Abhanga 2955
Human relationships are often built on give and take and can fail you at the hardest moments, so Tukaram trusts only God as truly, unconditionally his.
The verse
जन हें सुखाचें दिल्याघेतल्याचें । अंत हें काळींचें नाहीं कोणी ॥१॥
जाल्या हीन शक्ति नाकडोळे गळती । सांडोनि पळती रांडापोरें ॥ध्रु.॥
बाइल म्हणे खर मरता तरी बरें । नासिलें हें घर थुंकोनियां ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे माझीं नव्हतील कोणी । तुज चक्रपाणी वांचूनियां ॥३॥
Literal translation
Jana he sukhāñce dilyā-ghētalyāñce — thejanaare ofsukhaofdilyā-ghētalyāñce(giving-and-taking); anta he kāḷīñce nāhī kōṇī — at theanta-kāḷa(end-time, death), there is no one. Jālyā hīna śakti nāka-ḍōḷe gaḷatī — (when one) becomeshīna-śakti(weak-of-power) — nose and eyes drop; sāṇḍōnī paḷatī rāṇḍā-pōre — leaving (him),rāṇḍā-pōre(women and children) run away. Bāila mhaṇe khara maratā tarī bare — thebāila(wife) says:if the khara (donkey — mocking-pejorative for the dying-husband) died, it would be good; nāsile he ghara thunkōnīyām — (he has) ruined this house — spitting (on you, on the family). Tukā says: mājhīm navhatīla kōṇī — none would be (mine = of mine); tuja Chakrapāṇi vāñchūnīyām — except you, Chakrapāṇi.
What it means
A canonical 4-verse striking-disillusionment mortality-warning verse. Jana he sukhāñce dilyā-ghētalyāñce — anta he kāḷīñce nāhī kōṇī — people are of give-and-take-sukha — at end-time, no one. The opening-diagnostic: human relationships are transactional; at death they collapse.
Jālyā hīna śakti nāka-ḍōḷe gaḷatī — sāṇḍōnī paḷatī rāṇḍā-pōre — when weak — nose-and-eyes fall (with disease) — women-and-children run-away. The decay-image: terminal-disease — nose-and-eyes-fall (perhaps leprosy, or general-decay) — women-and-children abandon-you-and-run.
The striking-line: Bāila mhaṇe khara maratā tarī bare — nāsile he ghara thunkōnīyām — the wife says: if the donkey (= husband) died, it would be good — (he has) ruined this house, spitting (on you). The wife's-curse: she calls-her-husband-a-khara (donkey) and-wishes-his-death; says-he-ruined-the-house. The image is brutally-honest about-the-collapse-of-relationships in disease-and-decay.
The close: Tukā mhaṇe mājhīm navhatīla kōṇī — tuja Chakrapāṇi vāñchūnīyām — none of mine — except you, Chakrapāṇi. The bhakta-claim: I have no-one — only you, the Lord. (Pairs with 2884 sajjana-sōyarī-will-stay-far.)
For someone today
Tukaram offers a blunt warning: most human relationships run on give and take, and when death finally comes, no one is really there for you. When the body grows weak and disease sets in, even a wife and children can abandon you and run away. He describes it starkly — a wife who curses her dying husband, wishing he were already gone, and blaming him for ruining the household. In the end, Tukaram says, no one truly belongs to him except the Lord, Chakrapani — the one relationship that never turns away.
मराठी: तुकाराम एक स्पष्ट इशारा देतात: बहुतेक मानवी नाती देवाणघेवाणीवर चालतात, आणि मृत्यूची वेळ आली की खरोखर कोणीही जवळ राहत नाही. शरीर कमजोर होते व आजार वाढतो, तेव्हा पत्नी आणि मुलेही सोडून पळून जाऊ शकतात. ते हे अगदी स्पष्टपणे मांडतात — मरणासन्न पतीला शिव्या देणारी पत्नी, तो लवकर मेला तर बरे असे म्हणणारी, आणि घर उद्ध्वस्त केल्याचा आरोप करणारी. शेवटी तुकाराम म्हणतात, चक्रपाणीशिवाय खरोखर कोणीही आपले नाही — हेच एकमेव नाते आहे जे कधी पाठ फिरवत नाही.
Where this applies
- When you feel loved only for what you can give or provide, and wonder what happens once you can't anymore
- When you are caring for someone dying and see how fear and exhaustion strain even close family bonds
- When you feel abandoned by people you counted on during illness or hard times
- When you need a blunt reminder not to place your ultimate trust in relationships that could turn conditional