Abhanga 1305
Use your gifts, like your voice, for whatever truly uplifts you rather than idle chatter, because talent disconnected from something greater becomes hollow.
The verse
ऐसी जिव्हा निकी । विठ्ठल विठ्ठल कां न घोकी ॥१॥ जेणें पाविजे उद्धार । तेथें राखावें अंतर ॥ध्रु.॥ गुंपोनि चावटी । तेथें कोणा लाभें भेटी ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे कळा । देवाविण अमंगळा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Such a beautiful tongue — why doesn't it chant Viṭṭhala Viṭṭhala? Where uddhāra is attained — keep the antara there. Entangled in chatter — there, by what gain bhēṭī? Tuka says: skill — without Deva — is inauspicious.
मराठी: अशी निकी (छान) जिभ — विठ्ठल-विठ्ठल कां न घोकी? जेणें-च उद्धार पावतात — तिथें-च अंतर राखावें. चावटीं गुंपून — तिथें कुठल्या लाभें भेटी मिळेल? Tukā म्हणे — कळा — देवा-वांचून — अमंगळ-च.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ऐसी जिव्हा निकी | "such a nikī (beautiful / good) jīvhā (tongue)" |
| विठ्ठल विठ्ठल कां न घोकी | "Viṭṭhala Viṭṭhala — why doesn't it ghōkī (repeat-chant)?" |
| जेणें पाविजे उद्धार | "(that) by which uddhāra is attained" |
| तेथें राखावें अंतर | "(in) that — keep the antara" |
| गुंपोनि चावटी | "entangled (gumpōnī) in cāvaṭī (chatter / gossip)" |
| तेथें कोणा लाभें भेटी | "there — by what lābha (gain) — bhēṭī (meeting)?" |
| तुका म्हणे कळा | "Tuka says — kaḷā (skill / talent)" |
| देवाविण अमंगळा | "without Deva — amangaḷa (inauspicious)" |
What it means
Tongue-reproach abhang. The opening direct-address to one's own tongue: aisī jīvhā nikī — Viṭṭhala Viṭṭhala kām na ghōkī? — such a beautiful tongue — why don't you chant Viṭṭhala-Viṭṭhala? The tongue is nikī (good, beautiful, capable) — given by Hari — and yet not used for the chanting it was made for.
The reasoning: jēṇē pāvijē uddhāra — tēthē rākhāvē antara — where uddhāra (uplift) is attained — keep the antara (heart) there. The heart should be invested where the return is highest.
Gumpōnī cāvaṭī — tēthē kōṇā lābhē bhēṭī — entangled in cāvaṭī (chatter / gossip) — there, by what lābha will bhēṭī come? Cāvaṭī is the village-Marathi term for idle chatter — Tuka's social reality (the marketplace, the temple-yard, the women-at-the-well). No bhēṭī comes from cāvaṭī.
The closing aphorism: kaḷā Devā-viṇa amangaḷā — kaḷā (skill / aesthetic-talent) without Deva is amangaḷa (inauspicious / pollutive). Beauty, art, eloquence — all are amangaḷa without Hari. The same beautiful tongue is amangaḷa if it chatters, mangaḷa if it chants.
[T]
For someone today
For today: the tongue is given for Viṭṭhala-Viṭṭhala chanting, not for cāvaṭī; skill without Deva is inauspicious.
Where this applies
- When you catch yourself gossiping or trading idle chatter instead of saying something that actually matters
- When you're proud of a talent, like being a good talker or a skilled artist, but haven't asked what it's really for
- When a day full of small talk leaves you feeling drained rather than more connected or at peace
- When you're deciding where to spend your attention and default to what's easy instead of what's meaningful