Abhanga 70
A burp shows the meal was real. Words alone — without inner taste — are chaff. Outward signs need inward substance behind them, or they are empty.
The verse
ढेकरें जेवण दिसे साचें । नाहीं तरि काचें कुंथाकुंथी ॥१॥ हे ही बोल ते ही बोल । कोरडे फोल रुचीविण ॥ध्रु.॥ गव्हांचिया होती परी । फके वरी खाऊं नये ॥२॥ तुकां म्हणे असे हातींचें कांकण । तयासी दर्पण विल्हाळक ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: The burp shows the meal was real; otherwise it is raw retching. These words, those words — dry chaff without taste. Wheat-quality may exist (in the seed) — but don't eat raw flour on top. Tuka says: there is a bracelet on (your own) hand — what need of a mirror to see it?
मराठी: ढेकराने जेवण खरं असल्याचं दिसतं; नाहीतर काचं कुंथाकुंथी. हे बोल, ते बोल — कोरडे फोल — रुचीविना. गव्हाची क्वालिटी असेल — पण वर फका खाऊ नये. तुकाराम म्हणतात — हातातलं कांकण — त्याला आरसा कशाला?
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ढेकरें जेवण दिसे साचें | "by the burp, the meal is shown to be real" (ढेकर = burp) |
| नाहीं तरि काचें कुंथाकुंथी | "otherwise, raw retching" (काचें = raw / unripe; कुंथाकुंथी = strained gagging) |
| हे ही बोल ते ही बोल | "these words and those words" |
| कोरडे फोल रुचीविण | "dry chaff, without taste" |
| गव्हांचिया होती परी | "wheat-quality may exist" |
| फके वरी खाऊं नये | "but don't eat raw flour on top" |
| असे हातींचें कांकण | "the bracelet on the hand" |
| तयासी दर्पण विल्हाळक | "for that, what need of a mirror?" (you don't need a mirror to see your own bracelet) |
What it means
Three precise images: (1) burp as the unfakeable sign of an actual meal — versus retching as the false-claim. (2) Words alone as dry chaff. (3) Bracelet on your own hand — direct experience needs no mirror. The structure across all three is the same: outward sign needs inward substance. Words can be performed; burps cannot. The bracelet on your hand is felt directly; you do not need to look. Inner experience does not need self-verification through external image. [T]
For someone today
This abhang gives a precise diagnostic for distinguishing real-from-performed in spiritual life — both in others and in yourself. The diagnostic is: did the meal actually happen? If yes, there is a burp — some involuntary sign that does not require effort to produce. The person rests differently, speaks differently, sits differently. If no, there is retching: the strained production of spiritual gestures without the underlying meal having occurred. Words alone — even sophisticated, beautifully-deployed words — are कोरडे फोल (dry chaff) when the inner taste is missing. The honest move: notice which of the two you've been doing, and which the people around you are doing.
मराठी: ही ओवी आध्यात्मिक जीवनात खरं विरुद्ध केलेलं ओळखायला अचूक diagnostic देते — इतरांत आणि स्वतःत. diagnostic आहे: जेवण खरंच झालं का? झालं — ढेकर येतो — एक अनैच्छिक चिन्ह जे प्रयत्नाने निर्माण होत नाही. व्यक्ती वेगळ्या रीतीने विश्रांती घेते, बोलते, बसते. नाही — कुंथाकुंथी: आत जेवण न झाल्याशी आध्यात्मिक हालचालींची strained निर्मिती. फक्त शब्द — sophisticated, सुंदर रीतीने वापरलेले देखील — आत taste नसेल तर कोरडे फोल. प्रामाणिक हालचाल — तुम्ही कोणतं करत होतात, आणि आजूबाजूचे काय करत आहेत ते लक्षात घ्या.
Where this applies
- Right vocabulary, no meal. No burp.
- Speaking spiritual words without inner taste. Chaff.
- Encountering someone whose burp is unmistakable. Note the difference.