Abhanga 2897
Clear the clutter and impurity from your mind and speak the truth plainly, even sharply, because honest words meant for someone's good will do lasting good.
The verse
सत्य आम्हां मनीं । नव्हों गाबाळाचे धनी ॥१॥
ऐसें जाणा रे सकळ । भरा शुद्ध टांका मळ ॥ध्रु.॥
देतों तीक्ष्ण उत्तरें । पुढें व्हावयासी बरें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे बरें घडे । देशोदेशीं चाले कोडें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Satya āmhām manī — satya(truth) (is) in our mind; navhō gabāḷāñce dhanī — we are not thedhanī(owners) ofgabāḷa(clutter, junk, accumulated-rubbish). Aise jāṇā re sakaḷa — know this, O all of you; bharā śuddha ṭānkā maḷa — fill (your) pure (state);ṭānkā(throw off) themaḷa(dirt, impurity). Detōm tīkṣṇa uttare — we givetīkṣṇa(sharp)uttare(responses, words); puḍhe hvāvayāsī bare — forbare(good) (coming) ahead. Tukā says: bare ghaḍe — good comes about; deśa-deśī chāle kōḍe — acrossdeśa-deśa(country-to-country), thekōḍa(mystery, curiosity, riddle)chāle(travels).
What it means
A short anti-clutter purity-discipline verse. Satya āmhām manī — navhō gabāḷāñce dhanī — truth (is) in our mind — we are not the owners ofgabāḷa(clutter, junk). The opening: we hold truth, not clutter. Gabāḷa — a Marathi-word for accumulated rubbish-and-junk. The bhakta-claim: I am not the keeper-of-junk-and-clutter — only the truth.
Aise jāṇā re sakaḷa — bharā śuddha ṭānkā maḷa — know this, all of you — fill the pure, throw off the dirt. The instruction: fill-the-pure (state), throw-off-the-dirt. (The image: a container — empty it of dirt; fill it with pure.)
Detōm tīkṣṇa uttare — puḍhe hvāvayāsī bare — we give sharp words — for (the listener's) future good. The self-defense: my sharp-criticism is for-your-future-good. (Tukārām often gave-sharp-words; this defends-the-style.)
The close: Tukā mhaṇe bare ghaḍe — deśa-deśī chāle kōḍe — good happens — across countries the kōḍa (curiosity, riddle-like-quality) travels. The bhakti-prophecy: good will come — Tukārām's-words-and-curious-stories will-travel country-to-country. (This-itself-is-prophetic: Tukārām's abhangs have indeed traveled-across-Maharashtra-and-beyond.)
For someone today
A useful teaching against clutter and impurity. Truth in our mind — we are not owners of clutter. Know this, all of you — fill the pure, throw off the dirt. We give sharp words — for (the listener's) future good. Good happens — across countries, the curiosity travels. The verse defends the sharp-spoken mode in the bhakti tradition — Tukārām's style of giving sharp truth is meant for the listener's future good. The closing line is striking: Tukārām's words are curiously making their way from country to country — a self-aware recognition that his abhangs would spread far beyond their origin.
मराठी: हा गोंधळ आणि अशुद्धतेविरुद्धचा उपयुक्त बोध आहे. आमच्या मनात सत्य आहे — आम्ही कचऱ्याचे धनी नाही. हे सर्वांनी जाणा — शुद्ध भरा, मळ फेकून द्या. आम्ही तीक्ष्ण शब्द देतो — ते ऐकणाऱ्याच्या भल्यासाठीच. चांगले घडते — देशोदेशी हे कोडे फिरत राहते. हा अभंग भक्तिपरंपरेतील तिखट-बोलण्याच्या शैलीचे समर्थन करतो — तुकारामांची तीक्ष्ण सत्य सांगण्याची पद्धत ऐकणाऱ्याच्या पुढील भल्यासाठीच आहे. शेवटची ओळ लक्षणीय आहे : तुकारामांचे शब्द कुतूहलाने देशोदेशी फिरत जातात — म्हणजे त्यांच्या अभंगांचा प्रसार त्यांच्या मूळ स्थानाच्या पलीकडे दूरवर होईल, याची त्यांना स्वतःलाच जाणीव होती.
Where this applies
- When you're deciding whether to hold onto old grudges and mental clutter or clear them out for good
- When someone gives you harsh but honest feedback and you're unsure whether to trust their intentions
- When you have to say something blunt to someone you care about and worry it will be taken the wrong way
- When you wonder whether small honest actions today can have an effect far beyond your own life