Abhanga 1806
Tuka's outrageous insult that God is a thief who takes from everyone equally points to how divine intimacy erases the boundary between mine and yours.
The verse
लाज ना विचार । बाजारी तूं भांडखोर ॥१॥ ऐसें ज्याणें व्हावें । त्याची गांठी तुजसवें ॥ध्रु.॥ फेडिसी लंगोटी । घेसी सकळांसी तुटी ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे चोरा । तुला आप ना दुसरा ॥३॥
Literal translation
No shame, no consideration — in the bazaar, you are a quarrel-seeker. Whoever wants to be such — his association is with you. (You) tear off the loincloth — take cuts with everyone. Tuka says: thief — for you, neither yourself nor another.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| लाज ना विचार | "no shame — no consideration" |
| बाजारी तूं भांडखोर | "in the bazaar — you — quarrel-seeker (bhāṇḍa-khōra)" |
| ऐसें ज्याणें व्हावें | "whoever wants to become — such" |
| त्याची गांठी तुजसवें | "his knot / association — (is) with you" |
| फेडिसी लंगोटी | "you tear off — the langōṭī (loincloth)" |
| घेसी सकळांसी तुटी | "(you) take — cuts — with everyone" |
| तुका म्हणे चोरा | "Tuka says — thief" |
| तुला आप ना दुसरा | "for you — neither yourself — nor another" |
What it means
Lord-as-bāzāri-quarrel-seeker-thief abhang. Continues the 1801-1807 mocking-cluster.
The opening: lāja nā vicāra — bājārī tūm bhāṇḍa-khōra — no shame, no consideration — in the bazaar, you are a quarrel-seeker. Bājārī = in-the-bazaar / market-square; bhāṇḍa-khōra = quarrel-seeker, picker-of-fights. The Lord as the rough-bazaar-character: no-shame, no-consideration, picks-quarrels-with-everyone.
The association-line: aisē jyāṇē hō'āvēm — tyācī gāṇṭhī tujasavē — whoever wants to be such — his association is with you. Gāṇṭhī = knot / association / tie. If-someone-wants-to-be a quarreler, he-needs-to-tie-himself-to-you. (= the Lord as patron-of-quarrelers.)
The loincloth-line: phēḍisī langōṭī — ghēsī sakaḷāñsī tuṭī — (you) tear off the langōṭī — take cuts with everyone. Langōṭī = loincloth (= the very-last-piece-of-clothing, the barest-modesty); sakaḷāñsī tuṭī = cuts / falling-out with everyone. Outrageous accusation: you-strip-people-down-to-their-barest-modesty (= take everything-from-them); you have-cuts-with-everyone (= you fall-out with-all).
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē cōrā — tulā āpa nā dusarā — Tuka says: thief — for you, neither yourself nor another. Cōrā = thief (vocative); tulā = for you; āpa = yourself; dusarā = another. The thief has-no-self-or-other-distinction — for-you, no boundaries-of-mine-and-thine; you-rob-equally. (Or: you-have-no-fellow-thief, you-stand-alone in-thievery.)
The whole abhang continues the playful-rough-affection of the 1801-1807 cluster. The Lord as bājārī-bhāṇḍa-khōra, langōṭī-phēḍa, cōra — all comic-insults beneath which the bhakta's-deep-intimacy with-the-Lord shines.
[T]
For someone today
For today: no shame, no consideration — in the bazaar, you are a quarrel-seeker; whoever wants to be such — his association is with you; (you) tear off the loincloth — take cuts with everyone; Tuka says — thief — for you, neither yourself nor another.
Where this applies
- When you want to complain bluntly to someone you're close to, trusting the relationship can handle it
- When you notice that real intimacy means the boundaries of mine and yours start to disappear
- When you feel like life or circumstance has taken everything from you, down to the bare minimum
- When you use humor or exaggeration to express a serious frustration with someone you love