Abhanga 290
Genuine quality reveals itself naturally through being, without needing to be announced, and truth cannot be kept hidden any more than it can be manufactured by advertising.
The verse
न लगे चंदना सांगावा परिमळ । वनस्पतिमेळ हाकारुनी ॥१॥ अंतरीचें धांवे स्वभावें बाहेरी । धरितां ही परी आवरे ना ॥ध्रु.॥ सूर्य नाहीं जागें करीत या जना । प्रकाश किरणा कर म्हुन ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे मेघ नाचवी मयूरें । लपवितां खरें येत नाहीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Sandalwood does not need to announce its fragrance — calling-forth the plant-world. What is inside — runs out by svabhāva — even held, does not restrain. The sun does not wake people — by speaking of its light-ray-hands. Tuka says: clouds make peacocks dance — hiding, the kharē does not come.
मराठी: न लगे चंदना सांगावा परिमळ — वनस्पतिमेळ हाकारुनी. अंतरीचें धांवे स्वभावें बाहेरी — धरितां ही परी आवरे ना. सूर्य नाहीं जागें करीत या जना — प्रकाश किरणा कर म्हुन. तुकाराम म्हणतात — मेघ नाचवी मयूरें — लपवितां खरें येत नाहीं.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| न लगे चंदना सांगावा परिमळ | "sandalwood does not need toannounce(its)parimaḷa(fragrance)" |
| वनस्पतिमेळ हाकारुनी | "calling-forth the vanaspati-mēḷa (plant-world)" |
| अंतरीचें धांवे स्वभावें बाहेरी | "what is inside — runs out bysvabhāva (nature)" |
| धरितां ही परी आवरे ना | "even held — does not restrain" |
| सूर्य नाहीं जागें करीत या जना | "the sūrya does not wake people" |
| प्रकाश किरणा कर म्हुन | "(by) speaking of its prakāśa-kiraṇa-kara (light-ray-hands)" |
| मेघ नाचवी मयूरें | "megha (clouds) make mayūras (peacocks) dance" |
| लपवितां खरें येत नाहीं | "hiding — thekharē(truth) does not come" |
What it means
A substance-shows-itself abhang. Four image-clusters:
-
न लगे चंदना सांगावा परिमळ — sandalwood doesn't need to announce fragrance. The fragrance reveals itself; no announcement needed. Sandalwood does not call out: 'plant-world, come and notice my fragrance!'
-
अंतरीचें धांवे स्वभावें बाहेरी — धरितां ही परी आवरे ना — what is inside runs out by svabhāva — even held, does not restrain. The self-revealing principle. Inner-substance comes out by nature; even effort to restrain it cannot prevent the showing. (Compare 222's all-skilled begs for innocence; 246's don't squeeze the flower.)
-
सूर्य नाहीं जागें करीत या जना — प्रकाश किरणा कर म्हुन — sun does not wake people by speaking of its rays. The sun does not announce: 'Wake up! I have rays!' The rays themselves do the waking. Action-by-being, not action-by-announcement.
-
मेघ नाचवी मयूरें — लपवितां खरें येत नाहीं — clouds make peacocks dance — hiding, the kharē does not come. The cloud-and-peacock image: clouds approach and peacocks dance (the rain-prediction-instinct of peacocks). The clouds don't announce; the peacocks know by the cloud-arrival. And the closing: hiding — the truth does not come. The truth comes by self-revelation, not by hiding-and-announcing.
[T]
For someone today
Real quality doesn't need to announce itself. Sandalwood doesn't call out to advertise its fragrance, the sun doesn't need to talk about its rays to wake the world, and clouds don't have to explain themselves before the peacocks sense rain coming — what is genuine simply comes out on its own, and no effort to hold it back can stop it. The same is true for us: if we constantly feel the need to announce our worth or our work, that very need is a sign that something real is missing. Let your substance show itself through what you do, not through what you say about yourself. And remember that truth is not something you manufacture by talking about it — it reveals itself once you stop hiding, not when you advertise it.
मराठी: खरा गुण स्वतःहून प्रकट होतो, त्याला जाहिरात करण्याची गरज नसते. चंदन आपला सुगंध सांगत फिरत नाही, सूर्य आपल्या किरणांबद्दल बोलून जगाला जागं करत नाही, आणि ढग स्वतःचं स्पष्टीकरण न देताच मोरांना पावसाची चाहूल लागते — जे खरं असतं ते आपोआप बाहेर येतं, आणि ते रोखण्याचा प्रयत्न केला तरी रोखता येत नाही. आपल्या बाबतीतही हेच खरं आहे: जर आपल्याला सतत आपली किंमत किंवा आपलं काम सांगत राहावं वाटत असेल, तर हीच गरज दाखवते की काहीतरी खरं कमी आहे. आपला गुण आपल्या कृतीतून प्रकट होऊ द्या, स्वतःबद्दल बोलण्यातून नाही. आणि लक्षात ठेवा, सत्य हे बोलून निर्माण होत नाही — लपवणं थांबवलं की ते स्वतःच प्रकट होतं.
Where this applies
- Sandalwood doesn't announce fragrance. Real-quality is self-revealing.
- Inner-substance runs out by svabhāva. Cannot be hidden.
- Sun's rays wake without announcement. Action-by-being.
- Hiding cannot keep the truth. Stop hiding; let it come.