Abhanga 2609
The world has many names; imaginations are many. Don't see and speak too much — preserve what is true. What is the cause for the matter — preserve that. Tukā: sant-folk hold this in mind.
The verse
जग ऐसें बहुनांवें । बहुनावें भावना ॥१॥
पाहों बोलों बहु नये । सत्य काय सांभाळा ॥ध्रु.॥
कारियासी जें कारण । तें जतन करावें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे संतजनीं । हें चि मनीं धरावें ॥३॥
Literal translation
The world is so many-named; imaginations are many. Do not see and speak too much — preserve what is true. The cause for the matter — that, preserve carefully. Tukā says: sant-folk hold this in mind.
What it means
A short discipline-of-discourse verse. Jaga aisēm bahu-nāvem — bhāvanā — the world is many-named; imaginations are many. Bahu-nāva (many-named) is one of Tukārām's recurring observations: any single object has many names, any single situation generates many narrative-frames. This is not a casual observation — it is the diagnosis of where confusion enters. The dhrūpada gives the prescription: pāhō bōlō bahu nayē — satya kāya sāmbhāḷā — do not see-and-speak too much — preserve what is the truth. The verb sāmbhāḷā — preserve, keep safe, hold carefully — is significant. Truth must be kept, like a small flame from wind.
The second verse extends the discipline: kāryāsī jēm kāraṇa — tēm jatana karāvēm — what is the cause for the matter — that, hold-with-care. Kārya (effect, matter at hand) and kāraṇa (cause): underneath the many-named effects, find the cause and jatana karāvēm (treat with care, preserve). The close affirms: santa-janīm hē chi manīm dharāvēm — sant-folk hold this in mind. This is the santa-discipline of speech.
For someone today
The world is more many-named than it has ever been; imaginations proliferate at speeds Tukārām could not have imagined. The verse hands you a small triad: see-and-speak less; preserve what is true; hold carefully the cause behind the matter. Most of what passes for discourse is bhāvanā (imagined-framing) — not the kāraṇa (cause). Try the discipline for one day: ask of any contested matter, what is the kāraṇa here, beneath the many names? Don't pāhō-bōlō bahu — don't see and speak too much.
मराठी: आजच्या जगात नावेच नावे इतकी वाढली आहेत की तुकारामांनाही कल्पना नसेल इतक्या वेगाने कल्पना-भावना पसरतात. हा अभंग एक छोटी त्रिसूत्री देतो — कमी पाहा-बोला; जे सत्य आहे ते जपा; प्रकरणामागचे खरे कारण जपून ठेवा. बहुतांश चर्चा ही 'भावना' (कल्पित मांडणी) असते, खरे 'कारण' नसते. एक दिवस हा नियम पाळून पाहा — कोणत्याही वादग्रस्त गोष्टीबद्दल विचारा, 'इतक्या नावांआडचे खरे कारण काय आहे?' जास्त पाहू-बोलू नका.
Where this applies
- A social-media argument with many names and few causes
- Family disputes where the many names obscure the one cause
- Newsroom or organizational discourse drifting from kāraṇa into bhāvanā
- A santa-style speech-discipline of saying less and preserving truth