Abhanga 2203
For today: be alert — keeping the time; not all times alike — all reach misfortune; gain or loss circle in small space; Tuka says — be on guard — till one isn't there, that's the report.
The verse
बरें सावधान । राहावें समय राखोन ॥१॥ नाहीं सारखिया वेळा । अवघ्या पावतां अवकळा ॥ध्रु.॥ लाभ अथवा हानी । थोड्यामध्यें च भोवनी ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे राखा । आपणा नाहीं तोंचि वाखा ॥३॥ ॥२॥
Literal translation
English: Well — be alert — stay, keeping the time. Not all times are alike — all reach misfortune. Gain or loss — circles in a small space. Tuka says: be on guard — till one isn't [there], that's the [one's] report. ॥2॥
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| बरें सावधान | "well — be alert" |
| राहावें समय राखोन | "stay, keeping the time" |
| नाहीं सारखिया वेळा | "not all times are alike" |
| अवघ्या पावतां अवकळा | "all reach misfortune [at some point]" |
| लाभ अथवा हानी | "gain or loss" |
| थोड्यामध्यें च भोवनी | "circles in a small space" |
| तुका म्हणे राखा | "Tuka says — be on guard" |
| आपणा नाहीं तोंचि वाखा | "till one isn't [there], that's the report" |
| ॥२॥ | colophon — closes 2-abhang sub-cluster (2202-2203) |
What it means
All-times-are-not-alike + be-on-guard-while-one-is-here abhang. Ends with ॥२॥ — closes 2-abhang sub-cluster (2202-2203).
The opening — be-alert: barē sāvadhāna — rāhāvē samaya rākhōna — well — be alert — stay, keeping the time. Be-alert; stay-keeping-(the)-time (= keeping-watch-over-time).
The all-times-not-alike principle: nāhīm sārakhiyā vēḷā — avaghyā pāvatām avakaḷā — not all times are alike — all reach misfortune. Not-all-times-are-alike; all-(times) eventually-reach avakaḷā (misfortune). A universal-decay principle: no time-is-permanent-good; every-state-touches-misfortune.
The small-space circling: lābha athavā hānī — thōḍyāmadhyē cha bhōvanī — gain or loss — circles in a small space. Gain-or-loss — both-circle in-a-small-space (= within-narrow-margins).
The closing — till-one-isn't-there, that's-the-report: Tukā mhaṇē rākhā — āpaṇā nāhīm tōmchi vākhā — Tuka says: be on guard — till one isn't there, that's the report. Vākhā = report, account, gossip-about-someone. Be-on-guard; till-one-is-no-longer-there (= until-death), that's-(when)-the-(final)-report comes. (= the account-of-one's-life is-finalized only-at-the-end; be-on-guard until-then.)
The ॥२॥ colophon closes a 2-abhang sub-cluster (2202-2203) — both ethics-of-watchfulness: 2202 (no-service-no-wage, face-blackens-by-desire) → 2203 (all-times-not-alike, be-on-guard). The pair: don't-take-improperly + stay-alert.
[T]
For someone today
For today: be alert — keeping the time; not all times alike — all reach misfortune; gain or loss circle in small space; Tuka says — be on guard — till one isn't there, that's the report.
Where this applies
- Be-alert-keep-time.* Barē-sāvadhāna-samaya-rākhōna.
- Not-all-times-alike-misfortune-comes.* Sārakhiyā-vēḷā-avakaḷā.
- Gain-loss-small-space-circling.* Lābha-hānī-thōḍyāmadhyē-bhōvanī.
- Be-on-guard-till-the-end-is-the-report.* Rākhā-āpaṇā-nāhīm-vākhā.