Abhanga 2651
No amount of wealth travels with you at death, so what you hold in your heart and voice at your last breath matters more than anything you own, and chasing self-benefit at the world's expense is a loss even for yourself.
The verse
द्रव्याचिया कोटी । नये गांडीची लंगोटी ॥१॥
अंती बोळवणेसाटीं । पांडुरंग धरा कंठीं ॥ध्रु.॥
लोभाची लोभिकें । यांचें सन्निधान फिकें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे हितें । जग नव्हो पडो रितें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Crores (kōṭī) of wealth — does not become the loincloth-for-the-buttocks (at the end). For the final bōḷavaṇa (farewell, send-off) — hold Pāṇḍuranga in the throat. The greedy of the greedy — their sannidhāna (presence, nearness-of-master) is phikē (pale, tasteless, faded). Tukā says: by self-benefit — let the world not fall empty.
What it means
A bracing mortality-clear verse. The opening line has entered Maharashtra proverb-tradition: dravyāñchiyā kōṭī — nayē gāṇḍīchī langōṭī — crores of wealth — does not (purchase even) the buttock's loincloth (at the end). Gāṇḍī (the buttocks, the body's lowest region) and langōṭī (loincloth) — the very smallest covering. The brutal point: at the moment of death, the corpse needs only the smallest cloth, and crores of wealth do not buy that cloth — because at death the wealth simply does not travel with you. The vivid image makes mortality-economics unforgettable.
The dhrūpada offers the alternative: antī bōḷavaṇē-sāṭīm — Pāṇḍuranga dharā kaṇṭhīm — for the final farewell — hold Pāṇḍuranga in the throat. Antī bōḷavaṇa (the final send-off) is the death-moment send-off. Pāṇḍuranga dharā kaṇṭhīm — hold Pāṇḍuranga in the throat — the final-breath practice of having the Name on the throat at the moment of departure. This is the Vārkarī goal for the antī-bōḷavaṇa moment.
The second verse: lōbhāñchī lōbhikē — sannidhāna phikē — the greedy of the greedy — their sannidhāna (presence-of-the-master-near) is pale (phikē = pale, faded, tasteless). The lōbhī (greedy person) lives in the sannidhāna of money — but it is phikē — without color, without life. Even when the greedy-person has the money, the presence-they-are-in is dull.
The close: Tukā mhaṇē hitē — jaga navhō paḍō ritē — Tukā says: by self-benefit — let the world not fall empty. Hitē (by-self-benefit, by-self-interest) — let the world not fall ritē (empty) because of pursued self-benefit. The line is a warning: the pursuit of self-benefit empties the world of what makes it worth being in.
For someone today
The verse offers two mortality-clear teachings:
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At the antī-bōḷavaṇa (final farewell): Crores of wealth do not purchase even the loincloth for the corpse. The only thing that goes with you is what is kaṇṭhīm — in the throat — at the final-breath. Pāṇḍuranga (or whatever your central love) is what you hold in the throat at that moment. Practice now what you want to be in the throat then.
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About the phikē-sannidhāna of greed: even when the greedy-person possesses the money, the presence they live in is pale-tasteless. Wealth as company is dull-color; the real-sannidhāna (presence) is elsewhere.
The closing line is a strong warning: don't let the world fall empty for your benefit. Self-interest pursued at the cost of the world's vitality is a net-loss even for the self.
Where this applies
- When you catch yourself believing that accumulating more money will secure your final peace of mind
- When someone close to you is dying and you wonder what actually matters in those last moments
- When you notice that a wealthy or greedy person's company feels oddly hollow despite all they own
- When you are tempted to chase your own gain in a way that would hurt or empty out the people around you