Abhanga 3071
Childhood slips away unnoticed in play, and what follows is not automatic wisdom but youth arriving as the root of pride.
The verse
बाळपणें ऐसीं वरुषें गेलीं बारा । खेळतां या पोरा नानामतें ॥१॥
विटू दांडू चेंडू लगोरया वाघोडीं । चंपे पेंड खडी एकीबेकी ॥ध्रु.॥
हमामा हुंबरी पकव्याच्या बारे । खेळे जंगीभोंवरे चुंबाचुंबी ॥२॥
सेलडेरा आणि निसरभोंवडी । उचली बाले धोंडी अंगबळें ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे ऐसें बाळपण गेलें । मग तारुण्य आलें गर्वमूळ ॥४॥
Literal translation
Bāḷapaṇe aisīm varuṣe gelīm bārā — such 12 years passed in bāḷapaṇa; kheḷatām yā pōrā nānā mate — playing in nānā-mate (various ways) as children. Viṭū dāṇḍū chendū lagōryā vāghōḍīm — viṭū-dāṇḍū, chendū, lagōryā, vāghōḍī; champe peṇḍa khaḍī ekī-bekī — champe-peṇḍa-khaḍī, ekī-bekī. Hamāmā humbarī pakavyāñce bāre — hamāmā-humbarī, the games of pakavī; kheḷe jangī-bhōmvare chumbā-chumbī — plays of jangī-bhōmvare, chumbā-chumbī. Seḷaḍerā āṇi nisara-bhōmvaḍī — seḷaḍerā and nisara-bhōmvaḍī; uchalī bāle dhōṇḍī anga-baḷe — lifting children, stones, by anga-baḷa (body-strength). Tukā mhaṇe aise bāḷapaṇa gele — Tukā says: such bāḷapaṇa passed; maga tāruṇya āle garva-mūḷa — then tāruṇya came (as) garva-mūḷa.
What it means
A MAJOR historical-document abhang by Tukārām — opens-a-3-stage-of-life biographical-cluster (3071-3072-3073) and-contains-a-precious-list of-17th-c-Maharashtra-children's-games.
The 17th-c children's-games listed: - Viṭū-dāṇḍū = gilli-danda (stick-and-pin) - Chendū = ball (-game) - Lagōryā = skittles or seven-stones (pyramid-stones-game) - Vāghōḍī — tiger-goat type-game - Champe-peṇḍa-khaḍī, Ekī-bekī (odds-and-evens), Hamāmā-humbarī - Pakavyāñce-bāre — pakavī (mature) style-games - Jangī-bhōmvare = spinning-tops - Chumbā-chumbī = kiss-game - Seḷaḍerā, Nisara-bhōmvaḍī = sliding-spinning - Uchalī-bāle-dhōṇḍī anga-baḷe = lifting-children-and-stones with-body-strength (kabaddī-or-strength-tests)
The 3-stage-cluster: bāḷapaṇa (3071) → tāruṇya (3072) → mhātāra-paṇa (3073). Each-stage-presented-as a-life-waste with-progressive-degradation, before the call-to-remember-Rāma-Rāma.
For someone today
Tukārām's bāḷapaṇa-recollection. Such 12 years passed in childhood — playing in various ways as children: viṭū-dāṇḍū, ball, lagōryā, vāghōḍī, champe-peṇḍa-khaḍī, ekī-bekī, hamāmā-humbarī, pakavī-style-games, spinning-tops, kissing-game, seḷaḍerā, sliding-spinning, lifting children and stones with body strength. Such childhood passed — then tāruṇya came (as) the root-of-pride. The verse permits the bhakta's recollection of a childhood wasted on games, and the warning that youth then arrives carrying the seed of pride.
मराठी: तुकारामांची ही बालपणाची आठवण आहे. असे बारा वर्षे बालपणात गेले — मुले नाना प्रकारे खेळत राहिली: विटी-दांडू, चेंडू, लगोऱ्या, वाघोडी, चंपे-पेंड-खडी, एकी-बेकी, हमामा-हुंबरी, प्रौढांसारखे खेळ, भोवरे फिरवणे, चुंबाचुंबीचा खेळ, सेलडेरा, घसरगुंडी, मुले व दगड अंगबळाने उचलणे. असे बालपण गेले — मग तारुण्य आले, ते गर्वाचे मूळ बनून. या अभंगातून भक्ताची ही आठवण प्रकट होते की बालपण खेळांतच वाया गेले, आणि नंतर तारुण्य हे गर्वाचे बीज घेऊनच येते, असा इशारा दिला जातो.
Where this applies
- When you look back on how much of your childhood or youth passed without a thought for anything deeper
- When you notice a season of your life slipping by absorbed in one distraction after another
- When you're entering a new stage of life and wonder what will take the old distractions' place
- When you want to catch pride before it takes root as you grow into a new stage of life