Abhanga 289
Talk without real substance or courage behind it is worthless and should be discarded, and speaking differently to please different audiences is the root of dishonesty.
The verse
मांडे पुर्या मुखें सांगों जाणे मात । तोंडीं लाळ हात चोळी रिते ॥१॥ ऐसियाच्या गोष्टी फिक्या मिठेंविण । रुचि नेदी अन्न चवी नाहीं ॥ध्रु.॥ बोलों जाणे अंगीं नाहीं शूरपण । काय तें वचन जाळावें तें ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे बहुतोंडे जे वाचाळ । तेंग तें च मूळ लटिक्याचें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Tells māṇḍē-purī by mouth — saliva on tongue, hand rubs empty. Such (one's) talk is fīkē without salt; gives no ruci, no chavī in food. Speaks — but no śūra-paṇa in the body. What is that vacana? — burn it. Tuka says: bahu-tomḍē vācāḷas — they are the root of laṭikēm.
मराठी: मांडे पुर्या मुखें सांगों जाणे मात — तोंडीं लाळ हात चोळी रिते. ऐसियाच्या गोष्टी फिक्या मिठेंविण — रुचि नेदी अन्न चवी नाहीं. बोलों जाणे अंगीं नाहीं शूरपण — काय तें वचन जाळावें तें. तुकाराम म्हणतात — बहुतोंडे जे वाचाळ — तेंग तें च मूळ लटिक्याचें.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| मांडे पुर्या मुखें सांगों जाणे मात | "tellsmāṇḍē-purī(a sweet-dish) by mouth — knows themāta(account / talk)" |
| तोंडीं लाळ हात चोळी रिते | "saliva on the tongue, hand rubs empty" |
| ऐसियाच्या गोष्टी फिक्या मिठेंविण | "such (a one's) talk —fīkē(insipid) — without salt" |
| रुचि नेदी अन्न चवी नाहीं | "gives noruci(taste); nochavī(savor) in food" |
| बोलों जाणे अंगीं नाहीं शूरपण | "knows-to-speak — nośūra-paṇa(bravery) in the body" |
| काय तें वचन जाळावें तें | "what is thatvacana? burn it!" |
| बहुतोंडे जे वाचाळ | "thebahu-tomḍē(many-mouthed / many-tongued)vācāḷas(talkers)" |
| तेंग तें च मूळ लटिक्याचें | "they are themūla(root) oflaṭikēm(falsehood)" |
What it means
A anti-mere-talker abhang. Three claims:
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मांडे पुर्या मुखें सांगों जाणे मात — तोंडीं लाळ हात चोळी रिते — tells māṇḍē-purī by mouth — saliva on tongue, hand rubs empty. The empty-talker image. Māṇḍē-purī — a sweet-dish. The one who tells of the dish: the saliva collects on the tongue (= the imagination produces the body-effect) but the hand is empty rubbing (= the actual food is absent). Talk produces saliva but not food.
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ऐसियाच्या गोष्टी फिक्या मिठेंविण — रुचि नेदी अन्न चवी नाहीं — such (one's) talk fīkē without salt — no ruci, no chavī. Fīkē (insipid, without-flavor). Salt is the flavor-bringer; talk-without-substance lacks salt. The substance-deficient talk gives no real-taste, no real-savor.
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बोलों जाणे अंगीं नाहीं शूरपण — काय तें वचन जाळावें तें — knows-to-speak — no śūra-paṇa in body — burn that vacana. The bravery-test: speech-without-bodily-bravery is to-be-burned. The vacana that has no body-bravery to back it is empty and harmful.
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तुका म्हणे बहुतोंडे जे वाचाळ — तेंग तें च मूळ लटिक्याचें — the bahu-tomḍē vācāḷas — root of laṭikēm. The closing-judgment. Bahu-tomḍē — many-tongued / many-mouthed (= speaking in many directions, contradictory positions, to-many-audiences-differently). Vācāḷa — talker, wordy-one. They are themūla(root) oflaṭikēm(falsehood / lie). Thefalsehood comes from the many-tongued talkers.
[T]
For someone today
This abhang names three diagnostics for the talker-without-substance:
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Talk produces saliva but not food. Toṇḍī lāḷa — hāta cōḷī ritē. The imagination produces the body-effect but the hand-rubbing is empty. If your talk is producing saliva but your hand-action is empty, you are in the māṇḍē-purī-talker mode.
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Substance-deficient talk is fīkē without salt. Real ruci (taste) and chavī (savor) come from substance, not from elaboration. If the talk is elaborate-and-fīkē, the substance is missing.
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No śūra-paṇa in body = burn the vacana. If you speak boldly but cannot back it with bodily-action / bravery, the vacana should be burned. Don't speak more than you can stand-behind. (Compare 261's sthiti-then-tyāga; 273's not me — niraya-vāsī piśā.)
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Many-tongued talkers are the root of falsehood. Bahu-tomḍē vācāḷa = mūla laṭikēm. If you find yourself speaking different positions to different audiences, you are generating the falsehood-root. The single-tongued speech (consistent across audiences) is the truth-producing form.
For today: check your talk for the saliva-without-food pattern; check for fīkē-without-salt; check for bodily-bravery to back the speech; speak single-toungue across audiences. The talker-without-substance is the root of the world's falsehood.
मराठी: ही ओवी talker-without-substance साठी तीन diagnostics नाव सांगते:
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Talk saliva produce करतं food नाही. तोंडी लाळ — हात चोळी रिते. Imagination body-effect produce करतं पण hand-rubbing empty. तुमचं talk saliva produce करत असेल पण hand-action empty असेल — तुम्ही māṇḍē-purī-talker mode मध्ये.
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Substance-deficient talk fīkē without salt. Real ruci (taste) आणि chavī (savor) substance ने येतं, elaboration ने नाही. Talk elaborate-and-fīkē असेल — substance missing.
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Body मध्ये śūra-paṇa नसेल = vacana burn करा. तुम्ही boldly speak करता पण bodily-action / bravery ने back करू शकत नाही — vacana burn व्हायला हवं. जे stand-behind करू शकता त्यापेक्षा अधिक speak करू नका.
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Many-tongued talkers falsehood चं root. बहु-तोंडे वाचाळ = मूळ लटिक्याचें. तुम्ही different positions to different audiences speak करत असाल — तुम्ही falsehood-root generate करत आहात. Single-tongued speech (consistent across audiences) truth-producing form.
आज: तुमचं talk saliva-without-food pattern साठी check करा; fīkē-without-salt साठी check करा; bodily-bravery speech ला back करायला check करा; audiences ओलांडून single-tongue speak करा. Talker-without-substance world च्या falsehood चं root.
Where this applies
- Saliva-without-food pattern. Talk produces effect, hand stays empty.
- Fīkē without salt. Substance-deficient.
- No-śūra-paṇa in body — burn the vacana. Don't speak beyond what you can back.
- Bahu-tomḍē vācāḷa = root of falsehood. Single-tongue across audiences.