Abhanga 4222
A person ruled by attachment simply agrees to whatever a loved one's litany of complaints demands, instead of responding with clear judgment.
The verse
भ्रतारेंसी भार्या बोले गुज गोष्टी । मज ऐसी कष्टी नाहीं दुजी ॥१॥
अखंड तुमचें धंद्यावरी मन । माझें तों हेळण करिती सर्व ॥ध्रु.॥
जोडितसां तुम्ही खाती हेरेंचोरें । माझीं तंव पोरें हळहळीती ॥२॥
तुमची व्याली माझे डाई हो पेटली । सदा दुष्ट बोली सोसवेना ॥३॥
दुष्टव्रुति नंदुली सदा द्वेष करी । नांदों मी संसारीं कोण्या सुखें ॥४॥
भावा दीर कांहीं धड हा न बोले । नांदों कोणां खालें कैसी आतां ॥५॥
माझ्या अंगसंगें तुम्हांसी विश्रांति । मग धडगति नाहीं तुमची ॥६॥
ठाकतें उमकतें जीव मुठी धरूनि । परि तुम्ही अजूनि न धरा लाज ॥७॥
वेगळे निघतां संसार करीन । नाहीं तरी प्राण देतें आतां ॥८॥
तुका म्हणे जाला कामाचा अंकित । सांगे मनोगत तैसा वर्ते ॥९॥
Literal translation
Wife-to-husband-guja-talk — no-one-as-kaṣṭī-as-me. Mind-on-business-always — all-heḷaṇa-me. You-earn — hēra-chōra-eat — children-suffer. Your-mother-gnaws — duṣṭa-bōlī-can't-bear. Duṣṭa-nandulī-jealous — what-joy-in-samsāra. Brother-in-law-no-good — under-whom. Your-viśrāntī-from-anga-sanga — no-dhaḍagati. Holding-jīva-in-fist — no-lāja-yours. If-not-separate I-do-samsāra — else-prāṇa-give. Tukā: husband-kāma-ankita — tells-heart-acts.
What it means
Opening of 17-verse household-strife comic-satire cluster (4222-4223). The wife's 9-verse litany: I'm-the-most-distressed-woman; you-care-only-about-business; thieves-eat-your-earnings; my-children-suffer; your-mother-gnaws-with-cruel-words; your-sister-envies; your-brother-says-nothing-good; you-take-rest-from-my-body-but-have-no-future-plans; I-still-cling-but-you-have-no-shame; either-we-separate-from-the-family-or-I-die-now. Closing: Tukā says — the husband, having become the registered-of-kāma, tells (her) heart-content and acts accordingly. A rare 9-verse dramatic-monologue of household-conflict; comic-tragic complaint-litany. Note: the satire targets kāma-ankita-husband who-gives-in-to-wife's-pressure; the moral comes in 4223.
For someone today
This verse opens a sharp, satirical household scene. A wife pours out a long litany of complaints to her husband: his mind is always on business, thieves eat his earnings, his mother and sister treat her cruelly, his brother says nothing kind, and she threatens to leave or even end her life unless things change. Tukaram's real target is not her suffering but the husband, who is so ruled by attachment that he simply agrees to whatever she demands rather than responding with steadiness or wisdom. It is a gentle warning about giving in to pressure instead of thinking clearly under it.
मराठी: हा अभंग एका घरगुती वादाचे उपरोधिक चित्रण आहे. पत्नी पतीकडे तक्रारींची मोठी यादी मांडते - तो नेहमी धंद्यात गुंतलेला असतो, चोर त्याची कमाई खातात, त्याची आई आणि बहीण तिच्याशी क्रूरपणे वागतात, भाऊ काहीच चांगले बोलत नाही, आणि जर परिस्थिती बदलली नाही तर ती वेगळे राहण्याची किंवा जीव देण्याची धमकी देते. तुकारामांचे खरे लक्ष्य तिचे दुःख नसून तो पती आहे, जो आसक्तीच्या अधीन होऊन विचार न करता जे मागितले जाईल ते मान्य करतो. दबावाला बळी न पडता शहाणपणाने वागण्याचा हा इशारा आहे.
Where this applies
- Opening of 17-verse household-strife comic-satire cluster (4222-4223)