Abhanga 259

This abhang names a recognition-side rule that complements 245's receiver-side:

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A don't-cast-pearls-before-swine abhang. Three image-clusters:

1. सोनियाचें ताट क्षीरीनें — श्वाना — gold plate of milk to dog. The vessel-and-content are valuable; the recipient does not know the value. The dog will eat the milk but not appreciate the gold-plate or the kṣīra-quality.

2. मुक्ताफळहार खरासि — कस्तुरी सुकराला — pearls to donkey, musk to pig. Costly-content, value-blind recipient. The donkey cannot wear the pearls as ornament; the pig cannot smell the musk as fragrance.

3. वेदपरायण बधिरा — veda-recitation to the deaf. The highest jñāna content delivered to a recipient who structurally-cannot-receive. The deaf person cannot hear the veda. Tukaram is not blaming the deaf (this is not about literal-deafness as moral-failure); he is naming the structural-mismatch.

4. तुका म्हणे ज्याचें तो चि एक जाणे — भक्तीचें महिमान साधु जाणे — only the one whose it is, knows; the bhakti-mahimā the sādhu knows. The closing-rule. Recognition-of-value requires capacity-for-it. The bhakti-mahimā (greatness-of-bhakti) is recognized by the sādhu; to others, it is gold-to-dog, pearls-to-donkey, musk-to-pig, veda-to-deaf. (Compare 245's anti-snobbery — upadeśa-from-any-hand — the receiver-side there; here, the recognition-side.)

[T]

For someone today

This abhang names a recognition-side rule that complements 245's receiver-side:

1. Recognition-of-value requires capacity. Jyāchēm tō chi eka jāṇē. You can offer gold-plate-of-milk; the dog will see only the milk. You can wear pearls; the donkey will see only the load. The recognition is not in the offering; it is in the recipient.

2. Don't waste valuable-content on incapable-recipients. Most folk-readings of don't-cast-pearls-before-swine moralize against the swine; Tukaram is more practical: don't waste your costly-content where it cannot be received. (Compare 229's tamāśā has no place here — the band-discipline.)

3. Veda-to-deaf is the structural-mismatch. This is not blame; it is recognition that the structural-channel is closed. The deaf-person is not the wrong-kind-of-person; the channel is wrong. Don't push veda through ear-channel-that-is-closed; find another channel or another receiver.

4. Sādhu knows the bhakti-mahimā. Bhaktīcēm mahimāṇa sādhu jāṇē. The sādhu (saint) is the recognition-channel for bhakti's-greatness. If you want bhakti to be recognized, give it to the sādhu. Don't give it to those whose channel-for-bhakti-mahimā is closed; the gold-plate-of-milk will be eaten as milk, not as gift.

For today: recognize your audience's capacity; don't offer gold-to-dog, pearls-to-donkey, musk-to-pig, veda-to-deaf; the recognition-of-value is in the recipient, not the offering; give bhakti-things to those-with-capacity-to-recognize.

This is not anti-democratic — it does not gate-keep who can become a sādhu; it names the structural-fact that recognition-requires-capacity. (Compare 258's anti-purity-of-origin: anyone can become qualified. 259's recognition-rule: but someone who has not become qualified will not recognize. Both true together.)

मराठी: ही ओवी recognition-side चा rule नाव सांगते जो 245 च्या receiver-side ला complement करतो:

1. Recognition-of-value ला capacity लागते. ज्याचें तो चि एक जाणे. तुम्ही gold-plate-of-milk offer करू शकता; dog ला फक्त दूध दिसेल. तुम्ही pearls घालू शकता; donkey ला फक्त load दिसेल. Recognition offering मध्ये नाही; recipient मध्ये.

2. Valuable-content incapable-recipients वर waste करू नका. Don't-cast-pearls-before-swine चे folk-readings बहुतेक swine वर moralize करतात; तुकाराम अधिक practical: जिथे receive होऊ शकत नाही तिथे costly-content waste करू नका.

3. Veda-to-deaf structural-mismatch. हे blame नाही; structural-channel closed आहे ही recognition. Deaf-person wrong-kind-of-person नाही; channel wrong. Closed ear-channel मधून veda push करू नका; दुसरा channel किंवा दुसरा receiver शोधा.

4. Sādhu bhakti-mahimā जाणतो. भक्तीचें महिमान साधु जाणे. Sādhu (saint) bhakti's-greatness चा recognition-channel. Bhakti recognized व्हायला हवी असेल — sādhu ला द्या. ज्यांचा bhakti-mahimā channel बंद आहे त्यांना देऊ नका; gold-plate-of-milk दूध-म्हणून खाल्लं जाईल, gift-म्हणून नाही.

आज: audience ची capacity ओळखा; gold-to-dog, pearls-to-donkey, musk-to-pig, veda-to-deaf offer करू नका; recognition-of-value recipient मध्ये, offering मध्ये नाही; recognition-capacity असलेल्यांना bhakti-things द्या.

Anti-democratic नाही — कोण sādhu बनू शकतो gate-keep करत नाही; recognition-requires-capacity चा structural-fact नाव सांगतो.

Where this applies

• Recognition requires capacity. Not in the offering, in the recipient.
• Don't waste costly-content on incapable-recipients. Practical rule.
• The sādhu knows the bhakti-mahimā. Find the right-receiver.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2374
• Abhanga 2377 — English: Gentle, sweet bāla-rūpa — that form from Kāḷī-time.
• Abhanga 2387
• Abhanga 2402