Abhanga 2085
For today: buddhi-dull on head — burden — disgrace in his lap; wherever he goes, disrespect — meets damage — people spit; the true man's measure — behind him the tangle trails; Tuka says — acts — doesn't know varma fully.
The verse
बुद्धिमंद शिरीं । भार फजिती पदरीं ॥१॥ जाय तेथें अपमान । पावे हाणी थुंकी जन ॥ध्रु.॥ खरियाचा पाड । मागें लावावें लिगाड ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे करी । वर्म नेणें भरोवरी ॥३॥ ॥३॥
Literal translation
Buddhi-dull on head — burden — disgrace in his lap. Wherever he goes, disrespect — meets damage — people spit. The true man's measure — behind him the tangle trails. Tuka says: acts — doesn't know varma fully. ॥3॥
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| बुद्धिमंद शिरीं | "buddhi-dull (on) head" |
| भार फजिती पदरीं | "burden — disgrace in (his) lap" |
| जाय तेथें अपमान | "wherever he goes, disrespect" |
| पावे हाणी थुंकी जन | "meets damage — people spit" |
| खरियाचा पाड | "the true man's measure" |
| मागें लावावें लिगाड | "behind him the tangle trails" |
| तुका म्हणे करी | "Tuka says — acts" |
| वर्म नेणें भरोवरी | "doesn't know varma fully" |
| ॥३॥ | "colophon-3 — closes 3-abhang samsāra-market cluster (2083-2085)" |
What it means
Buddhi-dull-disgrace + varma-not-known-fully abhang. CLOSES 3-ABHANG SAṂSĀRA-MARKET CLUSTER (2083-2085).
The opening: buddhi-manda śirīm — bhāra phajitī padarīm — buddhi-dull on head — burden — disgrace in his lap. Dull-buddhi-headed; burden-of-disgrace in-his-lap (padara).
The wherever-disgrace: jāya tēthē apamāna — pāvē hāṇī thunkī jana — wherever he goes, disrespect — meets damage — people spit. Wherever he-goes, apamāna; damage-and-spittle. (= echoes 1968's thunkī tōṇḍāvarī.)
The true-man's-measure: khariyāchā pāḍa — māgē lāvāvē ligāḍa — the true man's measure — behind him the tangle trails. Pāḍa = measure, weight, sign-of-value. The true-(man)'s measure — the tangles trail-behind (= they fade-into-the-past) — a quiet inversion: the true-bhakta leaves-the-tangles-behind.
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē karī — varma nēṇē bharōvarī — Tuka says: acts — doesn't know varma fully. Acts, but-doesn't-know-the-varma-fully (in-measure). Bharōvarī = in fullness.
Colophon ॥३॥ confirms 3-abhang samsāra-market cluster (2083-2085).
[T]
For someone today
For today: buddhi-dull on head — burden — disgrace in his lap; wherever he goes, disrespect — meets damage — people spit; the true man's measure — behind him the tangle trails; Tuka says — acts — doesn't know varma fully.
Where this applies
- When you keep acting on impulse without pausing to understand what you are actually doing
- When you notice you meet the same disrespect or trouble everywhere you go and cannot see why
- When you compare yourself to someone whose past mistakes seem to fade away while yours keep following you
- When you realize you have been going through the motions of a practice or duty without grasping its real point