Abhanga 1487
Metal thrown into fire becomes soft and humble, and that very humility makes it pure and unbreakable, like a thread woven into cloth. Pride and stiffness are just ignorance, and they carry death along with them. In a flood, the small reed bends and survives right at the breaking point, while the rigid tree gets uprooted and split apart; the ant walks safely under the elephant's foot, and the diamond hidden in the anvil's belly outlasts the wildest hammer blows. Humility and lowliness are the real essence for crossing over the ocean of existence — carry a heavy load of pride on your head, and you sink.
The verse
अग्नीमाजी पडे धातु । लीन होउनि राहे अतु । होय शुद्ध न पवे घातु । पटतंतुप्रमाण ॥१॥ बाह्यरंगाचें कारण । मिथ्या अवघें चि भाषण । गर्व ताठा हें अज्ञान । मरण सवें वाहातसे ॥ध्रु.॥ पुरें मातलिया नदी । लव्हा नांदे जीवनसंधी । वृक्ष उन्मळोनि भेदी । परि तो कधीं भंगेना ॥२॥ हस्ती परदळ तें भंगी । तया पायीं न मरे मुंगी । कोण जाय संगी । पाणोवाणी तयेच्या ॥३॥ पिटितां घणें वरि सैरा । तया पोटीं राहे हिरा । तैशा काय तगती गारा । तया थोरा होऊनि ॥४॥ लीन दीन हें चि सार । भव उतरावया पार । बुडे माथां भार । तुका म्हणें वाहोनि ॥५॥
Literal translation
In agni, dhātu falls — having become līna, stays melted — becomes śuddha, doesn't undergo ghāta — like paṭa-tantu. The cause of bāhya-ranga — entirely mithyā speech — garva-tāṭhā is ajñāna — carries maraṇa with it. In flooded river, lavhā lives at jīvana-sandhī — vṛkṣa uproots and splits — but it (the reed) never bhangēnā. Hastī breaks para-daḷa — at his foot, mungī doesn't die — who would go samgī, to its pāṇō-vāṇī? Hammer struck wildly above — in (the) belly stays the hīrā — like that, would gārā last, being thōrā? Līna-dīna, this very is sāra — to cross bhava-pāra — sinks the māthā's bhāra — Tuka says — by carrying.
मराठी: अग्नी-माजी — पडे — धातु; — लीन — होउनि — राहे — अतु; — होय — शुद्ध — न — पवे — घातु; — पट-तंतु-प्रमाण. बाह्य-रंगाचें — कारण; — मिथ्या — अवघें — चि — भाषण; — गर्व — ताठा — हें — अज्ञान; — मरण — सवें — वाहातसे. पुरें — मातलिया — नदी; — लव्हा — नांदे — जीवन-संधी; — वृक्ष — उन्मळोनि — भेदी; — परि — तो — कधीं — भंगेना. हस्ती — परदळ — तें — भंगी; — तया — पायीं — न — मरे — मुंगी; — कोण — जाय — संगी; — पाणो-वाणी — तयेच्या. पिटितां — घणें — वरि — सैरा; — तया — पोटीं — राहे — हिरा; — तैशा — काय — तगती — गारा; — तया — थोरा — होऊनि. लीन — दीन — हें — चि — सार; — भव — उतरावया — पार; — बुडे — माथां — भार; — Tukā म्हणें — वाहोनि.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अग्नीमाजी पडे धातु | "in agni (fire) — falls — dhātu (metal)" |
| लीन होउनि राहे अतु | "līna (humble) — having become — stays — atu (= melted / exceedingly)" |
| होय शुद्ध न पवे घातु | "becomes śuddha — does not undergo ghāta (breaking)" |
| पटतंतुप्रमाण | "paṭa-tantu (cloth-thread) — pramāṇa (= proportion / like)" |
| बाह्यरंगाचें कारण | "of bāhya-ranga (= outer-color / display) — kāraṇa (cause)" |
| मिथ्या अवघें चि भाषण | "mithyā (false) — entire (avaghēm chi) — bhāṣaṇa (speech)" |
| गर्व ताठा हें अज्ञान | "garva (pride), tāṭhā (stiffness) — this — ajñāna" |
| मरण सवें वाहातसे | "maraṇa (death) — savēm (along-with-it) — vāhātasē (carries)" |
| पुरें मातलिया नदी | "in (the) flooded (mātaliyā) — river" |
| लव्हा नांदे जीवनसंधी | "lavhā (= reed / grass) — lives (nāndē) — at jīvana-sandhī (= life-junction / junction-of-life)" |
| वृक्ष उन्मळोनि भेदी | "vṛkṣa (tree) — uproots (unmaḷōnī) — splits (bhēdī)" |
| परि तो कधीं भंगेना | "but (parī) — that (the reed) — kadhīm (when) — bhangēnā (does not break)" |
| हस्ती परदळ तें भंगी | "hastī (elephant) — para-daḷa (= enemy-army's troop) — that — breaks" |
| तया पायीं न मरे मुंगी | "at his foot — does not die — mungī (ant)" |
| कोण जाय संगी | "who would go — samgī (= comparison)" |
| पाणोवाणी तयेच्या | "to pāṇō-vāṇī (= water-and-merchant) — like its (= the ant's relationship)" |
| पिटितां घणें वरि सैरा | "when struck (piṭitām) — ghaṇa (hammer) — over — sairā (= wildly)" |
| तया पोटीं राहे हिरा | "in his (the iron-anvil's) belly — stays — hīrā (diamond)" |
| तैशा काय तगती गारा | "like that — would (kāya) — tagatī (= last) — gārā (= hailstones)?" |
| तया थोरा होऊनि | "those — thōrā (big) — hō'ūnī (= having become)" |
| लीन दीन हें चि सार | "līna-dīna (= humble-poor) — this very — sāra (essence)" |
| भव उतरावया पार | "bhava — to cross — to (the) other shore (utarāvayā pāra)" |
| बुडे माथां भार | "sinks (buḍē) — māthā (head)'s — bhāra (load)" |
| तुका म्हणें वाहोनि | "Tuka says — by carrying (vāhōnī)" |
What it means
Humility-as-the-essence-to-cross-bhava abhang. A 5-verse cluster of strategic-humility-images. The opening fire-metal: agnī-mājhī paḍē dhātu — līna hō'unī rāhē atu — hōya śuddha na pavē ghātu — paṭa-tantu-pramāṇa — metal falls into fire — having becomelīna(humble / molten), stays — becomesśuddha, doesn't undergoghāta(breaking) — likepaṭa-tantu(cloth-thread). The fire makes the metal humble (= molten); — humbled, it becomes pure and unbreakable, like cloth-thread (which though small is unbreakable as a fabric).
The middle-anti-pride: bāhya-rangācēm kāraṇa — mithyā avaghēm chi bhāṣaṇa — garva tāṭhā hēm ajñāna — maraṇa savēm vāhātasē — thecauseofbāhya-ranga(outer-display) —entirely false speech; —garva(pride),tāṭhā(stiffness) — this isajñāna—carries death along. Pride-and-stiffnesscarries death with itself.
The flood-image: purē mātaliyā nadī — lavhā nāndē jīvana-sandhī — vṛkṣa unmaḷōnī bhēdī — parī tō kadhīm bhangēnā — in thefloodedriver — thelavhā(= small reed) — lives — atjīvana-sandhī(= life-junction); — thevṛkṣa(tree) — uproots and splits; — but thereed— never breaks. The classical bend-don't-resist image: the reed survives by bending; the tree breaks by standing rigid. (= same idea, but Tuka adds jīvana-sandhī — the reed finds life at the junction, the split-point itself.)
The elephant-ant: hastī para-daḷa tēm bhangī — tayā pāyīm na marē mungī — kōṇa jāya samgī — pāṇō-vāṇī tayēcyā — thehastī(elephant) breaks the enemy-army; — at hisfoot, themungī(ant) does not die; — who would go insamgī(comparison) — to itspāṇō-vāṇī(= water-and-merchant — i.e., who would go to the smallness-and-trade of the ant's life)? The small-survives-where-the-great-is-irrelevant: the elephant's foot crushes armies but doesn't crush the ant. The small ant doesn't even register as worth-attacking. (Striking anti-hierarchy image.)
The hammer-diamond: piṭitām ghaṇē varī sairā — tayā pōṭīm rāhē hīrā — taiśā kāya tagatī gārā — tayā thōrā hō'ūnī — when struck wildly withghaṇa(hammer) — in (the iron-anvil's) belly stays thediamond; — wouldhailstones— beingthōrā(big) — last like that? The humble-diamond hidden in the iron-anvil's belly survives the hammer — while bigger-but-fragile hailstones don't last.
The closing-doctrine: līna dīna hē chi sāra — bhava utarāvayā pāra — buḍē māthām bhāra — Tukā mhaṇē vāhōnī — līna-dīna(= humble-poor) — this very is thesāra; — tocrossthebhava(samsāra-ocean); —sinksthemāthā(head)'sbhāra(load) — Tuka says — bycarrying. Humility-poverty is the essence of crossing; carrying load on the head sinks the bearer. (Compare 1475's namra-jālā-bhūtām-tēṇē-kōṇḍilēm-Anantā — humility binds the Infinite; same theme as cluster.)
[T]
For someone today
Metal thrown into fire becomes soft and humble, and that very humility makes it pure and unbreakable, like a thread woven into cloth. Pride and stiffness are just ignorance, and they carry death along with them. In a flood, the small reed bends and survives right at the breaking point, while the rigid tree gets uprooted and split apart; the ant walks safely under the elephant's foot, and the diamond hidden in the anvil's belly outlasts the wildest hammer blows. Humility and lowliness are the real essence for crossing over the ocean of existence — carry a heavy load of pride on your head, and you sink.
मराठी: अग्नीत टाकलेला धातू मऊ आणि लीन होतो, आणि हीच नम्रता त्याला शुद्ध व अभंग बनवते, जसा कापडातला धागा अतूट असतो. गर्व आणि ताठरपणा हे केवळ अज्ञान आहे, आणि ते मृत्यूलाच सोबत घेऊन येतात. पुरात लहानसा बोरू जीवनाच्या वळणावर वाकून तगून राहतो, तर ताठ उभा असलेला मोठा वृक्ष मुळासकट उन्मळून पडतो; हत्तीच्या पायाखाली मुंगी सुखरूप राहते, आणि घणाच्या रानटी घावांतही ऐरणीच्या पोटातला हिरा टिकून राहतो. नम्रता आणि लीनता हेच भवसागर पार करण्याचं खरं सार आहे — डोक्यावर अहंकाराचं ओझं वाहिलंत, तर बुडाल.
Where this applies
- When you are tempted to stand rigid and defend your pride instead of bending under pressure
- When you feel small or overlooked and wonder if that smallness is actually protecting you
- When success or status makes you stiffen up and stop yielding to others
- When you are carrying a heavy sense of self-importance and feel weighed down by it