Abhanga 3073
Mhātārapaṇī theṭe paḍase khōkalā — in old-age, fierce paḍase-khōkalā; hāta kapāḷālā lāvunī baise — (he) sits with hand on forehead.
The verse
म्हातारपणीं थेटे पडसें खोकला । हात कपाळाला लावुनि बैसे ॥१॥
खोबरियाची वाटी जालें असे मुख । गळतसे नाक श्लेष्मपुरी ॥ध्रु.॥
बोलों जातां शब्द नये चि हा नीट । गडगडी कंठ कफ भारी ॥२॥
सेजारी म्हणती मरेना कां मेला । आणिला कांटाळा येणें आम्हां ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे आतां सांडुनी सर्वकाम । स्मरा राम राम क्षणक्षणा ॥४॥
Literal translation
Mhātārapaṇī theṭe paḍase khōkalā — in old-age, fierce paḍase-khōkalā; hāta kapāḷālā lāvunī baise — (he) sits with hand on forehead. Khōbariyāñcī vāṭī jāle ase mukha — the mouth has become a coconut-bowl; gaḷatsē nāka śleṣma-purī — the nose leaks śleṣma-purī. Bōlōm jātām śabda naye chi hā nīṭa — when going to speak, the words don't come straight; gaḍagaḍī kaṇṭha kapha bhārī — the throat rattles, heavy with kapha. Sejārī mhaṇatī marenā kām melā — neighbors say: why doesn't this dead-one die; āṇilā kāṇṭāḷā yeṇe āmhām — he has brought annoyance to us. Tukā mhaṇe ātām sāṇḍunī sarva-kāma — Tukā says: now, abandoning all karma; smarā Rāma Rāma kṣaṇa-kṣaṇā — remember Rāma Rāma at every moment.
What it means
★★ The 3rd-and-closing-text of-the-3-stage-of-life biographical cluster (3071-3072-3073).
The 4 portraits of mhātāra-paṇa (old-age): 1. Fierce-cough-and-cold; hand-on-forehead-sits-helpless 2. Mouth-toothless-coconut-bowl; nose-leaks-phlegm-river 3. Words-don't-come-straight; throat-rattles-with-kapha 4. Neighbors-want-him-dead
★ The closing-call: now-abandon-all-action, remember-Rāma-Rāma at-every-moment. The whole-3-stage-cluster's-arc resolves-here: childhood-played, youth-wasted, old-age-helpless — only-Rāma-Rāma now.
The portrait of old-age is striking-and-unsentimental: the toothless-mouth, the leaking-nose, the unintelligible-speech, the rattling-throat, the neighbors-saying why-doesn't-the-dead-one-die. This is bhakti-shock-medicine — the body-decays, only-the-Name remains.
The 3-stage-cluster as-a-whole is a life-as-vanity meditation, structurally-similar to traditional Hindu anitya-bhāvanā (impermanence-meditation). But-Tukārām makes-it specifically-personal-and-vivid with 17th-c-Deccan-detail.
For someone today
Tukārām's mhātāra-paṇa portrait. In old-age, fierce cough-and-cold; hand placed on forehead, (he) sits. The mouth has become a coconut-bowl (toothless); the nose leaks phlegm-river. When (he) goes to speak, the words don't come straight; the throat rattles, heavy with kapha. The neighbors say: Why doesn't this dead-one die? — we are annoyed with him. ★ Now, abandoning all action, remember Rāma Rāma at every moment. The verse permits the bhakta-shock-medicine of old-age-portrait, with the call to remember-Rāma-Rāma now.
Where this applies
- ★★ 3rd-and-closing of 3-stage-of-life cluster
- Mouth-coconut-bowl, nose-leaks-phlegm-river canonical-images
- Now-abandon-action, remember-Rāma-Rāma call
- 17th-c social-portrait of-impatient-neighbors