Abhanga 4241
The verse
वरिवरि बोले युद्धाचिया गोष्टी । परसैन्या भेटी नाहीं जाली ॥१॥
पराव्याचे भार पाहुनियां दृष्टी । कांपतसे पोटीं थरथरां ॥ध्रु.॥
मनाचा उदार रायांचा जुंझार । फिरंगीचा मार मारीतसे ॥२॥
धन्य त्याची माय धन्य त्याचा बाप । अंगीं अनुताप हरिनामें ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे साधु बोले खर्गधार । खोचती अंतरें दुर्जनाचें ॥४॥
Literal translation
Surface-yuddha-talk — never-met-para-sainya. Seeing-others'-force — trembles-belly. Generous-king's-junjjar — strikes-firangī-sword. Blessed-mother-father — angī-anutāpa-Hari-Nāma. Tukā: sādhu-khaḍga-dhāra — pierces-durjana-antara.
What it means
A 4-verse real-vs-fake text. He talks of war only on the surface — never met an enemy-army. Seeing others' force, he trembles in his belly. (But) the noble mind, the king's true warrior — strikes the foreign-sword blow. Blessed is his mother, blessed his father — in his body is repentance by Hari-Nāma. Tukā says: the sādhu speaks the sword-edge; (his words) pierce the heart of the wicked. The 4-step comparison: (1) surface-talker-trembles-when-actual-force-comes; (2) real-warrior-strikes-back; (3) bhakta-of-Hari-Nāma is the parents'-blessing; (4) sādhu-speech = sword-edge piercing durjana-heart. The 17th-century Deccan-military vocabulary (firangī, junjjar) is Mughal-era.
For someone today
Tukārām: the-surface-warrior-trembles-when-the-enemy-comes; the-real-warrior-strikes-foreign-sword-blows; the-sādhu's-speech-is-sword-edge-piercing-the-wicked's-heart.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's surface-talker-vs-real-warrior; sādhu-speech-sword-edge canonical