baḷa (force) prevails (against you). The śaraṇa-foot-grasping is the nincapaṇa in human relations — and no opposing force can prevail.
The opening line na cālē kōṇāncā hī dāvā — no dāvā (lawsuit / claim) prevails — is the legal-image: with nincapaṇa, no one can sue you, because there's no upright target to hit.
This is the abhang the existing 1277.md correctly noted does not belong to 1277 — confirmed: it's a separate composition at 1278, paired with 1277's लाहनाहुनी लाहन by theme but distinct in text.
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For someone today
For today: the trees-fall-but-reeds-remain principle is universal — nincapaṇa survives what upright pride cannot; bend low, the wave passes over.
Where this applies
- Smallness-is-good.* Nincapaṇa-baravēm.
- No-claim-prevails.* Na-cālē-kōṇāncā-dāvā.
- Trees-fall-reeds-remain.* Mahā-purē-jhāḍē-jātī — lavhāḷē-rāhātī.
- Bowed-wave-passes-over.* Namra-hōtām-jātī-varī.
- Feet-grasped-no-force-prevails.* Pāya-dhariliyā-na-cālē-baḷa.