संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 289 of 4582

Abhanga 289

This abhang names three diagnostics for the talker-without-substance:

When you encounter talkers-without-substance — and the abhang names this register
When the words give no taste, no savor — and you accept this diagnostic
When the many-tongued vācāḷas are the root of falsehood — and you receive this critique

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

English: 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 "tells māṇḍē-purī (a sweet-dish) by mouth — knows the māta (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 no ruci (taste); no chavī (savor) in food"
बोलों जाणे अंगीं नाहीं शूरपण "knows-to-speak — no śūra-paṇa (bravery) in the body"
काय तें वचन जाळावें तें "what is that vacana? burn it!"
बहुतोंडे जे वाचाळ "the bahu-tomḍē (many-mouthed / many-tongued) vācāḷas (talkers)"
तेंग तें च मूळ लटिक्याचें "they are the mūla (root) of laṭikēm (falsehood)"

What it means

A anti-mere-talker abhang. Three claims:

  1. मांडे पुर्‍या मुखें सांगों जाणे मात — तोंडीं लाळ हात चोळी रितेtells 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.

  2. ऐसियाच्या गोष्टी फिक्या मिठेंविण — रुचि नेदी अन्न चवी नाहींsuch (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.

  3. बोलों जाणे अंगीं नाहीं शूरपण — काय तें वचन जाळावें तेंknows-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.

  4. तुका म्हणे बहुतोंडे जे वाचाळ — तेंग तें च मूळ लटिक्याचेंthe bahu-tomḍē vācāḷas — root of laṭikēm. The closing-judgment. Bahu-tomḍēmany-tongued / many-mouthed (= speaking in many directions, contradictory positions, to-many-audiences-differently). Vācāḷatalker, wordy-one. They are the mūla (root) of laṭikēm (falsehood / lie). The falsehood comes from the many-tongued talkers*.

[T]

For someone today

This abhang names three diagnostics for the talker-without-substance:

  1. 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.

  2. 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*.

  3. 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.)

  4. 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:

  1. 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.

  2. Substance-deficient talk fīkē* without salt. Real ruci (taste) आणि chavī (savor) substance ने येतं, elaboration ने नाही. Talk elaborate-and-fīkē असेलsubstance missing*.

  3. Body मध्ये śūra-paṇa* नसेल = vacana burn करा. तुम्ही boldly speak करता पण bodily-action / bravery ने back करू शकत नाहीvacana burn व्हायला हवं. जे stand-behind करू शकता त्यापेक्षा अधिक speak करू नका*.

  4. 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

Related verses