Abhanga 2169
Once death is at hand there is no room left for empty words, so speak what is true now, because God already sees every mistake we make.
The verse
देह निरसे तरी । बोलावया नुरे उरी ॥१॥ येर वाचेचें वाग्जाळ । अळंकारापुरते बोल ॥ध्रु.॥ काचें तरी कढे । जाती ऐसें चित्ती ओढे ॥२॥ विष्णुदास तुका । पूर्ण धनी जाणे चुका ॥३॥
Literal translation
When the body dissolves — no remainder for speaking remains. Else — the vāk-net of words — words only for ornament. Even cane melts in heat — like that, the chitta is pulled. Viṣṇu-dāsa Tukā — the full-owner knows the mistakes.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| देह निरसे तरी | "when the body dissolves" |
| बोलावया नुरे उरी | "no remainder for speaking remains" |
| येर वाचेचें वाग्जाळ | "else — the vāk-net of words" |
| अळंकारापुरते बोल | "words only for ornament" |
| काचें तरी कढे | "even cane melts in heat" |
| जाती ऐसें चित्ती ओढे | "like that, the chitta is pulled" |
| विष्णुदास तुका | "Viṣṇu-dāsa Tukā" |
| पूर्ण धनी जाणे चुका | "the full-owner knows the mistakes" |
What it means
Body-dissolves-no-remainder-for-speech + full-owner-knows-mistakes abhang.
The opening — body-dissolution: dēha nirasē tarī — bōlāvayā nurē urī — when the body dissolves — no remainder for speaking remains. When the-body dissolves, there's-no remainder for-speech. (= after death there's-no scope for-speech — so speech-now-is-for-now.)
The ornamental-speech critique: yēra vāchēchē vāg-jāḷa — aḷankārāpuratē bōla — else, the vāk-net of words — words only for ornament. Vāg-jāḷa = net of words, web of speech. The rest is just-a-word-net — words-for-ornament-only. (= much speech-is mere decoration.)
The melting-cane image: kāchēm tarī kaḍhē — jātī aisē chittī ōḍhē — even cane melts in heat — like that, the chitta is pulled. Kāchēm = cane, glass. Kaḍhē = melts, boils. Even-cane (or glass) melts under-heat; like-that, the chitta is-pulled (when-experience-is-strong-enough).
The closing — Viṣṇu-dāsa-Tukā mudra: Viṣṇu-dāsa Tukā — pūrṇa dhanī jāṇē chukā — Viṣṇu-dāsa Tukā — the full-owner knows the mistakes. The full-owner (= the Lord, the dhanī) knows-the-mistakes (chukā). Uses the rarer Viṣṇu-dāsa Tukā mudra-variant in place of the standard Tukā mhaṇē.
[T]
For someone today
For today: when the body dissolves — no remainder for speech; else, vāk-net for ornament-only; cane melts in heat — chitta is pulled likewise; Viṣṇu-dāsa Tukā — full-owner knows the mistakes.
Where this applies
- When you catch yourself using impressive language to sound wise instead of saying something true.
- When a hard season of life, illness, loss, or pressure finally softens a heart that had grown hard and indifferent.
- When you are tempted to explain away a mistake with clever words instead of simply admitting it.
- When thinking about your own mortality suddenly makes small talk and boasting feel unimportant.