Abhanga 2030
For today: the duṣṭa is the sajjana's ornament — unattainable-gain, that's his puṇya; such a para-upakārī is blessed — goes to hell on behalf of others; samvadaṇī (washerwoman) eats the dirt — makes others' clothes clean; Tuka says — of him — do true love-and-respect.
The verse
दुष्ट भूषण सज्जनाचें । अलभ्यलाभ पुण्य त्याचें ॥१॥ धन्य ऐसा परउपकारी । जाय नरका आणिकांवारि ॥ध्रु.॥ मळ खाये संवदणी । करी आणिकांची उजळणी ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे त्याचा । प्रीती आदर करा साचा ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: The duṣṭa is the sajjana's ornament — unattainable-gain, that's his puṇya. Such a para-upakārī is blessed — goes to hell on behalf of others. Samvadaṇī (washerwoman) eats the dirt — makes others' (clothes) clean. Tuka says: of him — do true love-and-respect.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| दुष्ट भूषण सज्जनाचें | "the duṣṭa is the sajjana's ornament" |
| अलभ्यलाभ पुण्य त्याचें | "unattainable-gain — that's his puṇya" |
| धन्य ऐसा परउपकारी | "such a para-upakārī is blessed" |
| जाय नरका आणिकांवारि | "goes to hell on behalf of others" |
| मळ खाये संवदणी | "samvadaṇī (washerwoman) eats the dirt" |
| करी आणिकांची उजळणी | "makes others' (clothes) clean" |
| तुका म्हणे त्याचा | "Tuka says — of him" |
| प्रीती आदर करा साचा | "do true love-and-respect" |
What it means
Duṣṭa-as-sajjana's-ornament + washerwoman-eats-dirt abhang. PARADOXICAL TONE.
The opening — paradox: duṣṭa bhūṣaṇa sajjanāchē — alabhya-lābha puṇya tyāchē — the duṣṭa is the sajjana's ornament — unattainable-gain, that's his puṇya. The wicked (duṣṭa) is-the-good-man's-ornament: the wicked-man, by-criticizing-the-saint, gives-the-saint an-opportunity-for-forbearance; the abuse-becomes-an-ornament. Alabhya-lābha = unattainable-gain that-was-obtained — the wicked unwittingly-give the-saint puṇya.
The ironic-saint: dhanya aisā para-upakārī — jāya narakā āṇikāmvāri — such a para-upakārī is blessed — goes to hell on behalf of others. Such-a-para-upakārī (helper-of-others) is-blessed — he goes-to-hell on-behalf-of-others (= by-abusing-the-saint, the-wicked-man takes the saint's hellward-bound-karma). Dark-irony: the wicked man perversely-helps the saint.
THE WASHERWOMAN IMAGE: maḷa khāyē samvadaṇī — karī āṇikāñchī ujaḷaṇī — the samvadaṇī (washerwoman) eats the dirt — makes others' (clothes) clean. Samvadaṇī = washerwoman. The washerwoman takes-the-dirt-onto-herself; cleanses-others' clothes. The same applies to-the-wicked: taking-on-dirt by-criticizing-the-saint, they-cleanse the-saint.
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē tyāchā — prītī ādara karā sāchā — Tuka says: of him — do true love-and-respect. Therefore — love-and-respect the duṣṭa truly (= thank-the-critics; they're-doing-you-a-favor).
[T]
For someone today
For today: the duṣṭa is the sajjana's ornament — unattainable-gain, that's his puṇya; such a para-upakārī is blessed — goes to hell on behalf of others; samvadaṇī (washerwoman) eats the dirt — makes others' clothes clean; Tuka says — of him — do true love-and-respect.
Where this applies
- Duṣṭa-is-sajjana's-ornament-his-puṇya.* Duṣṭa-bhūṣaṇa-sajjana-alabhya-lābha-puṇya.
- Para-upakārī-goes-to-hell-on-others'-behalf.* Para-upakārī-narakā-āṇikāmvāri.
- Washerwoman-eats-dirt-cleanses-others.* Maḷa-samvadaṇī-āṇikāñchī-ujaḷaṇī.
- Love-and-respect-such-a-helper.* Prītī-ādara-sāchā.