संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 1306 of 4582

Abhanga 1306

For today: adornment fits only with the bhratāra present; life without śarta-to-Hari is the vyabhicārī's display — lōka's mockery.

When jewelry / display only suits the bride whose bhratāra is present — without him, it's vyabhicārī's show-off, lōka's mockery; life without vow is lājirvāṇa

The verse

साजे अळंकार । तरि भोगितां भ्रतार ॥१॥ व्यभिचारा टाकमटिका । उपहास होती लोकां ॥ध्रु.॥ शूरत्वाची वाणी । रूप मिरवे मंडणीं ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे जिणें । शर्त्तीविण लाजिरवाणें ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: Alankāras suit only when the bhratāra is present-and-enjoying. To a vyabhicārī, ṭāka-maṭika becomes the lōka's upahāsa. The vāṇī of śūratva — rūpa decorates the maṇḍaṇa. Tuka says: life — without śarta — is lājirvāṇa.

मराठी: साजे अळंकार — तरी भोगितां भ्रतार (पतीच्या उपस्थितींत-च). व्यभिचार्‍याला टाकमटिका (आव) — लोकांत उपहास-च. शूरत्वाची वाणी — मंडणींत रूप मिरवतें. Tukā म्हणे — जिणें — शर्तीविण — लाजिरवाणें.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
साजे अळंकार "alankāras (jewelry) suit (sājē)"
तरि भोगितां भ्रतार "only when the bhratāra (husband) is bhōgita (present-and-enjoying)"
व्यभिचारा टाकमटिका "to a vyabhicārī (adulteress) — ṭāka-maṭika (display / strut)"
उपहास होती लोकां "becomes upahāsa (mockery) — to the lōka"
शूरत्वाची वाणी "the vāṇī of śūratva (heroism)"
रूप मिरवे मंडणीं "rūpa decorates (miravē) the maṇḍaṇa (assembly / gathering)"
तुका म्हणे जिणें "Tuka says — jiṇē (life)"
शर्त्तीविण लाजिरवाणें "without śarta (vow / condition) — lājirvāṇa (shameful)"

What it means

Adornment-needs-witness abhang. Three image-pairs about contextual fittingness:

  1. Sājē alankāra — tarī bhōgitām bhratārajewelry suits — but only when the husband is present-and-enjoying it. The married woman's adornment is for-the-bhratāra; without him, it's empty display.

  2. Vyabhicārā ṭāka-maṭikā — upahāsa hōtī lōkāmto a vyabhicārī (adulteress), ṭāka-maṭika (showing-off the adornment) becomes the lōka's mockery. Adornment by one whose proper relation is severed becomes ridicule-fuel for the public.

  3. Śūratvācī vāṇī — rūpa miravē maṇḍaṇīthe vāṇī of śūratva — the form decorates the maṇḍaṇa. (Heroic speech has its proper place: the assembly, the maṇḍaṇa.)

The closing aphorism: jiṇē — śarttī-viṇa lājirvāṇēlife — without śarta (vow / commitment / contract) — is lājirvāṇa (shameful). Śarta in Marathi means vow / contract / agreement — the committed-relation that makes everything else fit. Life without commitment to Hari is the vyabhicāra of life itself — a married-woman's adornment without her husband's presence. The bhakti-as-marriage register (cf. the Sāsuravāsa cluster 1247-1254) returns.

[T]

For someone today

For today: adornment fits only with the bhratāra present; life without śarta-to-Hari is the vyabhicārī's display — lōka's mockery.

Where this applies

Related verses