Abhanga 2912
Staying alert in an embarrassing moment lets you correct yourself before it becomes public shame, and as a devotee your conduct reflects on God's name too.
The verse
नेसणें आलें होतें गर्या । लोक रर्या करिती ॥१॥
आपणियां सावरिलें । जग भलें आपण ॥ध्रु.॥
संबंध तो तुटला येणें । जागेपणें चेष्टाचा ॥२॥
भलती सेवा होती अंगें । बारस वेगें पडिलें ॥३॥
सावरिलें नीट वोजा । दृष्टीलाजा पुढिलांच्या ॥४॥
बरे उघडिले डोळे । हळहळेपासूनि ॥५॥
तुका म्हणे विटंबना । नारायणा चुकली ॥६॥
Literal translation
Nesaṇe āle hōte garyā — (My)nesaṇe(garment, draped-cloth) came (close) to falling on thegaryā(the heifer/cattle/colloquial-for-mess); lōka raryā karitī — people maderaryā(mocking-laughter, mocking-sounds). Āpaṇiyām sāvarile — (I) gathered-and-righted (myself); jaga bhale āpaṇa — the world (is) good (when) one is good oneself. Sambandha tō tuṭalā yeṇe — thesambandha(connection) was cut by this; jāgepaṇe cheṣṭāñcā — by thejāgepaṇa(wakefulness) from thecheṣṭā(impure-act, defiling-occurrence). Bhalatī sevā hōtī ange — somesevā(act, occurrence) was happening on (my) body; bārasa vege paḍile — thebāras(dvādaśī, 12th-day, the fast-day) had fallen suddenly. Sāvarile nīṭa vōjā — (I) gathered (myself) properly, considering; drṣṭi-lājā puḍhilāñcyā — thedrṣṭi-lājā(glance-and-shame) of those ahead. Bare ughaḍile ḍōḷe — (my) eyes were well-opened; haḷahaḷepāsūnī — from thehaḷahaḷa(agitation, distress). Tukā says: viṭambanā — (the)viṭambanā(defamation, public-shame); Nārāyaṇā chukalī — of (involving)Nārāyaṇawas avoided.
What it means
A 6-verse biographical-narrative-fragment verse with unusual concrete-detail. The verse appears to record a specific embarrassing-incident from Tukārām's life where garment-displacement almost-caused-public-shame — and how-it-was-corrected.
Verse 1: Nesaṇe āle hōte garyā — lōka raryā karitī — garment (was about to) fall on the heifer/cattle (= a messy situation); people made mocking-laughter. The scene: some-garment-related-incident causing-public-mockery.
Dhrūpada: Āpaṇiyām sāvarile — jaga bhale āpaṇa — I gathered myself — world is good (when) I'm good. The correction.
Verse 2: Sambandha tō tuṭalā yeṇe — jāgepaṇe cheṣṭāñcā — the connection was cut by being-awake from cheṣṭā. The discipline: being-awake cut the connection with the impure-act.
Verse 3: Bhalatī sevā hōtī ange — bārasa vege paḍile — some occurrence was happening on body — the bāras (12th-day, Ekādaśī fast-break) fell suddenly. The context: the Ekādaśī-fast-break (dvādaśī) had come; some occurrence happened to the body (possibly weakness-from-fast, or some-other physical-impropriety).
Verse 4: Sāvarile nīṭa vōjā — drṣṭi-lājā puḍhilāñcyā — gathered myself properly — considering the glance-and-shame of those ahead. The motivation-for-correction: people-watching.
Verse 5: Bare ughaḍile ḍōḷe — haḷahaḷepāsūnī — eyes well-opened — by the agitation. The benefit: eyes-opened-by-distress — the distress was the awakening.
Close: Tukā mhaṇe viṭambanā — Nārāyaṇā chukalī — the viṭambana (defamation) of Nārāyaṇa was avoided. The bhakti-claim: Nārāyaṇa was-spared-defamation because I caught myself. (The implicit: as a bhakta, my behavior reflects-on-Nārāyaṇa; if I shame myself publicly, Nārāyaṇa is shamed by association.)
The verse is unusual for the abhang-corpus — it has concrete-narrative-detail, suggesting an actual-incident. The bhakta's discipline: self-awareness in-the-face-of-near-public-shame, motivated-by-protecting-Nārāyaṇa's-name.
For someone today
Tukaram describes a near-embarrassing moment — his garment nearly slipped in a messy situation and people started mocking him — and how he caught and steadied himself in time, because the world treats you well when you carry yourself well. Staying alert in that instant broke his connection with the careless, impure act before it went any further. Aware of how others were watching and judging, he composed himself properly, and that jolt of distress ended up opening his eyes rather than just shaming him. In the end, he says, he spared Narayana from disgrace — because as a devotee, his public conduct reflects on God's own name.
मराठी: तुकाराम एका लाजिरवाण्या क्षणाचे वर्णन करतात — त्यांचे वस्त्र एका गोंधळाच्या परिस्थितीत निसटायला आले आणि लोक त्यांची थट्टा करू लागले — पण त्यांनी वेळीच स्वतःला सावरले, कारण जर आपण चांगले असू तर जगही आपल्याशी चांगलेच वागते. त्या क्षणी जागृत राहिल्यामुळे त्या निष्काळजी, अशुद्ध कृतीशी असलेला संबंध तुटला. इतरांची नजर आणि त्यांचा संभाव्य लाजिरवाणा दृष्टिकोन लक्षात घेऊन त्यांनी स्वतःला नीट सावरले, आणि त्या अस्वस्थतेनेच त्यांचे डोळे उघडले, नुसती लाज वाटली नाही. शेवटी ते म्हणतात की त्यांनी नारायणाची अप्रतिष्ठा टाळली — कारण भक्त म्हणून त्यांचे सार्वजनिक वर्तन देवाच्या नावावरही परिणाम करते.
Where this applies
- When you catch yourself about to do something careless or embarrassing in public and can still correct it in time
- When you notice people watching or judging you and let that awareness steady you rather than make you spiral
- When you represent a family, group, or faith and remember your public conduct reflects on more than just yourself
- When an uncomfortable or distressing moment ends up waking you up rather than just shaming you