Abhanga 302
English: To the blind — all jana are blind — one's own no eyes-and-dṛṣṭi.
The verse
आंधळ्यासि जन अवघे चि आंधळे । आपणासि डोळे दृष्टी नाहीं ॥१॥ रोग्या विषतुल्य लागे हें मिष्टान्न । तोंडासि कारण चवी नाहीं ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे शुद्ध नाहीं जो आपण । तया त्रिभुवन अवघें खोटें ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: To the blind — all jana are blind — one's own no eyes-and-dṛṣṭi. To the rōgī, sweet-food tastes viṣa-tulya — the mouth has no chavī — that is the cause. Tuka says: one who is not śuddha himself — for him, the whole tribhuvana is false.
मराठी: आंधळ्यासि जन अवघे चि आंधळे — आपणासि डोळे दृष्टी नाहीं. रोग्या विषतुल्य लागे हें मिष्टान्न — तोंडासि कारण चवी नाहीं. तुकाराम म्हणतात — शुद्ध नाहीं जो आपण — तया त्रिभुवन अवघें खोटें.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| आंधळ्यासि जन अवघे चि आंधळे | "to the āndhaḷā (blind) — all jana (people) are blind" |
| आपणासि डोळे दृष्टी नाहीं | "one's own — no eyes-and-dṛṣṭi**" |
| रोग्या विषतुल्य लागे हें मिष्टान्न | "to the rōgī (diseased) — sweet-food tastes viṣa-tulya (poison-equal)" |
| तोंडासि कारण चवी नाहीं | "the mouth — no chavī (savor) — is the kāraṇa (cause)" |
| शुद्ध नाहीं जो आपण | "one who is not śuddha himself" |
| तया त्रिभुवन अवघें खोटें | "for him, the whole tribhuvana is khōṭē (false)" |
What it means
A precise self-state-determines-perception abhang. Three claims:
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आंधळ्यासि जन अवघे चि आंधळे — आपणासि डोळे दृष्टी नाहीं — to the blind, all are blind — one's own no eyes-and-dṛṣṭi. The blindness-projection. The blind person's world is filled with blind-others — because his own dṛṣṭi is absent. He projects his blindness onto everyone.
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रोग्या विषतुल्य लागे हें मिष्टान्न — तोंडासि कारण चवी नाहीं — to the diseased, sweet-food tastes poisonous — mouth has no chavī. The taste-distortion. The diseased mouth tastes the sweet as poison. The cause is the mouth's lack of chavī, not the food's actual quality. The food is sweet; the diseased tongue cannot register it.
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तुका म्हणे शुद्ध नाहीं जो आपण — तया त्रिभुवन अवघें खोटें — one not-śuddha himself — for him, tribhuvana is khōṭē. The generalized-claim. One who is not śuddha (= pure, clean, of-clear-perception) sees the whole tribhuvana as khōṭē (false). The not-purity is in the perceiver, not in the tribhuvana.
[T]
For someone today
This abhang names the precise self-state-determines-perception rule:
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You see what you are. Āndhaḷyāsi jana avaghē chi āndhaḷē. The blind sees blind everywhere. Apply to yourself: when you find yourself seeing X everywhere (= all are corrupt, all are foolish, all are dishonest, all are deceitful), check whether X is your own state projecting outward.
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Distorted-taste is in the mouth, not in the food. Rōgyā viṣa-tulya — toṇḍāsi kāraṇa chavī nāhī. When sweet-food tastes poison-like to you, the cause is your-mouth's-lack-of-chavī, not the food's-actual-quality. Check the perceiver before blaming the perceived.
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Not-śuddha self → tribhuvana looks false. Śuddha nāhī jō āpaṇa — tayā tribhuvana avaghē khōṭē. The radical generalization. If you experience the whole tribhuvana as false / corrupt / fake / hopeless, check your own śuddhi. The not-śuddhi is in you; the tribhuvana is not.
This is psychologically important: the standard psychological-reaction to widespread-disappointment is to blame the world; Tukaram's check is the reverse: examine your own state first. If the world looks all-fake, the not-śuddhi is in you.
(Caveat: this is not claiming the world is never-corrupt or never-fake; it is naming the perception-side's contribution. The world can be corrupt and your-perception-can-be-distorted; both can be true. But Tukaram's emphasis is on the perceiver-side check because that is what you can actually-correct.)
For today: when you see X everywhere, ask: is X my own state projecting?; when good things taste like poison, ask: is the chavī missing from my mouth?; when the whole tribhuvana looks false, ask: am I śuddha?
This abhang is one of Tukaram's most-direct psychological-insights: self-state determines what you see. (Compare 249's the kavaḷa in the eye dirties the bright.)
मराठी: ही ओवी precise self-state-determines-perception rule नाव सांगते:
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तुम्ही काय आहात ते पाहता. आंधळ्यासि जन अवघे चि आंधळे. आंधळा सर्वत्र आंधळे पाहतो. स्वतःला लागू करा: कुठे X सर्वत्र पाहत असाल (= सर्व corrupt, सर्व foolish, सर्व dishonest, सर्व deceitful) — X तुमची स्वतःची state outward project होतेय का check करा.
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Distorted-taste mouth मध्ये, food मध्ये नाही. रोग्या विषतुल्य — तोंडासि कारण चवी नाहीं. Sweet-food तुम्हाला poison-like वाटतंय — cause तुमच्या-मुखाची-chavī-कमी, food ची-actual-quality नाही. Perceived ला blame करण्यापूर्वी perceiver check करा.
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Not-śuddha self → tribhuvana false दिसतो. शुद्ध नाहीं जो आपण — तया त्रिभुवन अवघें खोटें. Radical generalization. तुम्ही whole tribhuvana false / corrupt / fake / hopeless experience करत असाल — तुमची स्वतःची śuddhi check करा. Not-śuddhi तुमच्यात आहे; tribhuvana मध्ये नाही.
Psychologically महत्त्वाचं: widespread-disappointment वर standard psychological-reaction जगाला blame करणं; तुकारामांचा check उलट: आधी स्वतःची state examine करा. जग all-fake दिसत असेल — not-śuddhi तुमच्यात आहे.
(Caveat: हे जग कधीच-corrupt-नसतं किंवा कधीच-fake-नसतं असा दावा नाही; perception-side चं contribution नाव सांगणं. जग corrupt असू शकतं आणि तुमची-perception-distorted असू शकते; दोन्ही true. पण तुकारामांचं emphasis perceiver-side check वर कारण तेच तुम्ही actually-correct करू शकता.)
आज: तुम्ही X सर्वत्र पाहत असाल, विचारा: X माझ्या स्वतःच्या-state ची projection आहे का?; good things poison-like taste होत असतील, विचारा: माझ्या मुखातून chavī missing आहे का?; whole tribhuvana false दिसत असेल, विचारा: मी śuddha आहे का?
ही तुकारामांच्या most-direct psychological-insights पैकी एक: self-state काय दिसतं ते determine करते.
Where this applies
- Blind sees blind everywhere. Self-state projection.
- Distorted-taste is in the mouth, not the food. Check perceiver before blaming perceived.
- Not-śuddha self → tribhuvana looks false. Check your own śuddhi.