Abhanga 1975
For today: good people will respect you — fame will grow; say cattle died, thieves took pots, no children to me; remove desire — make mind hard like vajra; spit out little happiness — you'll get the great-bliss-Lord; Tuka says — great toils avoided — bhava-banda nooses cut.
The verse
भले लोक तुज बहु मानवती । वाढेल या कीर्ति जगामाजी ॥१॥ म्हणे मेलीं गुरें भांडीं नेलीं चोरें । नाहींत लेंकुरें जालीं मज ॥ध्रु.॥ आस निरसूनि कठिण हें मन । करीं वो समान वज्र तैसें ॥२॥ किंचित हें सुख टाकीं वो थुंकोनि । पावसील धनी परमानंद ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे थोर चुकती सायास । भवबंद पाश तुटोनियां ॥४॥
Literal translation
English: Good people will respect you much — your fame will grow in the world. Say: the cattle died, thieves took pots, no children to me. Remove desire — make this mind hard — make it like vajra. Spit out this little happiness — you'll obtain the great-bliss-Lord. Tuka says: great toils avoided — bhava-banda nooses cut.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| भले लोक तुज बहु मानवती | "good people will respect you much" |
| वाढेल या कीर्ति जगामाजी | "your fame will grow in the world" |
| म्हणे मेलीं गुरें भांडीं नेलीं चोरें | "say — the cattle died, thieves took pots" |
| नाहींत लेंकुरें जालीं मज | "no children to me" |
| आस निरसूनि कठिण हें मन | "remove desire — make this mind hard" |
| करीं वो समान वज्र तैसें | "make it like vajra" |
| किंचित हें सुख टाकीं वो थुंकोनि | "spit out this little happiness" |
| पावसील धनी परमानंद | "you'll obtain the great-bliss-Lord" |
| तुका म्हणे थोर चुकती सायास | "Tuka says — great toils avoided" |
| भवबंद पाश तुटोनियां | "bhava-banda nooses cut" |
What it means
Say-cattle-died-no-children-make-mind-vajra abhang.
The opening — fame: bhalē lōka tuja bahu mānavatī — vāḍhēla yā kīrtī jagāmājī — good people will respect you much — fame will grow in the world. The good-people will-respect-you (for accepting-loss); fame-will-grow.
THE INVENTORY of Tukārām's-actual-historical-losses: mhaṇē mēlīm gurē bhāṇḍī nēlīm chōrē — nāhīmta lēnkurē jālīm maja — say: the cattle died, thieves took pots, no children to me. Three-historical-losses listed: (1) mēlīm gurē = cattle died (recorded historical-fact: Tukārām's cattle died-in-famine); (2) bhāṇḍī nēlīm chōrē = thieves took pots; (3) nāhīmta lēnkurē = no surviving-children (Tukārām's first wife and elder son died in famine; later children also lost). Tukārām instructs his wife — say-this-out-loud (= accept-it-publicly).
The vajra-mind: āsa nirasūni kaṭhiṇa hē mana — karī vō samāna vajra taisē — remove desire — make this mind hard — like vajra. Vajra = the diamond/thunderbolt — hardest-substance. Make-the-mind vajra-hard.
The bargain: kiñchita hē sukha ṭākīm vō thunkōni — pāvasīla dhanī paramānanda — spit out this little happiness — you'll obtain the great-bliss-Lord. Spit-out-the-trivial-happiness; gain-the-great-bliss-Lord (paramānanda dhanī).
The closing-resolution: Tukā mhaṇē thōra chukatī sāyāsa — bhava-banda pāśa tuṭōniyām — Tuka says: great toils avoided — bhava-banda nooses cut. Great-effort avoided; samsāra-nooses (bhava-banda) cut.
[T]
For someone today
For today: good people will respect you — fame will grow; say cattle died, thieves took pots, no children to me; remove desire — make mind hard like vajra; spit out little happiness — you'll get the great-bliss-Lord; Tuka says — great toils avoided — bhava-banda nooses cut.
Where this applies
- Good-people-will-respect-fame-will-grow.* Bhalē-lōka-mānavatī-kīrtī.
- Cattle-died-thieves-took-pots-no-children.* Mēlīm-gurē-bhāṇḍī-chōrē-lēnkurē-na.
- Remove-desire-mind-like-vajra.* Āsa-nirasūni-vajra-mana.
- Spit-out-little-sukha-gain-paramānanda.* Kiñchita-sukha-thunkōni-paramānanda.
- Great-toils-avoided-bhava-banda-cut.* Thōra-sāyāsa-bhava-banda-tuṭōniyām.