Abhanga 2007
For today: gain came after many days — take advantage — ahead is destruction; human-body — such — the best joining; take Hari-Nāma reverently — fill the sukha-storehouses; kāla measures day-and-night — thieves chase — flee forward; hita with sāva-kāsa — who says 'I'll do later' is fool — what is in hand — Tuka says — you don't know.
The verse
लाभ जाला बहुतां दिसीं । लाहो करा पुढें नासी । मनुष्यदेहा ऐसी । उत्तमजोडी जोडिली ॥१॥ घेई हरिनाम सादरें । भरा सुखाचीं भांडारें । जालिया व्यापारें । लाहो हेवा जोडीचा ॥ध्रु.॥ घेउनि माप हातीं । काळ मोवी दिवस राती । चोर लाग घेती । पुढें तैसें पळावें ॥२॥ हित सावकासें । म्हणे करीन तें पिसें । हातीं काय ऐसें । तुका म्हणे नेणसी ॥३॥ ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: Gain came after many days — take advantage — ahead is destruction. Human-body — such — the best joining has been joined. Take Hari-Nāma reverently — fill the sukha-storehouses — once the trade is done — take advantage of the gain. Taking the measure in hand — kāla measures day and night — thieves chase — flee forward. Hita with sāva-kāsa — who says 'I'll do later' is fool — what is in hand — Tuka says — you don't know. ॥3॥
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| लाभ जाला बहुतां दिसीं | "gain came after many days" |
| लाहो करा पुढें नासी | "take advantage — ahead is destruction" |
| मनुष्यदेहा ऐसी | "human-body — such" |
| उत्तमजोडी जोडिली | "the best joining has been joined" |
| घेई हरिनाम सादरें | "take Hari-Nāma reverently" |
| भरा सुखाचीं भांडारें | "fill the sukha-storehouses" |
| जालिया व्यापारें | "once the trade is done" |
| लाहो हेवा जोडीचा | "take advantage of the gain" |
| घेउनि माप हातीं | "taking the measure in hand" |
| काळ मोवी दिवस राती | "kāla measures day and night" |
| चोर लाग घेती | "thieves chase" |
| पुढें तैसें पळावें | "flee forward" |
| हित सावकासें | "hita with sāva-kāsa (slowness)" |
| म्हणे करीन तें पिसें | "who says 'I'll do later' is fool" |
| हातीं काय ऐसें | "what is in hand" |
| तुका म्हणे नेणसी | "Tuka says — you don't know" |
| ॥३॥ | "colophon-3 — closes 3-abhang sub-cluster (2005-2007)" |
What it means
Human-birth-as-best-bargain + don't-delay-take-Hari-Nāma-now abhang. CLOSES 3-ABHANG MORTALITY-ADMONITION SUB-CLUSTER.
The opening — human-birth as the best bargain: lābha jālā bahutām disīm — lāhō karā puḍhē nāsī — manuṣya-dēhā aisī — uttama jōḍī jōḍilī — gain came after many days — take advantage — ahead is destruction — human-body — the best joining. The classic Vaiṣṇava-doctrine: the human-body is the rarest-best-bargain (uttama-jōḍī); take-advantage now, because-destruction-lies-ahead.
The Hari-Nāma-merchant call: ghē'ī Hari-Nāma sādarē — bharā sukhāchīm bhāṇḍārē — jāliyā vyāpārē — lāhō hēvā jōḍīchā — take Hari-Nāma reverently — fill the sukha-storehouses — once the trade is done — take advantage of the gain. Trade-Hari-Nāma; fill-the-sukha-storehouses.
Kāla-as-measurer + thieves: ghē'uni māpa hātīm — kāḷa mōvī divasa-rātī — chōra lāga ghētī — puḍhē taisē paḷāvē — kāla takes the measure in hand — measures day and night — thieves chase — flee forward. Kāla (death-time) measures-out-your-days-and-nights; thieves-of-time chase — flee-toward-the-Lord.
The closing — anti-procrastination: hita sāva-kāsē — mhaṇē karīna tē pisē — hātīm kāya aisē — Tukā mhaṇē nēṇasī — hita with sāva-kāsa — who says 'I'll do later' is fool — what is in hand — Tuka says — you don't know. Who-says "I'll-do-it-slowly-later" is-a-fool (pisē); what's-in-your-hand-(right-now), you-don't-know.
Colophon ॥३॥ confirms 3-abhang mortality-admonition sub-cluster (2005-2007).
[T]
For someone today
For today: gain came after many days — take advantage — ahead is destruction; human-body — such — the best joining; take Hari-Nāma reverently — fill the sukha-storehouses; kāla measures day-and-night — thieves chase — flee forward; hita with sāva-kāsa — who says 'I'll do later' is fool — what is in hand — Tuka says — you don't know.
Where this applies
- Gain-came-take-advantage-human-body-best-bargain.* Lābha-bahutām-disīm-manuṣya-dēhā-uttama-jōḍī.
- Take-Hari-Nāma-fill-sukha-storehouses.* Hari-Nāma-sādarē-sukhāchīm-bhāṇḍārē.
- Kāla-measures-day-night-thieves-chase.* Kāḷa-mōvī-divasa-rātī-chōra-lāga.
- Slow-hita-is-fool-don't-know-what's-in-hand.* Sāva-kāsē-karīna-pisē-hātīm-kāya-aisē.