Abhanga 573

True faith can carry a person like a floating stone, but no outside effort or kindness can change someone whose nature is set against changing, since a thing's inner nature decides the outcome, not what is poured onto it.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A famous bhāva-saves-stone-khaḷa-harder-than-vajra abhang. Four-fold-image-then-fortiori register. Three claims:

1. भाव धरी तया तारील पाषाण — दुर्जना सज्जन काय करी — bhāva — tārīla pāṣāṇa — durjana — sajjana — what? The opening-bhāva-claim: one who holdsbhāva — even a pāṣāṇa (stone) will save him;but for the durjana (wicked-one) — what can the sajjana (good-person) do?Bhāva-saves-even-with-stone; sajjana-can't-save-the-durjana.Bhāva-not-external-cause-determines-saving. (Thebhāva-pāṣāṇa-tārīla line refers to the Rāmāyaṇa-trope: in Rāma's army the stones-floated-because-the-builders-wrote-Rāma's-name-on-them-with-bhāva.)

2. करितां नव्हे नीट श्वानाचें हें पुंस — खापरा परीस काय करी — काय करिल तया साकरेचें आळें — बीज तैसीं फळें येती तया — dog's pumsa — nīṭa not — khāparā — parīsa — sākarē-cē āḷē — bīja — phaḷa. The triple-image-claim: the dog'spumsa(tail) doesn'tnīṭa(become-straight) by trying (= no matter how long you try, the dog-tail stays curled); what can theparīsa(philosopher's-stone, which turns iron-to-gold) do to akhāparā(potsherd)? (= the parīsa-effect doesn't apply to potsherd); what does asākarē-cē āḷē(a sugar-pit, a hollow filled-with-sugar) do? — thebīja(seed) gives suchphaḷa(fruit) — to it (= even if you pour sugar in the pit, the seed determines the fruit, not the surrounding-sugar). Three village-images: dog-tail, parīsa-potsherd, sugar-pit-and-seed. Internal-nature-determines-result, not-external-treatment.

3. तुका म्हणे वज्र भंगे एक वेळ — कठीण हा खळ तयाहूनी — Tuka says: vajra — bhamgē — once — khaḷa — kaṭhīṇa — more. The closing-fortiori: Tuka says:vajra(diamond / thunderbolt — the hardest substance / weapon) —bhamgē(breaks) — at-least one-time;but the khaḷa (wicked-one) is kaṭhīṇa (hard)— more than that. The wicked-is-harder-than-vajra-itself. Strongest-fortiori-against-changing-the-wicked.

[T]

For someone today

Tukaram makes one of his most famous claims: if you hold true faith, even a stone can carry you across, but no good person can save someone who refuses to change. He backs this with three homely images: a dog's tail never straightens no matter how long you try, the philosopher's stone that turns iron to gold cannot transform a broken clay shard, and pouring sugar into a hollow doesn't change what seed grows there, because a thing's inner nature decides the outcome, not what is poured onto it from outside. He closes with a sharpened warning: even a diamond breaks eventually, but a truly wicked person is harder to break than that.

मराठी: तुकाराम एक अत्यंत प्रसिद्ध विधान करतात, खरा भाव धरला तर दगडसुद्धा तारून नेतो, पण जो बदलायलाच तयार नाही त्याला कोणताही सज्जन वाचवू शकत नाही. यासाठी ते तीन साधी उदाहरणे देतात, कुत्र्याची शेपटी कितीही प्रयत्न केला तरी सरळ होत नाही, परीस लोखंडाचे सोने करतो पण फुटक्या खापराचे काहीच करू शकत नाही, आणि साखरेच्या खळग्यात बी टाकले तरी बी जसे असेल तसेच फळ येते, कारण वस्तूचा आतला स्वभावच निकाल ठरवतो, बाहेरून काय ओतले जाते ते नाही. शेवटी ते अधिक धारदार इशारा देतात, हिराही एकदा तरी फुटतो, पण खरोखरचा दुष्ट माणूस त्याहूनही कठीण असतो.

Where this applies

• Bhāva saves stone. Bhāva-priority.
• Dog-tail; parīsa-potsherd; sugar-pit-seed. Triple-image.
• Vajrabreaks;khaḷa harder. Fortiori.
• Don't-waste-effort. Khaḷa-incurable.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2374 — Rather than scattering devotion among many lesser deities who demand offerings, Tukaram sa
• Abhanga 2377 — This detailed meditation on Vitthal standing on a brick at Pandharpur, out of love for his
• Abhanga 2387 — Accept whatever life brings with reverence, and place the burden on God rather than carryi
• Abhanga 2402 — For today: happily take rebirths — IF among the Paṇḍharī-Vārkarīs ; Hari-dāsas' company is