Abhanga 76
The dog-mind has no patience and no fear of consequences — teaching cannot digest in it (like milk that won't keep down). The cure is not better instruction; it is letting it be.
The verse
श्वान शीघ्रकोपी । आपणा घातकर पापी ॥१॥ नाहीं भीड आणि धीर । उपदेश न जिरे क्षीर ॥ध्रु. ॥ माणसांसि भुंके । विजातीनें द्यावे थुंके ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे चित्त । मळिण करा तें फजित ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: The dog (= dog-natured person) is quick-tempered — self-harming, sinful. There is no shame and no patience; the milk of teaching does not digest in him. He barks at people; the unrelated kind is to spit at him. Tuka says: those who keep the heart impure — they are the disgraced.
मराठी: श्वान शीघ्रकोपी — आपलाच घातकर, पापी. भीड नाही, धीर नाही — उपदेशाचं क्षीर जिरत नाही. माणसांना भुंकतो; विजातीयांनी थुंकावं. तुकाराम म्हणतात — चित्त मळीन ठेवणारे तेच फजित.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| श्वान शीघ्रकोपी | "the dog (= the dog-natured person) is quick-tempered" |
| आपणा घातकर पापी | "(he is) self-harming, sinful" |
| नाहीं भीड आणि धीर | "no shame and no patience" |
| उपदेश न जिरे क्षीर | "the milk of teaching does not digest" (जिरणे = to digest) |
| माणसांसि भुंके | "(he) barks at people" |
| विजातीनें द्यावे थुंके | "(he) is to be spat-at by his unrelated kind" |
| चित्त मळिण करा तें फजित | "those who keep the heart impure are the disgraced" |
What it means
A non-receptive-person portrait. The teaching-image is precise: milk of instruction does not digest — meaning a person can hear the teaching, even agree with it, and throw it back up through quick anger or impatience. The structural diagnostic: no shame, no patience. Both are needed to digest teaching. Without them, the teaching is wasted on the person, and the person is wasted on the teaching. [T]
For someone today
When you've been teaching someone — a child, a friend, a junior — and the teaching keeps coming back up undigested, Tukaram's claim is structural: the digestive problem is upstream of the teaching. नाहीं भीड आणि धीर — no shame, no patience — these need to be present first. Without them, no quality of instruction reaches. The cure is not louder, more eloquent, more sophisticated teaching; it is letting them be until shame and patience emerge in them on their own time. The teaching-bottle stays full; the digestive-fire is what's missing.
मराठी: तुम्ही कुणाला (मूल, मित्र, junior) शिकवत आहात — आणि शिकवण न-पचलेली वर येत आहे — तुकारामांचा रचनात्मक दावा: digestive problem शिकवणीच्या आधी आहे. नाहीं भीड आणि धीर — हे आधी हवेत. नसतील — कुठल्याही गुणवत्तेची सूचना पोहोचत नाही. उपाय जोरात, अधिक स्पष्ट, sophisticated शिकवणी नाही; त्यांना सोडणं — जोपर्यंत त्यांच्यात लाज आणि धीर त्यांच्या वेळेवर येत नाहीत. शिकवण-bottle भरलेली; digestive-अग्नी हरवलेला.
Where this applies
- Pouring teaching into quick-temper. Milk doesn't digest.
- You yourself quick-tempered, instruction won't stick. Address the temper first.
- 'Teach better' is the wrong frame. The fire is the issue.