Abhanga 3164
Celebrating wrongdoing because it brings easy gain only drags everyone involved toward ruin together.
The verse
पुत्र जाला चोर । मायबापा हर्ष थोर ॥१॥
आतां काशासाटीं जोडी । हाट धाटे गुंडगे घडी ॥ध्रु.॥
ऐते अपाहार । आणूनियां भरी घर ॥२॥
मानिली निश्चिंती । नरका जावया उभयतीं ॥३॥
झोडाझोडगीचे पोटीं । फळें बीजें तीं करंटीं ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे बेट्या । भांडवल न लगे खट्या ॥५॥
Literal translation
V1: Putra jālā chōra, māyabāpā harṣa thōra — son became thief, parents great joy. V2 (dhr.): Ātām kāśāsāṭīm jōḍī, hāṭa dhāṭe guṇḍage ghaḍī — now why earn? — daily loot-bundles. V3: Aite apāhāra, āṇūnīyām bharī ghara — ready stolen-goods, fills the house. V4: Mānilī niśchintī, narakā jāvayā ubhayatīm — settled in carelessness, both going to naraka. V5: Jhōḍa-jhōḍagīñce pōṭīm, phaḷe bīje tīm karaṇṭīm — in the belly of looting, fruit-seeds are cursed-sterile. V6: Tukā mhaṇe beṭyā, bhāṇḍavala na lage khaṭyā — rascal! cheats need no capital.
What it means
A sharp 17th-c social-criticism. Tukārām rebukes permissive-parents who-rejoice in-the-son's-criminality because-it-brings-loot. Both-parents-and-son go-to-naraka; the-fruits-of-looting are-cursed-sterile-seeds.
For someone today
Tukaram delivers a sharp social rebuke: a son becomes a thief, and his parents feel great joy because now stolen goods fill the house without anyone having to work for a living. They settle into a false sense of security while both parents and son are actually heading toward ruin together. He warns that whatever fruit grows from looting is rotten at the seed, and calls the son a rascal, adding that cheats need no real capital to operate, only willingness to steal. It is a warning against celebrating wrongdoing simply because it brings easy gain.
मराठी: तुकाराम एक तीव्र सामाजिक ताशेरा मारतात: मुलगा चोर बनतो, आणि आईवडिलांना मोठा आनंद होतो, कारण आता घरात रोज चोरीचा माल येतो आणि कुणाला कष्ट करण्याची गरज उरत नाही. ते खोट्या सुरक्षिततेत मश्गूल होतात, पण प्रत्यक्षात आईवडील आणि मुलगा तिघेही एकत्र नाशाकडे चालले आहेत. ते चेतावणी देतात की लुटीतून उगवणारे फळ मुळातच सडलेले असते, आणि मुलाला बदमाश म्हणतात, हेही सांगतात की फसवणुकीसाठी खरे भांडवल लागत नाही, फक्त चोरी करण्याची तयारी पुरेशी असते. सहज मिळणाऱ्या फायद्यामुळे अनीतीचे कौतुक करण्याविरुद्ध हा इशारा आहे.
Where this applies
- Striking anti-permissive-parents social-criticism
- 17th-c sharp rebuke