Abhanga 3972
Small human faults are not grounds for rejection between people who are truly close, and honest community can carry even a flawed person through.
The verse
निजसेजेची अंतुरी । पादलिया कोण मारी ॥१॥
तैसा आम्हासी उबगतां । तुका विनवितो संतां ॥ध्रु.॥
मूल मांडीवरी हागलें । तें बा कोणे रें त्यागिलें ॥२॥
दासी कामासी चुकली । ते बा कोणें रें विकली ॥३॥
पांडुरंगाचा तुका पापी । संतसाहें काळासि दापी ॥४॥
Literal translation
Nijasejecī anturī — pādaliyā kōṇa mārī — the wife on the nuptial bed — if she passes wind, who kills her. Taisā āmhāsī ubagatām — Tukā vinavitō samtām — so when (you) are weary of us — Tukā petitions the sants. Mūla māṇḍīvarī hāgalēm — tem bā kōṇē re tyāgilēm — the child shat on the lap — who, dear, discards it. Dāsī kāmāsī chukalī — te bā kōṇēm re vikalī — the servant missed work — who, dear, sells her. Pāṇḍurangāñcā Tukā pāpī — santasāhēm kāḷāsi dāpī — the pāpī Tukā of Pāṇḍuranga — by sants' help threatens-back Time.
What it means
A 4-verse extreme-irreverent humility text. Three earthy-domestic similes (wife's-flatus, baby's-mess, servant's-mistake) — none-merits-rejection — Tukā the pāpī therefore petitions the sants, by-whose-help even-Kāḷa is-held-back. Striking domestic candour rare in religious literature.
For someone today
Tukaram makes his point with three blunt, homely images: nobody kills a wife for passing wind in bed, nobody throws away a baby for making a mess on your lap, and nobody sells a servant just for one missed task. Small, human faults are not grounds for rejection when there is real closeness. So Tukaram tells the sants, plainly, that he too is imperfect, even calling himself a sinner, and asks them not to grow weary of him. He trusts that their care and companionship are strong enough to keep him safe even from Death itself. It is a lesson in honest, unpolished humility and in the protective power of true community.
मराठी: तुकाराम तीन साध्या, घरगुती उदाहरणांतून आपला मुद्दा मांडतात: पत्नी झोपेत वारा सोडते म्हणून तिला कोणी मारत नाही, मूल मांडीवर घाण करते म्हणून त्याला कोणी टाकून देत नाही, आणि दासी एखादे काम विसरली म्हणून तिला कोणी विकत नाही. जवळीक असेल तर लहान चुका नाकारण्याचे कारण ठरत नाहीत. म्हणून तुकाराम स्पष्टपणे संतांना सांगतात की तेही अपूर्ण आहेत, स्वतःला पापी म्हणतात, आणि विनंती करतात की त्यांनी कंटाळू नये. संतांच्या साथीने आणि प्रेमाने काळालाही मागे रोखता येते, असा त्यांचा विश्वास आहे. ही शिकवण प्रामाणिक, निर्भीड नम्रतेची आणि खऱ्या सोबतीच्या रक्षक शक्तीची आहे.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's extreme-irreverent humility corpus
- Companion to mī-cha-vikhaḷa (2730) extreme-humility