Abhanga 719

The sweetness or bitterness in how people speak comes from their own path in life, and both are ways the divine shows itself through human beings.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A some-words-sweet-some-bitter-deva's-vibhūti-three-kinds-of-people abhang. Three-kinds-of-people-aphorism register. Three claims:

1. एकांचीं उत्तरें — गोड-अमृत-मधुर — देवाच्या-विभूती — प्रारब्ध-गति-भिन्न. Some-sweet-words-deva's-vibhūti-claim. Some people'suttarē(replies) aregōḍa amṛta madhurē(sweet, like-amṛta, mellifluous); such aredeva'svibhūtī(manifest-glories, distinctive-displays); (divided) bybhinna prārabdha-gati(different prārabdha-paths). Sweet-speakers-are-deva's-vibhūti-by-prārabdha.

2. एकांचीं वचनें — कडू-तीक्ष्ण. Some-bitter-words-claim. Some people'svacanē(words) arekaḍu atyanta tīkṣaṇē(bitter, extremely sharp). Bitter-speakers-too.

3. Tuka: तीन प्रकार — जन केले. Three-kinds-claim. Tuka says:prakārācē tīna(three kinds) — has-made thejana(people). Three-kinds-of-people-made (sweet, bitter, and presumably-the-third — neutral / mixed / somewhere-in-between).

[T]

For someone today

Watch how differently people speak to you. Some words come out sweet as nectar, easy and kind; other words come out bitter and sharp enough to cut. Tukārām says this isn't random: it comes from each person's own path, their prārabdha, so the sweetness or bitterness you hear is really a glimpse of God's own countless forms showing up in human speech. He names three kinds of people this way made: the sweet-spoken, the bitter-spoken, and everyone else in between. Once you see it this way, a harsh word stings less, because you can recognize it as one more shape the divine takes, not a verdict on your worth.

मराठी: लोक तुमच्याशी किती वेगळ्या पद्धतीने बोलतात हे लक्षात घ्या. काहींचे शब्द अमृतासारखे गोड आणि सहज असतात, तर काहींचे शब्द अतिशय कडू आणि टोचणारे असतात. तुकाराम म्हणतात की हे काही योगायोगाने घडत नाही, तर प्रत्येकाच्या स्वतःच्या प्रारब्धाच्या गतीमुळे घडते, म्हणजे तुम्हाला ऐकू येणारी गोडी किंवा कडवटपणा हे देवाच्याच अगणित रूपांचे एक दर्शन आहे. तुकाराम तीन प्रकारचे लोक सांगतात: गोड बोलणारे, कडू बोलणारे आणि यांच्यामधले बाकीचे सगळे. हे असे पाहिले की एखादा कठोर शब्द कमी बोचतो, कारण तो तुमच्या किमतीचा निवाडा नसून देवाचेच एक रूप आहे असे तुम्ही ओळखू शकता.

Where this applies

• Sweet speech. Vibhūti.
• Bitter speech. Vibhūti.
• Three kinds. Diversity.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2467 — What looks like your whole world, like a fig to the insect living inside it, is only a tin
• Abhanga 4481 — Tukaram promises that sincerely calling on the Lord's name, knowingly or unknowingly, with
• Abhanga 4482 — Tukaram teaches that no ritual equals sincerely speaking the Lord's name, that self-center
• Abhanga 4497 — Tukaram describes a life so soaked in devotion that Krishna's presence fills every ordinar