Abhanga 2197

Draw a clear boundary between yourself and others, stop arguing, keep your own counsel, let each person carry their own affairs, and stand firmly in your own resolve.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

I-am-I-you-are-you + Tukā-belts-up-his-loins-each-to-each-own abhang. Boundary-marking. Ends with ॥२॥ — closes 2-abhang sub-cluster (2196-2197).

The opening — boundary-statement: mī tē mī — tūm tē tūm — kunkuḍa hē lāḍasī — I am I — you are you — fondle this cock. Kunkuḍa = cock, rooster. Lāḍa = fondling, pampering. I-am-I, you-are-you — the cock-(of-distinctions) is-what-you're-fondling. (= the cock-of-distinctions/of-pride is your-pet; keep-it, but-I-am-out.) Or alternatively: a-folk-image of-keeping-something-as-a-pet that's-not-worth-keeping.

The belly-secret: vachanāsī paḍō tuṭī — pōṭīñchē pōṭīm rākhāvē — let words be broken — what's in the belly, keep in the belly. Let-words-break (= no-more-exchanges); what's-in-the-belly (= the inner-thought), keep-in-the-belly.

The there/here boundary: tēthīla tēthē — yēthīla yēthē — vēgaḷyā kunthē kōṇa bhārē — there to there — here to here — who burdens separately. What-belongs-there stay-there; what-belongs-here stay-here; who-takes-on-the-burden separately?

The closing — each-to-each-own, Tukā-belts-loins: yāchē yāsa tyāchē tyāsa — Tukyānē kāsa ghātalī — his to him — that one's to that one — Tukā has belted-up his loins. Kāsa ghālaṇē = to gird-up-the-loins, to-tuck-the-dhoti-in-preparation (= resolve, prepare for-action). Each-to-his-own; Tukā has-belted-up his-loins (= readied himself, taken-his-stand).

The ॥२॥ colophon closes a 2-abhang sub-cluster (2196-2197) — both withdrawal-pieces: 2196 (barren-of-upachāra, outside-laukika) → 2197 (I-am-I-you-are-you, Tukā-belts-loins). The withdrawal-arc that-began at 2195's daṇḍavat-to-people now-completes with Tukā's-stand-taken.

[T]

For someone today

For today: I am I — you are you — fondle the cock; let words be broken — keep belly-in-belly; there to there, here to here — who burdens separately; his to him, that one's to that one — Tukā has belted-up his loins.

Where this applies

• When you're tempted to keep arguing a point instead of letting the disagreement rest
• When you feel responsible for fixing or carrying someone else's problem that isn't really yours to carry
• When you need to draw a clear boundary between your life and someone else's expectations
• When you decide to stop explaining yourself and just quietly commit to your own path

Related verses

• Abhanga 2170 — You cannot pass off glass as a diamond, so stop performing for others and instead bow down
• Abhanga 2203 — No good time lasts forever and gain or loss are both small swings within a narrow margin,
• Abhanga 2205 — When desire and sense pleasure take over, shame and self-understanding both vanish, and mā
• Abhanga 2207 — Dressing up as something you are not only makes the mismatch more obvious, and a false sho