Abhanga 1367
For today: don't tell the varma to the un-ready — they'll follow uselessly; they were already empty; teaching them gives sīṇa without anubhava.
The verse
न संगावें वर्म । जनीं असों द्यावा भ्रम ॥१॥ उगींच लागतील पाठीं । होतीं रितीं च हिंपुटीं ॥ध्रु.॥ सिकविल्या गोटी । शिकोनि धरितील पोटीं ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे सीण । होइल अनुभवाविण ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: Don't tell the varma — let bhrama be among the people. They will follow uselessly — they were already empty himpuṭī. Taught matters — they will learn and hold in the pōṭa. Tuka says: sīṇa — will come — without anubhava.
मराठी: वर्म न संगावें — जनींत भ्रम राहूं द्यावा. उगीचच पाठीं लागतील — रितीं-च होतीं — हिंपुटीं-च. शिकविल्या गोटी — शिकून — पोटीं धरतील. Tukā म्हणे — सीण — अनुभवा-विणा — होइल.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| न संगावें वर्म | "don't tell (sangāvē) — the varma" |
| जनीं असों द्यावा भ्रम | "let bhrama be among the people (jana)" |
| उगींच लागतील पाठीं | "they will uselessly (ugīmcī) follow" |
| होतीं रितीं च हिंपुटीं | "they were already ritīm (empty) — himpuṭī (= small / inferior)" |
| सिकविल्या गोटी | "(if you) sikavilyā (teach) — the matters (gōṭī)" |
| शिकोनि धरितील पोटीं | "they will learn — and hold in the pōṭa" |
| तुका म्हणे सीण | "Tuka says — sīṇa (toil-pain)" |
| होइल अनुभवाविण | "will come — anubhavā-viṇa (without anubhava)" |
What it means
Don't-tell-the-varma abhang. The opening: na sangāvē varma — janīm asōm dyāvā bhrama — don't tell the varma (vital secret) — let bhrama (delusion) remain among the jana (people). The teacher's discretion: don't broadcast the central truth; let those who haven't earned it remain in their bhrama.
The reason: ugīmcī lāgatīla pāṭhīm — hōtīm ritīm chi himpuṭīm — they will uselessly follow you — they were already empty and himpuṭī (= small, inferior, bare). Telling the varma to those without inner-capacity just attracts useless followers — they were already empty; they remain so.
Sikaviliyā gōṭī — śikōnī dharitīla pōṭīm — (if) you teach the matters — they will learn and hold them in the pōṭa (= internalize as memorized-formula but no real digestion). The varma becomes book-knowledge, not anubhava.
The closing diagnosis: sīṇa — hō'īla anubhavāviṇa — sīṇa (toil-pain) — will come — without anubhava (direct experience). The result of teaching the varma to the un-ready: they get sīṇa (= the toil of memorizing) without anubhava (the real-experience). They have to do the work without the gain.
This is the gurukula-secrecy tradition stated in warkari-mode: the varma is for those who are ready to digest it through anubhava; broadcast, it produces only sīṇa. (Compare 1320 hīrā pārakhiyām mūḍhām gārā — diamond looks like hailstone to the un-skilled judge.)
[T]
For someone today
For today: don't tell the varma to the un-ready — they'll follow uselessly; they were already empty; teaching them gives sīṇa without anubhava.
Where this applies
- Don't-tell-secret-let-bhrama-remain.* Na-sangāvē-varma-bhrama-jana.
- Useless-followers.* Ugīmcī-lāgatīla-pāṭhīm.
- Already-empty-stay-empty.* Hōtīm-ritīm-himpuṭīm.
- Hold-in-belly-without-digestion.* Śikōnī-dharitīla-pōṭīm.
- Toil-without-experience.* Sīṇa-anubhavāviṇa.