Abhanga 2173
For today: infinite arts of cleverness — rare-one knows truth; world laughs with laugher, changes with weeper; burn such barren talk — price of guṇa is chaff, false; Tuka says — like the blind — amusement for foul-mad.
The verse
चातुर्याच्या अनंतकळा । सत्या विरळा जाणत ॥१॥ हांसत्यासवें हांसे जन । रडतां भिन्न पालटे ॥ध्रु.॥ जळो ऐसे वांजट बोल । गुणां मोल भूस मिथ्या ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे अंधळ्याऐसें । वोंगळ पिसें कौतुक ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: Infinite arts of cleverness — rare-one knows the truth. World laughs with the laugher — changes differently with the weeper. Burn such barren talk — the price of guṇa is just chaff, false. Tuka says: like the blind — amusement for the foul-mad.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| चातुर्याच्या अनंतकळा | "infinite arts of cleverness" |
| सत्या विरळा जाणत | "rare-one knows the truth" |
| हांसत्यासवें हांसे जन | "world laughs with the laugher" |
| रडतां भिन्न पालटे | "changes differently with the weeper" |
| जळो ऐसे वांजट बोल | "burn such barren talk" |
| गुणां मोल भूस मिथ्या | "the price of guṇa is just chaff — false" |
| तुका म्हणे अंधळ्याऐसें | "Tuka says — like the blind" |
| वोंगळ पिसें कौतुक | "amusement for the foul-mad" |
What it means
World-laughs-with-laugher + amusement-for-foul-mad abhang. Social critique.
The opening — many-arts-but-rare-truth: chāturyāchyā ananta-kaḷā — satyā viraḷā jāṇata — infinite arts of cleverness — rare-one knows the truth. Cleverness-has-infinite-forms (kaḷā = arts); but-the-one who-knows-truth is-rare.
The fickle-world image: hāmsatyāsavē hāmsē jana — raḍatām bhinna pālaṭē — world laughs with the laugher — changes differently with the weeper. People laugh-with-the-laugher; they-change-differently-(turn-away) when-someone-weeps. The world's-companionship is-conditional on-laughter. (= fickle, fair-weather-friendship.)
The barren-talk: jaḷō aisē vāñjaṭa bōla — guṇām mōla bhūsa mithyā — burn such barren talk — the price of guṇa is just chaff, false. Vāñjaṭa = barren, fruitless. Bhūsa = chaff. Burn such barren talk — the price-given for guṇa is mere-chaff, false.
The closing — blind, foul-mad amusement: Tukā mhaṇē andhaḷyā'aisē — vōngaḷa pisē kautuka — Tuka says: like the blind — amusement for the foul-mad. Vōngaḷa = foul, unclean. Pisē = mad-one. Kautuka = amusement, novelty. Like-the-blind — amusement-for-the-foul-mad. (= the world's-engagement with-guṇa is like the blind-leading-the-foul-mad in-amusement.)
[T]
For someone today
For today: infinite arts of cleverness — rare-one knows truth; world laughs with laugher, changes with weeper; burn such barren talk — price of guṇa is chaff, false; Tuka says — like the blind — amusement for foul-mad.
Where this applies
- Many-arts-rare-truth.* Chāturya-anantakaḷā-satyā-viraḷā.
- World-laughs-with-laugher-changes-with-weeper.* Hāmsatyā-hāmsē-raḍatām-bhinna-pālaṭē.
- Burn-barren-talk-guṇa-price-chaff.* Vāñjaṭa-bōla-guṇām-mōla-bhūsa-mithyā.
- Like-blind-amusement-for-foul-mad.* Andhaḷyā-vōngaḷa-pisē-kautuka.