Abhanga 2733
A practical-discipline verse for any communal-spiritual-practice. Don't let your child's noise spoil the kathā for everyone. Fall at the feet of the discoursing-saint, petition, and remove the child by hand. Don't let parental-attachment caress while spoiling the prema. When private-correction doesn't work, public-shame is the chitta's choice. The verse permits prioritizing the prema of the whole gathering over the indulgence of one's own child. The instruction is socially-uncomfortable but communally-protective.
The verse
लावूनियां पुष्टी पोरें । आणि करकर कथेमाजी ॥१॥
पडा पायां करा विनंती । दवडा हातीं धरोनियां ॥ध्रु.॥
कुर्वाळूनि बैसे मोहें । प्रेम कां हे नासीतसे ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे वाटे चित्ती । करा फजित म्हणऊनि ॥३॥
Literal translation
Lāvūniyām puṣṭī pōrē — applying puṣṭi (encouragement, support) to children; āṇi karakara kathē-mājī — and the karakara (creaking, irritating-noise) in the middle of the kathā. Paḍā pāyām karā vinatī — fall at the feet, do petition; davaḍā hātīm dharōniyām — drive them away by holding the hand. Kurvāḷūnī baisē mōhē — caressing-because-of-attachment, sitting; prema kām hē nāsītasē — why is the prema being spoiled? Tukā says: vāṭē chittī — karā fajita mhaṇa'ūnī — it seems to the chitta — do fajita (public-shaming), that's what to say.
What it means
A practical kathā-discipline verse. Lāvūniyām puṣṭī pōrē — āṇi karakara kathē-mājī — applying support to children (encouraging them, indulging them) — and (their) creaking-irritating-noise in the middle of the kathā. The scene: parents bring children to the kathā (devotional discourse-gathering); the children make karakara (irritating noise); the parents indulge them rather than removing them.
The dhrūpada offers the corrective: paḍā pāyām karā vinatī — davaḍā hātīm dharōniyām — fall at the feet, do petition; drive them away by holding the hand. The double-instruction: (a) fall at the feet of the kathākāra (the discoursing-saint) and petition; (b) davaḍā (drive away, send-away) the children by holding their hands. The protective-action is needed.
The second verse names the engine: kurvāḷūnī baisē mōhē — prema kām hē nāsītasē — caressing-out-of-attachment, sitting; why is the prema being spoiled? The parent-attachment (mōha) makes them kurvāḷūnī (caress-affectionately) and sit-with-the-child — but this spoils the prema of the whole kathā. The personal-attachment damages the collective-experience.
The close: vāṭē chittī — karā fajita mhaṇa'ūnī — it seems to the chitta — do fajita (public-shaming), that's what to say. Fajita — public-shaming, public-rebuke. Tukārām says: when the private-correction-doesn't-work, public-correction may be needed. The chitta inclines toward the harder-instruction here: karā fajita (do the shaming).
For someone today
A practical-discipline verse for any communal-spiritual-practice. Don't let your child's noise spoil the kathā for everyone. Fall at the feet of the discoursing-saint, petition, and remove the child by hand. Don't let parental-attachment caress while spoiling the prema. When private-correction doesn't work, public-shame is the chitta's choice. The verse permits prioritizing the prema of the whole gathering over the indulgence of one's own child. The instruction is socially-uncomfortable but communally-protective.
The general-principle is portable: don't let your private-mōha (attachment) spoil the public-prema of a shared-experience.
Where this applies
- Practical discipline of kathā-gatherings: removing-distractions
- Recognizing when attachment-to-one's-own spoils a shared-experience
- The choice between private-indulgence and public-correction
- The general principle: private mōha shouldn't spoil public prema