Abhanga 2163
For today: to the hungry, food — give without considering vessel; dharma's secret in body — must be known on occasion; wealth and daughter — here examine kula-karma; Tuka says — puṇya-knot — only then meets the fitting.
The verse
क्षुधेलिया अन्न । द्यावें पात्र न विचारून ॥१॥ धर्म आहे वर्मा अंगीं । कळलें पाहिजे प्रसंगीं ॥ध्रु.॥ द्रव्य आणि कन्या । येथें कुळ कर्म शोधण्या ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे पुण्य गांठी । तरि च उचितासी भेटी ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: To the hungry, food — give without considering the vessel. Dharma's secret is in the body — must be known on occasion. Wealth and daughter — here, examine the kula-karma. Tuka says: puṇya-knot — only then meeting the fitting.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| क्षुधेलिया अन्न | "to the hungry, food" |
| द्यावें पात्र न विचारून | "give without considering the vessel" |
| धर्म आहे वर्मा अंगीं | "dharma's secret is in the body" |
| कळलें पाहिजे प्रसंगीं | "must be known on occasion" |
| द्रव्य आणि कन्या | "wealth and daughter" |
| येथें कुळ कर्म शोधण्या | "here, examine kula-karma" |
| तुका म्हणे पुण्य गांठी | "Tuka says — puṇya-knot" |
| तरि च उचितासी भेटी | "only then meeting the fitting" |
What it means
Food-without-considering-vessel + puṇya-knot-fitting-meeting abhang. Practical-dharma teaching.
The hungry-food rule: kṣudhēliyā anna — dyāvē pātra na vichārūna — to the hungry, food — give without considering the vessel. Pātra = vessel, vessel-of-merit, qualified-recipient. To the hungry, give food without examining the recipient's-eligibility. (= hunger overrides pātra-considerations.)
The occasion-rule: dharma āhē varmā angīm — kaḷalē pāhijē prasangīm — dharma's secret is in the body — must be known on occasion. Dharma's varma (secret) is in-the-body-(of-circumstance); it-must-be-known on-occasion. (= dharma is contextual, not-formulaic.)
The wealth-and-daughter rule: dravya āṇi kanyā — yēthē kuḷa karma śōdhaṇyā — wealth and daughter — here, examine kula-karma. When-handling wealth-or-(giving-a-)daughter-(in-marriage), here-do-examine the recipient's-kula and-karma. (= but for wealth/daughter, examination-is-required.)
The closing — puṇya-knot: Tukā mhaṇē puṇya gāṇṭhī — tari cha uchitāsī bhēṭī — Tuka says: puṇya-knot — only then meeting the fitting. Puṇya gāṇṭhī = the knot/accumulation of merit. Uchita = the fitting, the deserving. Only-when one-has the puṇya-knot does one-meet the-deserving-recipient.
The contextual-ethics: Tukārām distinguishes the categorical-rule (food to hungry, no pātra-question) from the discriminating-rule (wealth/daughter, examine-kula-karma). Both are dharma — the body of dharma (varma) is the discernment of which-applies-when.
[T]
For someone today
For today: to the hungry, food — give without considering vessel; dharma's secret in body — must be known on occasion; wealth and daughter — here examine kula-karma; Tuka says — puṇya-knot — only then meets the fitting.
Where this applies
- Hungry-food-no-vessel-consideration.* Kṣudhēliyā-anna-pātra-na-vichārūna.
- Dharma's-secret-in-body-known-on-occasion.* Dharma-varma-angīm-prasangīm.
- Wealth-daughter-examine-kula-karma.* Dravya-kanyā-kuḷa-karma.
- Puṇya-knot-meets-fitting.* Puṇya-gāṇṭhī-uchitāsī-bhēṭī.