Abhanga 3823
Amass-koṭi-dhana — langōṭi-doesn't-come.
The verse
धन मेळवूनि कोटी । सवें नये रे लंगोटी ॥१॥
पानें खाशील उदंड । अंतीं जासी सुकल्या तोंडें ॥ध्रु.॥
पलंग न्याहाल्या सुपती । शेवटीं गोवर्या सांगाती ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे राम । एक विसरतां श्रम ॥३॥
Literal translation
Amass-koṭi-dhana — langōṭi-doesn't-come. Eat-pāna-plenty — at-end-mouth-dries. Palanga-nyāhālyā-supatī — at-end-only-gōvarī. Tukā: Rāma — forgetting-one — śrama.
What it means
★★ THE canonical 3-verse mortality text — daily-quoted across Maharashtra. Amass ten-million in wealth — not even a loincloth comes with you. Eat plenty of betel-leaves — at the end you go with a parched mouth. Sleep on a bed with fine rugs — at the end only cow-dung-cakes (for cremation) are your companions. Forgetting only-one-Rāma — (all that effort) is vain-labor. Each verse pairs earthly-abundance with funeral-poverty — the only continuity is forgetting-Rāma. The image gōvarī-sāngātī (cow-dung-cakes-as-companions, i.e., the cremation-fuel that accompanies you to the pyre) is one of Tukārām's most-quoted mortality-images.
For someone today
Tukārām: koṭi-dhana — langōṭi-doesn't-come; betel-mouth-still-dries; fine-bed → cow-dung-cakes-at-end; forget-only-Rāma → vain-labor.
Where this applies
- ★★ Tukārām's THE canonical mortality text — daily-quoted
- koṭi-dhana / pāna / palanga vs langōṭi / sukalyā-tōnḍē / gōvarī
- Pair with 2797 (kāḷa-grāsāvayā-mortality-warning), 2884 (māpārī-mortality)