Abhanga 1324
Only someone who has personally suffered the same struggle can truly recognize it in another, while everyone else can only talk about it from the outside.
The verse
निवडोनि वाण काढिले निराळे । प्रमाण डोहळे यावरि ते ॥१॥ जयाचा विभाग तयासी च फळे । देखणें निराळें कौतुकासी ॥ध्रु.॥ शूर तो ओळखे घायडायहात । येरां होइल मात सांगायासी ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे माझी केळवते वाणी । केला निजस्थानीं जाणवसा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Having selected, the vāṇa was set apart — its pramāṇa was the ḍōhaḷē on it. Whose vibhāga — only to him does it fruit — the dēkhaṇa-nirāḷa is for kavutuka. The śūra recognizes ghāya-ḍāya-hāta — for others, it's only matter to tell. Tuka says: my kēḷavatē vāṇī has made (its) home in (my) nija-sthāna.
मराठी: निवडून — वाण निराळें काढलें — प्रमाण — डोहळे (शकुन / लक्षण) — त्यावर. ज्याचा विभाग — त्यालाच फळ — देखणें निराळें — कौतुकासी (अद्भुतासी). शूर तो — घाय-डाय-हात (योद्ध्याचा जखमी हात) — ओळखतो — येरांना — हें मात (बोलण्याचें) सांगण्या-साठीं. Tukā म्हणे — माझी केळवते (कोवळी / केळ्याच्या गराची) वाणी — निज-स्थानीं — जाणवसा केला.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| निवडोनि वाण काढिले निराळे | "having selected (nivaḍōnī) — the vāṇa (choice / portion) was set apart" |
| प्रमाण डोहळे यावरि ते | "the pramāṇa (proof) — was the ḍōhaḷē (omens / pregnancy-cravings) on it" |
| जयाचा विभाग तयासी च फळे | "whose vibhāga (share) — to him only it fruits (phaḷē)" |
| देखणें निराळें कौतुकासी | "the dēkhaṇa-nirāḷa — is for kavutuka (wonder / display)" |
| शूर तो ओळखे घायडायहात | "the śūra (warrior) — recognizes (ōḷakhē) the ghāya-ḍāya-hāta (the wound-and-stake-hand)" |
| येरां होइल मात सांगायासी | "for others — it will be only māta (matter) — to tell" |
| माझी केळवते वाणी | "my kēḷavatē (banana-pulp / fresh-young) vāṇī" |
| केला निजस्थानीं जाणवसा | "has made (its) jāṇavasā (acquaintance / home) — in (my) nija-sthāna (own-place)" |
What it means
Warrior-recognizes-wound-hand abhang. The most-quoted line: śūra tō ōḷakhē ghāya-ḍāya-hāta — yērām hō'īla māta sāngāyāsī — the śūra recognizes ghāya-ḍāya-hāta — for others, it's only matter to tell.
Ghāya-ḍāya-hāta is a compressed image: a warrior's wound (ghāya) + stake / cut (ḍāya) + hand (hāta) — i.e., the battle-marked hand. Only one who has himself sustained battle-marks recognizes another's marks for what they are. Civilians can describe them ("oh, that's a sword-cut, isn't it?"), but only fellow-warriors recognize them as the signature of having-stood-in-battle.
The bhakti application: only one who has himself stood in the bhakti-battle recognizes the bhakta's marks. To others, the bhakta's anguish, holding, scolding, longing are all māta (matters of talk) — material for outsider-commentary. The bhakta-recognizing-bhakta is a śūra-recognizing-śūra.
The opening lines support this: jayāncā vibhāga tayāsī chi phaḷē — dēkhaṇē nirāḷē kavutukāsī — whose vibhāga (share / inheritance), only to him does it fruit — the dēkhaṇa-nirāḷa (separately-perceiving) is for kavutuka (wonder, marvel). The bhakti-fruit accrues only to whose share-it-is.
The closing — mājhī kēḷavatē vāṇī — kēlā nija-sthānīm jāṇavasā — my kēḷavatē (= banana-tree-pulp / fresh-young / soft-tender) vāṇī — has made jāṇavasā (acquaintance) in (my) nija-sthāna. Kēḷavatē — the soft-pithy-fresh; not battle-hardened-rhetoric. The vāṇī has settled-into-its-own-place (the nija-sthāna).
[T]
For someone today
For today: only the warrior recognizes the wound-hand; for others, it's only matter for talking — your fresh-young vāṇī can settle into its own home.
Where this applies
- When you've been through real heartbreak or struggle and only someone who has lived through the same thing truly understands you
- When people who never faced your hardship reduce your pain to something they casually gossip about or explain away
- When you finally recognize a fellow struggler's quiet scars because you carry similar ones yourself
- When your own voice or expression feels soft and unfinished, and you're waiting for it to find where it truly belongs