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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 573 of 4582

Abhanga 573

English: Bhāva — tārīla pāṣāṇa — durjana — sajjana — what?

When bhāva saves but no external can change the wicked — and you have to recognize this register
When seeds-determine-fruit, sugar-pit-doesn't-help — and you accept this rule
When the khaḷa is harder than vajra — and you receive this image

The verse

भाव धरी तया तारील पाषाण । दुर्जना सज्जन काय करी ॥१॥ करितां नव्हे नीट श्वानाचें हें पुंस । खापरा परीस काय करी ॥ध्रु.॥ काय करिल तया साकरेचें आळें । बीज तैसीं फळें येती तया ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे वज्र भंगे एक वेळ । कठीण हा खळ तयाहूनी ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: Bhāva — tārīla pāṣāṇa — durjana — sajjana — what? Dog's pumsa — nīṭa not — khāparā — parīsa — what? Sākarē-cē āḷē — what? — bīja — phaḷa. Tuka says: vajra — bhamgē — once — khaḷa — kaṭhīṇa — more.

मराठी: भाव धरी तया तारील पाषाण — दुर्जना सज्जन काय करी?. करितां नव्हे नीट श्वानाचें हें पुंस — खापरा परीस काय करी?. काय करिल तया साकरेचें आळें — बीज तैसीं फळें येती तया. तुकाराम म्हणतां — वज्र भंगे एक वेळ — कठीण हा खळ तयाहूनी.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
भाव धरी तया तारील पाषाण "bhāva — tārīla pāṣāṇa"
दुर्जना सज्जन काय करी "durjana — sajjana — what?"
करितां नव्हे नीट श्वानाचें हें पुंस "dog's pumsa — nīṭa not"
खापरा परीस काय करी "khāparā — parīsa — what?"
काय करिल तया साकरेचें आळें "sākarē-cē āḷē — what?"
बीज तैसीं फळें येती तया "bīja — phaḷa — comes"
तुका म्हणे वज्र भंगे एक वेळ "vajra — bhamgē — one time"
कठीण हा खळ तयाहूनी "khaḷa — kaṭhīṇa — more"

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 holds bhāva — 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. (The bhāva-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's pumsa (tail) doesn't nīṭa (become-straight) by trying (= no matter how long you try, the dog-tail stays curled); what can the parīsa (philosopher's-stone, which turns iron-to-gold) do to a khāparā (potsherd)? (= the parīsa-effect doesn't apply to potsherd); what does a sākarē-cē āḷē (a sugar-pit, a hollow filled-with-sugar) do? — the bīja (seed) gives such phaḷa (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

This abhang names the bhāva-saves-stone-khaḷa-harder-than-vajra register:

  1. Bhāva saves; even stone floats with it. Bhāva tārīla pāṣāṇa. Internal-stance-determines-saving; even external-stones-float with bhāva. Bhāva-priority*.

  2. Sajjana can't save the durjana; dog's tail doesn't straighten; parīsa can't transmute potsherd; sugar-pit doesn't change the seed. Sajjana nakō — pumsa nīṭa nakō — parīsa-khāparā — sākarē-cē-āḷē-bīja. Four images: external-treatment doesn't change internal-nature. Don't-try-to-change-the-wicked-by-external-means*.

  3. Vajra breaks once; khaḷa is harder. Vajra bhamgē — khaḷa kaṭhīṇa. The wicked is harder than diamond; even-the-hardest-breaks-once but the wicked-doesn't. Strongest-fortiori*.

For today: recognize that bhāva saves, not external-treatment; external-effort can't change internal-nature (dog's tail, khāparā, seed); the khaḷa is harder than vajra. Don't-waste-effort-on-the-incurable-wicked.

This abhang is Tukaram's bhāva-priority-over-external-and-khaḷa-incurability register — one of the most-cited Tukaram-abhangs. Compare 0554 fajīta-the-khaḷa; same khaḷa-treatment but here with the analytical-images. The bhāva-tārīla-pāṣāṇa line is one of the most-quoted in all of Marathi-bhakti.

मराठी: ही ओवी bhāva-saves-stone-khaḷa-harder-than-vajra register नाव सांगते:

  1. Bhāva saves; stone सुद्धा float. भाव तारील पाषाण. Internal-stance saving determine; bhāva ने external-stones सुद्धा float. Bhāva-priority*.

  2. Sajjana durjana save करू शकत नाही; dog च tail straight नाही; parīsa khāparā transmute करू शकत नाही; sugar-pit seed बदलत नाही. सज्जन नको — पुंस नीट नको — परीस-खापरा — साकरें-च-आळे-बीज. चार images: external-treatment internal-nature बदलत नाही. Wicked external-means ने बदलण्याचा प्रयत्न नका*.

  3. Vajra एकदा भांगते; khaḷa harder. वज्र भांगे — खळ कठीण. Wicked vajra-पेक्षा-harder; hardest सुद्धा एकदा-break पण wicked नाही. Strongest-fortiori*.

आज: Bhāva saves, external-treatment नाही ओळखा; External-effort internal-nature बदलू शकत नाही (dog-tail, khāparā, seed); Khaḷa vajra पेक्षा-harder. Incurable-wicked वर effort waste नका.

Tukaram च-bhāva-priority-over-external-and-khaḷa-incurability-register — Most-cited Tukaram-abhangs पैकी एक. 0554 fajīta-the-khaḷa compare; तीच khaḷa-treatment पण इथे analytical-images सोबत. Bhāva-tārīla-pāṣāṇa line Marathi-bhakti च्या most-quoted मध्ये एक.

Where this applies

Bhakti

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