Abhanga 2912
Nesaṇe āle hōte garyā — (My) nesaṇe (garment, draped-cloth) came (close) to falling on the garyā (the heifer/cattle/colloquial-for-mess); lōka raryā karitī — people made raryā (mocking-laughter, mocking-sounds).
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 the garyā (the heifer/cattle/colloquial-for-mess); lōka raryā karitī — people made raryā (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 — the sambandha (connection) was cut by this; jāgepaṇe cheṣṭāñcā — by the jāgepaṇa (wakefulness) from the cheṣṭā (impure-act, defiling-occurrence). Bhalatī sevā hōtī ange — some sevā (act, occurrence) was happening on (my) body; bārasa vege paḍile — the bāras (dvādaśī, 12th-day, the fast-day) had fallen suddenly. Sāvarile nīṭa vōjā — (I) gathered (myself) properly, considering; drṣṭi-lājā puḍhilāñcyā — the drṣṭi-lājā (glance-and-shame) of those ahead. Bare ughaḍile ḍōḷe — (my) eyes were well-opened; haḷahaḷepāsūnī — from the haḷahaḷa (agitation, distress). Tukā says: viṭambanā — (the) viṭambanā (defamation, public-shame); Nārāyaṇā chukalī — of (involving) Nārāyaṇa was 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
A useful biographical near-public-shame narrative. (My) garment (was about to) fall on the heifer — people made mocking-laughter. I gathered myself — the world is good (when) I'm good. The connection was cut by being-awake from the impure-act. Some occurrence was happening on body — the bāras (fast-break-day) had fallen suddenly. (I) gathered myself properly, considering the glance-and-shame of those ahead. Eyes were well-opened by distress. The defamation of Nārāyaṇa was avoided. The verse provides a model of self-correction: (1) when public-shame approaches, be-awake; (2) the world-is-good-when-you're-good; (3) being-awake cuts-the-connection-with-impurity; (4) defamation-of-the-Lord-by-association is what's-truly-avoided. The discipline: as-a-bhakta, your public-behavior reflects on the Lord.
Where this applies
- Biographical near-public-shame-corrected-by-bhakti narrative
- Recognizing being-awake (jāgepaṇa) cuts the impurity-connection
- Eyes-opened-by-distress — the bhakta's awakening through embarrassment
- Defamation-of-Nārāyaṇa-by-association — the bhakta's responsibility