Abhanga 1717
For today: let there be many wicked — to us, their slander is a favor; they do the washing of our sins — without even charging us for the soap; they are the free-laborers — they carry our karmic-burden; we cross to the other-shore — Tuka says — they themselves go to narka by their own slander.
The verse
असो खळ ऐसे फार । आम्हां त्यांचे उपकार ॥१॥ करिती पातकांची धुनी । मोल न घेतां साबनीं ॥ध्रु.॥ फुकाचे मजुर । ओझें वागविती भार ॥२॥ पार उतरुन म्हणे तुका । आम्हां आपण जाती नरका ॥३॥
Literal translation
Let there be wicked — many — to us, their upakāra. They do the washing of (our) pātakas — without taking money for soap. Free laborers — they carry the burden. Crossing-the-shore — Tuka says — we (ourselves cross), they themselves go to narka.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| असो खळ ऐसे फार | "let there be — wicked — many" |
| आम्हां त्यांचे उपकार | "to us — their upakāra" |
| करिती पातकांची धुनी | "they do — of pātakas — washing" |
| मोल न घेतां साबनीं | "no money taken — for soap" |
| फुकाचे मजुर | "free laborers" |
| ओझें वागविती भार | "they carry — the burden" |
| पार उतरुन म्हणे तुका | "crossing-the-shore — Tuka says" |
| आम्हां आपण जाती नरका | "we ourselves — they themselves go — to narka" |
What it means
Wicked-as-our-soap + cross-shore-while-they-go-to-narka abhang. One of Tukaram's most-striking ironic-anti-slanderer abhangs.
The opening claim: asō khaḷa aisē phāra — āmhām tyāñcē upakāra — let there be wicked — many — to us, their upakāra (favor). The more wicked the better — they're doing us a favor.
The free-soap-wash: karitī pātakāñcī dhunī — mōla na ghētām sābanīm — they do the washing of pātakas — without taking money for soap. Sābana = soap; dhunī = the laundry-washing. The brilliant-image: the wicked who slander-us are doing our laundry — washing-our-pāpas — and not even charging-us-for-the-soap. (= unjust-suffering caused-by-the-wicked discharges-our-karma; their slander is pāpa-cleansing.)
The free-laborers: phukācē majura — ōjhē vāgavitī bhāra — free laborers — they carry the burden. Phukā = free, gratis; majūra = laborer, hired-worker. They are the free-laborers carrying-the-load (= our karma-load).
The closing-irony: pāra utaruna mhaṇē Tukā — āmhām āpaṇa jātī narakā — crossing-the-shore — Tuka says — we (cross), they themselves go to narka. Pāra utaraṇē = to cross to the other-shore (= to attain liberation-from-samsāra). We-cross-the-shore (free of our karmic-burden because they removed it); they themselves (by-their-slander-karma) go to narka. (Striking-formulation: the wicked-pāpa-cleansers do their work for free, and end up in narka by their own-slander while we get to cross.)
This abhang inverts the natural-resentment-of-slander into grateful-thanksgiving for unwitting-karma-cleansers. One of the most psychologically-redirecting statements in the gatha.
[T]
For someone today
For today: let there be many wicked — to us, their slander is a favor; they do the washing of our sins — without even charging us for the soap; they are the free-laborers — they carry our karmic-burden; we cross to the other-shore — Tuka says — they themselves go to narka by their own slander.
Where this applies
- When someone spreads gossip or slander about you and you feel the urge to retaliate
- When you're being unfairly criticized and want a way to stay calm instead of bitter
- When you notice that people who attack you seem to be harming themselves more than you
- When you're trying to make peace with an old grudge or insult that still stings