Abhanga 64
English: For fragrance, don't crush the flower.
The verse
परिमळ म्हणूनी चोळूं नये फूल । खाऊं नये मूल आवडतें ॥१॥ मोतियाचें पाणी चाखूं नये स्वाद । यंत्र भेदुनि नाद पाहूं नये ॥२॥ कर्मफळ म्हणुनी इच्छूं नये काम । तुका म्हणे वर्म दावूं लोकां ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: For fragrance, don't crush the flower. Don't eat the favorite child. Don't taste the pearl's water (its luster) for its flavor. Don't pierce the musical instrument to see the sound (inside). Don't desire action as karma-fruit. Tuka says: I am showing people the secret.
मराठी: सुगंधासाठी फूल चोळू नये. आवडतं मूल खाऊ नये. मोत्याचं पाणी चव म्हणून चाखू नये. यंत्र भेदून नाद पाहू नये. कर्मफळ म्हणून काम इच्छू नये. तुकाराम म्हणतात — मी लोकांना वर्म दावतोय.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| परिमळ म्हणूनी चोळूं नये फूल | "for fragrance — don't crush the flower" |
| खाऊं नये मूल आवडतें | "don't eat the favorite child" (i.e., however much you love it, don't consume it) |
| मोतियाचें पाणी चाखूं नये स्वाद | "don't taste the pearl's water for its flavor" (the water of a pearl is its luster — to "taste" it is absurd-and-destructive) |
| यंत्र भेदुनि नाद पाहूं नये | "don't pierce the (musical) instrument to see its sound" |
| कर्मफळ म्हणुनी इच्छूं नये काम | "don't desire action as karma-fruit" (don't take up action because of its expected fruit) |
| वर्म दावूं लोकां | "I am showing people the secret" (वर्म = secret, inner-truth) |
What it means
A short don't-extract-by-destroying abhang. Each verse offers a vivid example: the flower's fragrance is destroyed by crushing; the loved child cannot be consumed; the pearl's water (its inner shine) is not a flavor; the instrument's sound is not inside the wood. Each example points at the same structural error: trying to obtain by destruction what is only available through living-relationship. The closing verse names the application: कर्मफळ म्हणुनी इच्छूं नये काम — don't desire action because of (the expected) karma-fruit. Action-for-fruit is the fundamental disease the previous images illustrated. [T] [Tradition]
This is a compressed teaching of niskāma-karma (action-without-desire-for-fruit), familiar from the Bhagavad Gita, but Tukaram offers it through concrete sensory images rather than abstract argument.
For someone today
English: This abhang names a precise modern error. We treat everything as a function: the flower is its fragrance, the child is its developmental milestones, the friend is the usefulness, the work is the outcome. Tukaram's claim is that this functional-extraction destroys what was actually giving you something. The flower stops smelling once crushed. The child stops being a child once consumed. The work stops working once it is only its outcome. The instructional verse 3 generalizes: action-for-the-sake-of-its-fruit is the same error.
The hard application: notice when you have started reducing something you love to its function. The meal you eat for nutrition. The friend you keep around for support. The practice you do for progress. Tukaram is not saying nutrition, support, and progress are wrong things; he is saying desiring them as the reason destroys the source. The flower is best smelt while living. Eat the meal because you love it; befriend because you love them; practice because you love it. The fragrance is downstream and only available that way.
मराठी: ही ओवी एक अचूक आधुनिक चूक नाव सांगते. आपण सर्व function म्हणून बघतो: फूल म्हणजे त्याचा सुगंध, मूल म्हणजे त्याची विकासाची पावलं, मित्र म्हणजे उपयोग, काम म्हणजे परिणाम. तुकारामांचा दावा हा functional-extraction जे तुम्हाला काही देत होतं ते नष्ट करतं. चोळल्यावर फुलाला वास येणं बंद. खाल्ल्यावर मूल मूल राहत नाही. काम फक्त परिणाम झालं की काम बंद होतं. ओवी ३ चं instructional generalize: कर्म-फळ-साठी कर्म तीच चूक.
कठीण लागू: तुम्हाला आवडणारं काही function मध्ये कमी झालं ते लक्षात घ्या. पोषणासाठी खाल्लेलं जेवण. आधारासाठी ठेवलेला मित्र. प्रगतीसाठी केलेली साधना. तुकाराम पोषण, आधार, प्रगती चुकीच्या नाहीत म्हणत; त्यांना कारण म्हणून इच्छिणं — स्रोत नष्ट करतं. फूल जिवंत असताना सर्वोत्तम वास. आवडतं म्हणून जेवा; प्रेम म्हणून मैत्री करा; आवडतं म्हणून साधना करा. सुगंध downstream आहे आणि फक्त त्या रीतीने मिळतो.
Where this applies
- When you're tempted to use a relationship for what it gives you. The using-up will end the giving.
- When you're working hard for the outcome and the work itself is suffering. Verse 3.
- When you find yourself reducing things to their function. Remember the flower.