Abhanga 1368
Do not force outcomes with rigid plans, do not call sacrifice of the innocent virtue, and do not act under pressure from someone desperate without thinking it through.
The verse
जातिविजातीची व्हावयासि भेटी । संकल्प तो पोटीं वाहों नये ॥१॥ होणार तें घडो होणाराच्या गुणें । होइल नारायणें निर्मिलें तें ॥ध्रु.॥ व्याघ्राचिये भुके वधावी ते गाय । याचें नांव काय पुण्य असे ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे न करी विचार पुरता । गरज्याची माता पिता खर ॥३॥
Literal translation
For the meeting of jāti-vijāti — don't carry the sankalpa in the pōṭa. Let what's to happen, happen by its own guṇa — what Nārāyaṇa has formed will be. Killing the cow for the tiger's hunger — what name of puṇya? Tuka says: don't do half-vicāra — for the needy, mother-and-father become a donkey.
मराठी: जाति-विजातीची भेटी व्हायला — संकल्प पोटीं वाहूं नये. होणार तें — होणाराच्या गुणानें-च — घडो; नारायणानें निर्मिलेलें तें-च होईल. वाघाच्या भुकेसाठीं — गायीला वधावें — ह्याचें नांव काय पुण्य आहे? Tukā म्हणे — पुरतें-न-केलेला विचार करूं नकोस — गरज्याला (गरजू-ला) — माता-पिता-च खर (गाढव) होतात.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| जातिविजातीची व्हावयासि भेटी | "for the meeting of jāti-vijāti (compatible-incompatible / kindred-and-other)" |
| संकल्प तो पोटीं वाहों नये | "don't carry (vāhōm) the sankalpa in the pōṭa" |
| होणार तें घडो होणाराच्या गुणें | "let what's-to-happen — happen — by what's-to-happen's guṇa" |
| होइल नारायणें निर्मिलें तें | "what Nārāyaṇa has formed (nirmilē) — will be" |
| व्याघ्राचिये भुके वधावी ते गाय | "for the vyāghra (tiger)'s hunger — to slaughter (vadhāvī) the cow (gāya)" |
| याचें नांव काय पुण्य असे | "this — what name of puṇya is it?" |
| न करी विचार पुरता | "don't (na karī) — puratā (half / partial) vicāra" |
| गरज्याची माता पिता खर | "(for) the garajyā (needy) — mother-and-father (becomes) a khara (donkey)" |
What it means
Don't-force-meeting abhang. The opening: jāti-vijātīcī vhāvayāsi bhēṭī — sankalpa tō pōṭīm vāhōm nayē — for the meeting ofjāti-vijāti(the kindred-and-the-other) — don't carry thesankalpa(formal vow / planned-resolve) in the pōṭa. Don't engineer meetings between kindred and unkindred (compatible-and-incompatible) by force-of-sankalpa.
The principle: hōṇāra tē ghaḍō hōṇārācyā guṇē — hō'īla Nārāyaṇē nirmilē tē — let what's-to-happen happen by its-own-guṇa; what Nārāyaṇa has formed will be. Don't override Nārāyaṇa's formation with your sankalpa.
The ethical-test image: vyāghrāciyē bhukē vadhāvī tē gāya — yācē nāmva kāya puṇya asē? — killing the cow to feed the tiger's hunger — whatname of puṇyais that? Compassion-toward-the-tiger that requires killing the cow is not puṇya; it's just relabeled violence.
The closing aphorism: Tukā mhaṇē na karī vicāra puratā — garajyācī mātā pitā khara — Tuka says: don't dopuratā(half / un-fulfilled) vicāra — for thegarajyā(= one in need / desperate / urgent demander), even mother-and-father become akhara(donkey). The garajyā (the needy person who pressures you) reduces even the closest kin to khara — the garajyā uses everyone as a beast-of-burden. So don't do half-vicāra — don't help under garajyā-pressure without thinking it through.
[T]
For someone today
For today: don't engineer meetings with sankalpa; let what's-to-be be by its own guṇa; killing the cow for the tiger's hunger has no puṇya; the needy make even parents into donkeys — don't help with half-vicāra.
Where this applies
- When you are trying to force a relationship or reconciliation to happen on your timeline instead of letting it develop naturally
- When you are asked to sacrifice someone or something innocent to satisfy another person's demand, framed as generosity or virtue
- When someone urgent or desperate is pressuring you to decide or act quickly and you feel tempted to skip real thought
- When you notice yourself using people close to you, like family, as tools to solve someone else's problem