Abhanga 2921
True words are spoken for your welfare, not for entertainment, so receive them without irritation and without falling asleep to their meaning.
The verse
हितावरी यावें । कोणी बोलिलों या भावें ॥१॥
नव्हे विनोदउत्तर । केले रंजवाया चार ॥ध्रु.॥
केली अटाअटी । अक्षरांची देवासाटीं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे खिजों । नका जागा येथें निजों ॥३॥
Literal translation
Hitāvarī yāve — come to (your)hita(welfare); kōṇī bōlilōm yā bhāve — somebody has spoken with thisbhāva(intention). Navhe vinōda-uttara — (it is) not avinōda-uttara(joking-response); kele rañjavāyā chāra — made to entertain four (people). Kelī aṭāaṭi — (I have) done theaṭāaṭi(struggle); akṣarāñcī Devāsāṭī — ofakṣara(letters) for Deva's sake. Tukā says: khijōm nakā — don'tkhijōm(be vexed, peeved); jāgā yethē nijōm — don'tnijōm(sleep) here (at the awake-place).
What it means
A short poet's-purpose verse. Hitāvarī yāve — kōṇī bōlilōm yā bhāve — come to your hita — someone has spoken with this bhāva. The opening: the speaking is for-your-hita.
Navhe vinōda-uttara — kele rañjavāyā chāra — not a joking-response — made to entertain four. The contrast: this is not entertainment-poetry; this is hita-poetry.
Kelī aṭāaṭi — akṣarāñcī Devāsāṭī — I have done the struggle of letters — for Deva's sake. The poetic-toil acknowledged: the akṣaras (letters, words) are struggled-with; the purpose is Devāsāṭī (for Deva).
The close: Tukā mhaṇe khijōm nakā — jāgā yethē nijōm — don't be vexed — don't sleep at the awake-place. Two-fold-listener-discipline: (1) don't be irritated by the message; (2) don't sleep where you should be awake.
For someone today
Someone has spoken to you for your own good, Tukaram says — take it to heart. This isn't a joking remark meant merely to amuse a small crowd. He has struggled hard over these words, choosing them carefully, all for God's sake. So don't get irritated by what's said, and don't doze off right when you most need to be alert to its meaning.
मराठी: कोणीतरी तुझ्या भल्यासाठी बोलले आहे, तुकाराम म्हणतात — ते मनावर घे. हे काही चौघांचे मनोरंजन करण्यासाठी केलेली चेष्टा नाही. या शब्दांसाठी त्यांनी खूप कष्ट घेतले आहेत, प्रत्येक अक्षर जपून निवडले आहे, ते सर्व देवासाठी. म्हणून जे सांगितले त्याचा राग मानू नकोस, आणि ज्या क्षणी जागृत राहायची खरी गरज आहे, नेमक्या त्याच क्षणी झोपू नकोस.
Where this applies
- When someone gives you honest advice and you feel tempted to brush it off as mere noise
- When a teacher or elder has clearly worked hard to explain something and you catch yourself tuning out
- When you expect spiritual talk to just entertain you rather than actually change you
- When you are physically present at a teaching or kirtana but your mind has wandered off to sleep