Abhanga 1782
For today: nobody's relative, no companion — cut off from everyone's hand; nobody calls him mine — he stays in forest, wilderness, anywhere; tulsī-mālā on the neck, sitting apart — they say "what's happened to this cāṇḍāḷa?"; the wife at home says "where did this rāṇḍa give birth — better if the eunuch had died"; Tuka says — only the one who is angry with samsāra has caught the siddha-path.
The verse
कवणाचा सोइरा नव्हे च सांगाती । अवघियां हातीं अंतरला ॥१॥ माझें ऐसें तया न म्हणत कोणी । असे रानीं वनीं भलते ठायीं ॥ध्रु.॥ कंठीं तुळसीमाळा बैसोनि निराळा । म्हणती या चांडाळा काय जालें ॥२॥ घरी बाइल म्हणे कोठें व्याली रांड । बरें होतें शंड मरता तरी ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे जो संसारा रुसला । तेणें चि टाकिला सिद्धपंथ ॥४॥
Literal translation
English: Nobody's relative, no companion — cut off from everyone's hand. Nobody calls him 'mine' — he stays in forest, in wilderness, anywhere. Tulsī-mālā on the neck, sitting apart — they say "what has happened to this cāṇḍāḷa?" In the house, the wife says: "where did this rāṇḍa give birth — better if the eunuch had died." Tuka says: only the one who is angry with samsāra has caught the siddha-path.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| कवणाचा सोइरा नव्हे च सांगाती | "nobody's — relative (sōirā) — not — no companion" |
| अवघियां हातीं अंतरला | "from everyone's hand — cut off (antaralā)" |
| माझें ऐसें तया न म्हणत कोणी | "'mine' — thus — to him — no one says" |
| असे रानीं वनीं भलते ठायीं | "(he) is — in forest, in wilderness, in any place" |
| कंठीं तुळसीमाळा बैसोनि निराळा | "tulsī-mālā — on the neck — sitting — separate" |
| म्हणती या चांडाळा काय जालें | "they say — to this cāṇḍāḷa — what has happened" |
| घरी बाइल म्हणे कोठें व्याली रांड | "in the house — the wife says — where did the rāṇḍa — give birth" |
| बरें होतें शंड मरता तरी | "better — if — the śaṇḍa (eunuch) — had died" |
| तुका म्हणे जो संसारा रुसला | "Tuka says — the one who is angry-with-samsāra" |
| तेणें चि टाकिला सिद्धपंथ | "only-he — has caught the siddha-path (= the path-of-perfection)" |
What it means
The-bhakta-as-outcast-in-the-world + only-samsāra-rusalā-finds-the-path abhang.
The opening: kavaṇācā sōirā navhē chi sāngātī — avaghiyām hātīm antaralā — nobody's relative, no companion — cut off from everyone's hand. The bhakta has no kinship-of-the-world; cut-off-from-everyone.
The wilderness-line: mājhēm aisēm tayā na mhaṇata kōṇī — asē rānīm vanīm bhalatē ṭhāyīm — nobody calls him 'mine' — he is in forest, wilderness, any place. Mājhēm aisēm = thus mine (= the possessive-claim). Nobody-claims-him as their-own; he wanders in forest-wilderness-anywhere.
The cāṇḍāḷa-judgment: kaṇṭhīm tuḷasī-māḷā baisōni nirāḷā — mhaṇatī yā cāṇḍāḷā kāya jālēm — tulsī-mālā on the neck, sitting apart — they say "what's happened to this cāṇḍāḷa?". Tuḷasī-māḷā = the Vārkarī-bhakta-mark (the necklace of tulsī-beads); cāṇḍāḷa = outcaste-low-name (used here as insult by the world). The world sees the tulsī-mālā and calls him cāṇḍāḷa (= the bhakta-marker is read by the world as caste-degradation). Strikingly-bitter — the world despises the bhakta-marker.
The wife's curse: gharī bā'ila mhaṇē kōṭhēm vyālī rāṇḍa — barēm hōtēm śaṇḍa maratam tarī — the wife says: "where did this rāṇḍa give birth — better if the śaṇḍa had died". Vyālī rāṇḍa = contemptible-woman who gave-birth (= crude-curse against his mother); śaṇḍa = eunuch / impotent-male (= insult that the bhakta is sexually-useless to her now). Even the wife wishes-her-husband-had-died-rather-than-become-this-bhakta. Brutally-honest portrait of the household-rejection of the bhakta.
The closing turn: Tukā mhaṇē jō samsārā rusalā — tēṇē chi ṭākilā siddha-pantha — Tuka says: only the one who is angry-with-samsāra has caught the siddha-pantha. Samsārā rusalā = one who has become-angry / disenchanted with samsāra; siddha-pantha = the path-of-perfection / the perfected-bhakti-path; ṭākilā = has caught / taken. The path-of-perfection is reached only by the one who has become-angry-with-samsāra — the social-rejection in verses 1-3 is the very-mark of being-on-the-path.
This abhang is one of the most-honest portraits of the social-cost of bhakti — the household-rejection, the wife's-cursing, the world's-cāṇḍāḷa-judgment. And the defiant-claim that this very-rejection is the proof of being-on-the-perfect-path. A foundational proto-anti-samsārī manifesto.
[T]
For someone today
For today: nobody's relative, no companion — cut off from everyone's hand; nobody calls him mine — he stays in forest, wilderness, anywhere; tulsī-mālā on the neck, sitting apart — they say "what's happened to this cāṇḍāḷa?"; the wife at home says "where did this rāṇḍa give birth — better if the eunuch had died"; Tuka says — only the one who is angry with samsāra has caught the siddha-path.
Where this applies
- Nobody's-relative-cut-off-from-everyone.* Kavaṇācā-sōirā-na-antaralā.
- Nobody-calls-him-mine-wilderness-anywhere.* Mājhēm-na-rānī-vanī-bhalatē.
- Tulsī-mālā-they-call-him-cāṇḍāḷa.* Tuḷasī-māḷā-cāṇḍāḷa.
- Wife-curses-with-rāṇḍa-and-śaṇḍa.* Bā'ila-rāṇḍa-śaṇḍa.
- Only-samsāra-rusalā-catches-siddha-pantha.* Samsārā-rusalā-siddha-pantha.