Abhanga 1358
Falsehood is easy to accept and truth is hard to swallow, so people keep clinging until suffering itself teaches them, and honest advice feels harsh only to a mind too restless to receive it.
The verse
लटिकें तें रुचे । साच कोणां ही न पचे ॥१॥ ऐसा माजल्याचा गुण । भोगें कळों येइल सीण ॥ध्रु.॥ वाढवी ममता । नाहीं वरपडला तो दूतां ॥२॥ कांहीं न मनी माकड । तुका उपदेश हेकड ॥३॥
Literal translation
The laṭika is what pleases (the taste) — sāca doesn't digest for anyone. Such is the mājala's guṇa — by bhōga, sīṇa will come to be known. (He) increases mamatā — (because) not yet caught by the dūtas. The mākaḍa (monkey) takes no (advice) — Tuka's upadeśa is hēkaḍa.
मराठी: लटिकें-च रुचतें — साच कोणाला पचत नाहीं. ऐसा माजल्याचा गुण — भोगानें-च सीण कळेल. ममता वाढवीतो — दूतांच्या (यम-दूतांच्या) हातीं अजून पडलेला नाहीं म्हणून. मांकडासारखा — कांहीं मानत नाहीं — Tukā उपदेश हेकड (कठोर) (वाटतो).
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| लटिकें तें रुचे | "the laṭika (false) — is what rucē (pleases the taste)" |
| साच कोणां ही न पचे | "sāca (truth) — for anyone — doesn't pacē (digest)" |
| ऐसा माजल्याचा गुण | "such is the mājala's (drunkard / overproud) guṇa" |
| भोगें कळों येइल सीण | "by bhōga — the sīṇa (toil-pain) will come to be known" |
| वाढवी ममता | "(he) increases mamatā (mine-feeling)" |
| नाहीं वरपडला तो दूतां | "(because he) is not yet varapaḍalā (caught) by the dūtas (yama's-messengers)" |
| कांहीं न मनी माकड | "the mākaḍa (monkey) — doesn't take any (advice)" |
| तुका उपदेश हेकड | "Tuka's upadeśa — is hēkaḍa (stiff / disagreeable)" |
What it means
Laṭika-pleases-sāca-doesn't-digest abhang. The diagnosis: laṭikēm tē rucē — sāca kōṇām hī na pacē — what'slaṭika(false) is what tastes good;sāca(truth) doesn't digest for anyone. The taste-buds-of-the-spirit prefer falsity; truth is rejected like indigestible food.
The diagnosis: aisā mājalyācā guṇa — such is themājala-lē-yācā(drunkard / proud-one)'s guṇa. Mājalā — the one in māja (drunken-pride). Bhōgē kaḷōm yē'ila sīṇa — only bybhōga(the suffering-of-experience) — the sīṇa (pain-toil) will come to be known. The proud-drunk only learns through eating his own karma's bhōga.
The reason for the increase of mamatā: vāḍhavī mamatā — nāhīm varapaḍalā tō dūtām — (he) increases mamatā — because (he) is not yetvarapaḍalā(caught / fallen-on) by thedūtas(= yama's-messengers / death-messengers). The drunkard-of-pride hasn't yet been caught by death-messengers; that's why mamatā grows freely.
The closing self-recognition: kāmhīm na manī mākaḍa — Tukā upadeśa hēkaḍa — themākaḍa(monkey) doesn't take any (advice) — Tuka's upadeśa ishēkaḍa(stiff, disagreeable to such ones). To the monkey-mind that wants to climb-and-jump, Tuka's take-the-truth upadeśa feels hēkaḍa — too stiff, too disagreeable. The fault is not in the upadeśa.
[T]
For someone today
For today: the false pleases the taste; truth won't digest; only bhōga teaches the sīṇa; mamatā grows until the dūtas come; my upadeśa feels stiff to the monkey-mind.
Where this applies
- When someone tells you a comfortable lie and it feels easier to accept than an uncomfortable truth
- When you notice you only really learn a lesson after living through its painful consequences, not before
- When you catch yourself growing more attached to status or possessions because nothing bad has happened to you yet
- When honest feedback from someone feels harsh and your first instinct is to dismiss it rather than sit with it