Abhanga 1278
Bending low like a reed instead of standing rigid like a tree lets hardship pass over you unharmed, because true humility gives no force anything to grasp or break.
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
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:
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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.
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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.
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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
Tukaram says lowness is good, God, because it gives no one anything to fight against. In a great flood the tall trees are uprooted and swept away, but the low, bending reeds stay standing, because when the ocean's waves come, bowing lets them pass right over you. Once you grasp someone's feet, once you humble yourself completely, no force in the world can prevail against you. Being small, bending instead of standing rigid, is not weakness; it's what survives when pride cannot.
मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात, देवा, लहानपण चांगले आहे, कारण त्यामुळे कोणालाही आपल्याविरुद्ध लढण्यासारखे काही उरत नाही. मोठ्या पुरात उंच झाडे उन्मळून वाहून जातात, पण खाली वाकणारे लव्हाळे तिथेच टिकून राहते, कारण समुद्राच्या लाटा येतात तेव्हा नम्र होऊन वाकल्याने त्या वरून निघून जातात. एकदा कोणाचे पाय धरले, पूर्णपणे नम्र झाले, की कोणतीही ताकद आपल्यापुढे टिकत नाही. लहान असणे, ताठ उभे राहण्याऐवजी वाकणे, ही दुर्बलता नाही, तर अहंकाराला जे शक्य नाही तेच लहानपणाला शक्य होते.
Where this applies
- When you feel pressured to stand rigid and defend your pride during a conflict
- When someone stronger or more powerful is bearing down on you and confrontation seems pointless
- When you notice that the people who bend and adapt are the ones still standing after a crisis while the stubborn ones broke
- When you're tempted to fight a losing battle instead of humbling yourself and letting the trouble pass over