Abhanga 2215
For today: no equal to you — that's the cause, Murārī; whatever the time — dense passes as thin; master discards — sons have black face; no taste in words — where does Tukā spend.
The verse
नव्हे तुम्हां सरी । येवढें कारण मुरारी ॥१॥ मग जैसा तैसा काळ । दाट सारावा पातळ ॥ध्रु.॥ स्वामींचें तें सांडें । पुत्र होतां काळतोंडें ॥२॥ शब्दा नाहीं रुची । मग कोठें तुका वेची ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: There's no equal to you — that much is the cause, Murārī. Then whatever the time — dense should pass as thin. What the master discards — his sons have black-face. There's no taste in words — then where does Tukā spend [them]?
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| नव्हे तुम्हां सरी | "there's no equal to you" |
| येवढें कारण मुरारी | "that much is the cause, Murārī" |
| मग जैसा तैसा काळ | "then whatever the time" |
| दाट सारावा पातळ | "dense should pass as thin" |
| स्वामींचें तें सांडें | "what the master discards" |
| पुत्र होतां काळतोंडें | "his sons have black-face (disgrace)" |
| शब्दा नाहीं रुची | "there's no taste in words" |
| मग कोठें तुका वेची | "then where does Tukā spend [them]" |
What it means
No-equal-to-you + master-discards-sons-have-black-face abhang. Fifth abhang of the niḍrā-cluster — the master-discards-bhakta-suffers-disgrace plea.
The opening — no-equal: navhē tumhām sarī — yēvaḍhē kāraṇa Murārī — there's no equal to you — that much is the cause, Murārī. You-have-no-equal — that much is-the-(stated)-cause, Murārī.
The dense-and-thin time: maga jaisā taisā kāḷa — dāṭa sārāvā pātaḷa — then whatever the time — dense should pass as thin. Whatever-the-time, even-dense should-pass as-thin (= even-thick-distress should-thin-out, but-it-hasn't).
The master-discards image: svāmīñchē tē sāṇḍē — putra hōtām kāḷa-tōṇḍē — what the master discards — his sons have black-face. Svāmī = master, owner, Lord. Sāṇḍē = discards, abandons. Kāḷa-tōṇḍē = black-face (= disgrace). What-the-master-discards: his-sons (= dependents) come-to-have-black-faces (= public-disgrace). The poignant image — when the Master (Viṭhṭhal) discards-the-bhakta (Tukārām), the bhakta's-public-status is-ruined.
The taste-less-words: śabdā nāhīm ruchī — maga kōṭhē Tukā vēchī — there's no taste in words — then where does Tukā spend [them]. There's no-taste in-words; where then would Tukā-spend-them? (= if-poetry-is-tasteless-without-Lord's-presence, where-is-the-bhakta-to-direct-it?)
The historical-resonance: this abhang resonates with the kavitvā-buḍavaṇē and the persecution-of-Tukārām — the public-disgrace (kāḷa-tōṇḍa) inflicted by-his-detractors is-here-attributed to the Lord's-(temporary)-discarding.
[T]
For someone today
For today: no equal to you — that's the cause, Murārī; whatever the time — dense passes as thin; master discards — sons have black face; no taste in words — where does Tukā spend.
Where this applies
- No-equal-to-you-cause-stated.* Navhē-sarī-kāraṇa-Murārī.
- Time-dense-should-thin.* Jaisā-taisā-kāḷa-dāṭa-pātaḷa.
- Master-discards-sons-black-face.* Svāmīñchē-sāṇḍē-putra-kāḷa-tōṇḍē.
- No-taste-in-words-where-spend.* Śabdā-nāhīm-ruchī-Tukā-vēchī.