Abhanga 2802
A canonical mortality-warning. Days have gone, why say mine? Time clutches tight, doesn't release a minute. Why still don't you know — hair-turned, ear-eye-failing? Welfare in hand, yet you put dirt in mouth. You know you're going, yet still you build the house. Swiftly — take Paṇḍharī-refuge. The most-piercing line: knowing the welfare is in hand, yet putting dirt in the mouth. The diagnostic-question: what dirt am I putting in my mouth, despite knowing the welfare is in my hand?
The verse
गेले पळाले दिवस रोज । काय म्हणतोसि माझें माझें ॥१॥
सळे धरोनि बैसला काळ । फाकों नेदी घटिका पळ ॥ध्रु.॥
कां रे अद्यापि न कळे । केश फिरले कान डोळे ॥२॥
हित कळोनि असतां हातीं । तोंडीं पाडोनि घेसी माती ॥३॥
तुज ठाउकें मी जाणार । पाया शोधोनि बांधिसी घर ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे वेगें । पंढरिराया शरण रिघें ॥५॥
Literal translation
Gele paḷāle divasa rōja — days have gone-fled, daily; kāya mhaṇatōsi mājhe mājhe — what (do you) say mājhe mājhe (mine, mine)? Saḷē dharōnī baisalā kāḷa — Kāḷa (Time) has sat-down clutching-tight (saḷē); fākōm nēdī ghaṭikā paḷa — does not let (a) ghaṭikā (24-min) or paḷa (24-sec) fākōm (spread, escape). Kā re adyāpī na kaḷe — why still you don't know; kēśa firale kāna ḍoḷē — hair has turned (gray), ear (and) eye (have failed). Hita kaḷōnī asatām hātī — welfare being known (and) in the hand; tōṇḍī pāḍōnī ghēsī mātī — (you) put mātī (dirt) in (your) mouth. Tuja ṭhāukē mī jāṇāra — you know — I am going (i.e., the body is leaving); pāyā śōdhōnī bāndhisī ghara — yet seeking-the-foundation, you build the house. Tukā says: vegē — Paṇḍharī-rāyā śaraṇa righē — swiftly — take refuge in Paṇḍharī-rāyā.
What it means
A canonical 5-verse mortality-warning verse, companion to 2797. Each verse intensifies the warning.
1: Gele paḷāle divasa rōja — kāya mhaṇatōsi mājhe mājhe — days have gone-fled — what do you say mājhe mājhe? The challenge: days-are-gone, why do you still claim mine-mine?
2 (dhrūpada): Saḷē dharōnī baisalā kāḷa — fākōm nēdī ghaṭikā paḷa — Time has sat-down clutching-tight; doesn't release a ghaṭikā or paḷa. The image: Time clutching-tight, not-releasing even a minute. The saḷē-dharaṇa (clutching-firm) is unrelenting.
3: Kā re adyāpī na kaḷe — kēśa firale kāna ḍoḷē — why still don't you know — hair-turned, ear (and) eye (failing)? The physical-signs of aging are visible — gray hair, failing-ear-and-eye — and yet adyāpī na kaḷe (still you don't know).
4: Hita kaḷōnī asatām hātī — tōṇḍī pāḍōnī ghēsī mātī — welfare being-known in hand — (yet) you put dirt in your mouth. The contradiction: you KNOW the welfare; it's IN YOUR HAND; yet you put DIRT in your MOUTH. The voluntary-self-harm despite knowledge.
5: Tuja ṭhāukē mī jāṇāra — pāyā śōdhōnī bāndhisī ghara — you know I am going — yet (still) seeking-the-foundation, you build the house. The most-poignant-contradiction: the body knows it is going; yet the same body is still building-the-house. The pāyā-śōdhōnī (searching-for-foundation) is the project-of-permanent-construction; bāndhisī ghara (you build the house) — knowing you are leaving.
6 (close): vegē — Paṇḍharī-rāyā śaraṇa righē — swiftly — take refuge in Paṇḍharī-rāyā. The instruction: swiftly (not at-leisure) — take refuge.
This verse pairs with 2797 (kāḷa-grāsāvayā) and 2677 (jarā-karṇa-mūḷīm) to form Tukārām's three-fold mortality-warning canon. 2802 is unique in specifically-listing the physical-signs (gray-hair, failing-ear-eye) and naming the contradiction (knowing-yet-doing-otherwise).
For someone today
A canonical mortality-warning. Days have gone, why say mine? Time clutches tight, doesn't release a minute. Why still don't you know — hair-turned, ear-eye-failing? Welfare in hand, yet you put dirt in mouth. You know you're going, yet still you build the house. Swiftly — take Paṇḍharī-refuge. The most-piercing line: knowing the welfare is in hand, yet putting dirt in the mouth. The diagnostic-question: what dirt am I putting in my mouth, despite knowing the welfare is in my hand?
Where this applies
- Companion to 2797 — second canonical mortality-warning
- Recognizing Time-clutches-tight, doesn't release a ghaṭikā image
- The contradiction: knowing-welfare-in-hand-yet-putting-dirt-in-mouth
- Building-house-knowing-going — the foundational-self-contradiction