Abhanga 1648
Ritual without understanding is empty, and pride blinds a person so completely that he clings to what harms him and rejects the help sitting right beside him.
The verse
संध्या करितोसी केशवाच्या नांवें । आरंभीं तें ठावें नाहीं कैसें ॥१॥ किती या सांगावें करूनि फजित । खळ नेणे हित जवळीं तें ॥ध्रु.॥ माजल्या न कळे उचित तें काय । नेघावें तें खाय घ्यावें सांडी ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे घेती भिंती सवें डोकें । वावसी तें एकें अंधारलीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
You do sandhyā in Keśava's name — at the start, somehow, that's not known. How much to tell after making them shamed? — the wicked doesn't know the hita near. The proud doesn't know what's fitting — eats what shouldn't be taken, abandons what should. Tuka says: they bang the head with the wall — those very ones have darkened.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| संध्या करितोसी केशवाच्या नांवें | "you do sandhyā — in Keśava's name" |
| आरंभीं तें ठावें नाहीं कैसें | "from the start — that — not known — somehow" |
| किती या सांगावें करूनि फजित | "how much — to be told — making shamed" |
| खळ नेणे हित जवळीं तें | "the wicked — doesn't know — the hita — near" |
| माजल्या न कळे उचित तें काय | "the proud — doesn't know — what is fitting" |
| नेघावें तें खाय घ्यावें सांडी | "not-to-be-taken — eats; — to-be-taken — abandons" |
| तुका म्हणे घेती भिंती सवें डोकें | "Tuka says — they take — the head — with the wall" |
| वावसी तें एकें अंधारलीं | "those very ones — have darkened" |
What it means
Anti-bookish-sandhyā + anti-proud-fool abhang.
The opening: sandhyā karitōsī Kēśavācyā nāmvē — ārambhīm tēm ṭhāvē nāhīm kaisēm — you do sandhyā in Keśava's name — but from the start, somehow that's not known. Sandhyā = the daily-twilight-prayer-ritual; Keśava = a name of Viṣṇu/Kṛṣṇa. You perform sandhyā using Keśava's name, but you don't actually know who he is.
The shame-question: kitī yā sāngāvēm karūni phajita — khaḷa nēṇē hita javaḷīm tēm — how much to tell, after making them ashamed? — the khaḷa doesn't know the hita near. Khaḷa = the wicked / coarse / mean-spirited; hita = good, benefit. The wicked doesn't recognize the benefit even when it's right at his side.
The proud-can't-judge: mājalyā na kaḷē uciṭa tēm kāya — nēghāvēm tēm khāya ghyāvēm sāṇḍī — the proud doesn't know what's fitting — eats what shouldn't be taken, abandons what should. Mājalā = swollen-with-pride / overgrown. The inversion-of-judgment in the proud-fool.
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē ghētī bhintī savē ḍōkē — vāvasī tēm ēkē andhāralī — Tuka says: they bang the head with the wall — those very ones have darkened. The bang-head-with-wall image — they crash their own head into the wall (in their blindness); those very-ones have darkened (= become inwardly-blind). Folk-image of self-injuring bewilderment.
[T]
For someone today
For today: you perform sandhyā in Keśava's name — but somehow, from the very start, you don't actually know him; how much can be said after one is made ashamed? — the wicked doesn't recognize the good even when it's right at his side; the proud-fool doesn't know what's fitting — eats what shouldn't be eaten, abandons what should be taken; Tuka says — they bang their own head against the wall — those very ones have inwardly darkened.
Where this applies
- When you recite prayers or mantras out of habit without really understanding their meaning.
- When you keep offering good advice to someone who refuses to hear it, no matter how you phrase it.
- When pride makes you dismiss guidance that would actually help you.
- When you notice you keep making the same self-defeating choice over and over.