Abhanga 4428
Being content with your own simple, ordinary fare is enough to walk the path, you don't need a grand plate to get there.
The verse
गव्हांच्या घुगर्या । नाचण्यांच्या पुर्या । बर्या त्या चि बर्या । पाधाणी त्या पाधाणी ॥१॥
काय थोरपण । वांयां जाळावा तो शीण । कारणापें भिन्न । निवडे तें निराळें ॥ध्रु.॥
रुचि वोजेपाशी । गरज ते जैशीतैशी । करूं नका नाशी । खावें खाणें जालें तें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे मोठा । काय करावा तो ताटा । नाहीं वीण निटा । पाविजेत मारग ॥३॥
Literal translation
Wheat-balls / nāchaṇī-puris — good are good; pādhāṇī-pādhāṇī. Thōra-paṇa — burn-śīṇa-vāyā. Ruchi-by-ōja — garaja-whatever-way. Don't-nāśī — eat-what's-eaten. Tukā: large-tāṭa — no-good — without-niṭa-reach-mārga.
What it means
A 3-verse peasant-realism text. Wheat-flour balls, nāchaṇī-puris (millet-bread) — what's good is good — local-grain is local-grain. What greatness — burn that fatigue in vain. (Apart from the cause itself), what-stands-out is something distinct. Taste by rule — necessity takes whatever way. Don't make a waste — eat what has been eaten. Tukā says: a large plate — what to do with it? Without a thread (something to hold-it-together), one reaches the path. A rare-Tukārām peasant-poetic-mode: pragmatic-acceptance of own-local-fare (wheat-flour-balls, nāchaṇī-millet-puris) rather than chasing-the-grand-plate. The simple-fare suffices for-the-mārga.
For someone today
In this rare, down-to-earth verse, Tukārām talks about ordinary food, wheat-flour balls and millet puris, and says plainly that what's good is good, your own local fare doesn't need excusing. He asks why anyone should wear themselves out chasing greatness or status when necessity already tells you what you actually need. Don't waste what's already there trying to make it into something else, just eat what's been prepared and be satisfied. He closes by asking what use is a huge, elaborate plate anyway, since a person can reach the path just fine without one. It's a reminder that contentment with simple, humble things is not a lesser way of living, it's often the wiser one.
मराठी: या दुर्मीळ, साध्या अभंगात तुकाराम रोजच्या अन्नाबद्दल बोलतात, गव्हाच्या घुगऱ्या आणि नाचणीच्या पुऱ्या, आणि स्पष्टपणे सांगतात की जे चांगले आहे ते चांगलेच आहे, स्वतःचे साधे अन्न याबद्दल लाज बाळगण्याची गरज नाही. मोठेपणासाठी किंवा प्रतिष्ठेसाठी स्वतःला का शिणवावे, जेव्हा गरजच सांगते की खरोखर काय हवे आहे, असा प्रश्न ते विचारतात. जे आधीच आहे त्याचा अपव्यय करून त्याला काहीतरी वेगळे बनवण्याचा प्रयत्न करू नका, जे तयार आहे तेच खा आणि समाधानी राहा. शेवटी ते विचारतात की मोठ्या, सजवलेल्या ताटाचा काय उपयोग, कारण माणूस त्याशिवायही मार्ग गाठू शकतो. साध्या, नम्र गोष्टींत समाधान मानणे हे कमीपणाचे जगणे नाही, तर बरेचदा तेच अधिक शहाणपणाचे जगणे असते.
Where this applies
- When you feel embarrassed about simple food, a modest home, or a plain lifestyle compared to others
- When you're exhausting yourself chasing status or prestige instead of what you actually need
- When you catch yourself wasting good things because they don't feel grand enough
- When you worry that a humble, ordinary path can't lead anywhere meaningful