संत साहित्य
Work in progress. Translations and commentary are AI-generated and may contain inaccuracies or hallucinations — please use your own judgement and check against the original sources.
संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 3701 of 4582

Abhanga 3701

The verse

काय करूं पोरा लागली चट । धरी वाट देउळाची ॥१॥ सांगितलें नेघे कानीं । दुजें मनीं विठ्ठल ॥ध्रु.॥ काम घरीं न करी धंदा । येथें सदा दुश्चित ॥२॥ आमचे कुळीं नव्हतें ऐसें । हें च पिसें निवडलें ॥३॥ लौकिकाची नाहीं लाज । माझें मज पारिखें ॥४॥ तुका म्हणे नरका जाणें । त्या वचनें दुष्टांचीं ॥५॥

Literal translation

(Elder:) What-to-do-pōrā-chaṭa-stuck-takes-temple-path. Doesn't-hear — Viṭhṭhal-in-mind. No-household-work — always-restless. Wasn't-our-family-way — only-this-pisē-sorted-out. No-lokika-lāja — mine-alien. Tukā: those-speaking-such — go-to-naraka.

What it means

★★ A rare 5-verse ventriloquist text — Tukārām voices a complaining-elder (likely a relative or neighbor) speaking-about-him. The complaint: my-boy is stuck-on-temple-going, doesn't-hear-me, doesn't-work-household, always-restless, wasn't-our-family-way, no-shame-for-public-opinion, mine-became-alien. Then Tukārām snaps back: such-speakers-go-to-naraka. The dramatic device is rare in this corpus. Compare 3617 (Tukā-jhalā-sāṇḍā), 3627 (deva-pisī-self-identification).

For someone today

Tukārām: those-who-call-the-bhakta-a-deva-pisī go-to-naraka.

Where this applies

Related verses