Abhanga 2037
A person who can't sit still for anything sacred and drains everyone around them isn't your responsibility to fix; some people sink like stones, and that's simply how it is.
The verse
नावडे ज्या कथा उठोनियां जाती । ते यमा फावती बरे वोजा ॥१॥ तो असे जवळी गोंचिडाच्या न्यायें । देशत्यागें ठायें तया दुरी ॥ध्रु.॥ नव्हे भला कोणी नावडे दुसरा । पाहुणा किंकरा यमा होय ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे तया करावें तें काईं । पाषाण कां नाहीं जळामध्यें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Those who don't like kathā get up and leave — they fall to Yama, well-fitted. Such-a-one is like the tick — by leaving-country keep him far. Not good to anyone — likes no other — guest-to-Yama-servant he becomes. Tuka says: what to do with such a one — aren't there stones in water?
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| नावडे ज्या कथा उठोनियां जाती | "those who don't like kathā get up and leave" |
| ते यमा फावती बरे वोजा | "they fall to Yama — well-fitted" |
| तो असे जवळी गोंचिडाच्या न्यायें | "such-a-one is like the tick" |
| देशत्यागें ठायें तया दुरी | "by leaving-country — keep him far" |
| नव्हे भला कोणी नावडे दुसरा | "not good to anyone — likes no other" |
| पाहुणा किंकरा यमा होय | "guest-to-Yama-servant he becomes" |
| तुका म्हणे तया करावें तें काईं | "Tuka says — what to do with such a one" |
| पाषाण कां नाहीं जळामध्यें | "aren't there stones in water" |
What it means
Kathā-avoiders-fall-to-Yama + stones-in-water abhang.
The opening — Yama-fitting: nāvaḍē jyā kathā uṭhōniyām jātī — tē Yamā phāvatī barē vōjā — those who don't like kathā get up and leave — they fall to Yama, well-fitted. Whoever-doesn't-like-kathā and-leaves-mid-way — fits Yama-perfectly (= Yama claims him appropriately).
The tick-image recurs (from 2034): tō asē javaḷī gōnchiḍācyā nyāyē — dēśa-tyāgē ṭhāyē tayā durī — such-a-one is like the tick — by leaving-country keep him far. Such-a-person is-like-the-tick (parasite); keep-him-far by-changing-country-if-necessary.
The Yama-guest: navhē bhalā kōṇī nāvaḍē dusarā — pāhuṇā kinkarā Yamā hōya — not good to anyone — likes no other — guest-to-Yama-servant he becomes. He's-no-good-to-anyone, likes-no-other; becomes a guest of Yama's-servants (= destined for-hell).
THE STONES-IN-WATER CLOSER: Tukā mhaṇē tayā karāvē tē kāīm — pāṣāṇa kām nāhīm jaḷāmadhyē — Tuka says: what to do with such a one — aren't there stones in water?. What-to-do-with-him? — there-are-already-stones-in-water (= sinking-failed-beings are common; he's-just-another) — a striking dismissal.
[T]
For someone today
For today: someone who dislikes sacred stories and gets up to leave in the middle — that's exactly the kind of person Death claims for its own. Such a person clings like a tick; keep them far away, even if it means putting real distance between you. They're no good to anyone, and nothing pleases them — they end up as an unwelcome guest in Death's own house. Tuka says: what can you really do about someone like that? Aren't there already plenty of stones sinking in the water?
मराठी: आजसाठी: कथेला कंटाळून मध्येच उठून जाणारा माणूस — असाच माणूस यमाला अगदी योग्य वाटतो. असा माणूस गोचिडासारखा चिकटून राहतो — त्याला दूर ठेवणेच बरे, गरज पडली तर अंतरही ठेवावे. तो कोणाच्याही उपयोगाचा नसतो, त्याला काहीच आवडत नाही — शेवटी तो यमाच्या दरबारातला एक पाहुणाच बनतो. तुका म्हणतो: अशा माणसाचे काय करायचे? — पाण्यात बुडणारे दगड काय कमी आहेत?
Where this applies
- When someone in your family always leaves prayer, worship, or gatherings early and complains about it
- When you keep trying to convince a chronically negative friend to join something meaningful, and it always backfires
- When you feel drained by someone who takes from every relationship but gives nothing back
- When you're tempted to take a habitual doubter's rejection of ritual personally