Abhanga 1613

Words and titles mean nothing if your inner mind knows they are false; only the person whose actions truly match their speech is priceless.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

Bōlē-taisā-cālē abhang. Contains the most-quoted gnomic-line in Tukaram.

The opening test-case: para-strītē mhaṇatām mātā — chitti lājavitēm chittī — calling another's-wife "mother" — the chitta is shamed by the chitta. Calling another-man's-wife "mother" — i.e. adopting the formal-respectful-mātā-address to disguise inappropriate-feeling. The chitta itself shames the chitta — one's own consciousness exposes the inner-deception. (The respectful-form mātā doesn't fool the inner-witness; internal-shame is its own indictment.)

The mouth-mind-mismatch: kāya bōlōniyām tōṇḍēm — manāmājī kāna-kōṇḍēm — what to say with the mouth — when within the mind is kāna-kōṇḍa (= embarrassed-cornered-feeling). What the mouth says is empty when the mind is cornered with embarrassment.

The dharma-talk-vs-impure-hand: dharma-dhāraṣṭa gōṣṭī sāngē — uṣṭyā hātē nuḍavī kāga — speaks bold-dharma-talk — with ucchiṣṭa (impure) hand wipes kāga (= crow / impropriety). Dharma-dhāraṣṭa = bold-dharmic-talk; uṣṭā hāta = unwashed / ritually-impure hand; kāga (literally crow) = base / impure / vulgar things. Speaks bold dharma in public, while privately handles base things with impure hand.

The karma-emerges-in-occasion: jēm jēm karma vasē angīm — tēm tēm āṭhavē prasangīm — whatever karma resides in the body — that very is remembered in occasion. Karma here = latent-disposition / accumulated-tendency; prasanga = occasion / triggering-context. Whatever residues are stored in the body emerge when the occasion calls them out.

The famous closing: bōlē taisā cālē — Tukā mhaṇē tō amōla — speaks-as-walks — Tuka says: that one is amōla (invaluable). The one whose walk matches his talk — that person is amōla (= priceless, invaluable). This is one of the most-quoted gnomic-lines in Marathi-bhakti-literature, used as a folk-aphorism throughout Maharashtra.

[T]

For someone today

For today: if you call another man's wife "mother" but your chitta is shamed by your own chitta, what good is the mouth's word when the mind is cornered with embarrassment?; one who speaks bold dharma in public but privately handles base things with impure hand betrays himself; whatever karma resides in the body emerges in the occasion; the one whose walk matches his words — Tuka says — that one is invaluable.

मराठी: आजसाठी: परस्त्रीला 'आई' म्हणलं, पण आतलं मन आतल्या मनालाच लाजवत असेल, तर मन कोंडलेलं असताना तोंडाच्या शब्दांचा काय उपयोग? जो सार्वजनिकपणे मोठमोठ्या धर्मगोष्टी सांगतो पण खासगीत अमंगळ गोष्टी अमंगळ हातांनी हाताळतो, तो स्वतःलाच फसवतो; अंगात जे जे कर्म वसलेलं असतं, तेच प्रसंगी आठवतं; जो बोलतो तसाच चालतो — तुका म्हणतो — तोच माणूस अमोल आहे.

Where this applies

• When you use a respectful title or polite word to cover up a feeling or intention you know is wrong
• When you give confident advice about right living in public while privately doing something you would be ashamed to have seen
• When you assume an old habit is gone, and then it resurfaces the moment a familiar situation arises
• When you are judging whether someone is trustworthy and want a simple test to apply

Related verses

• Abhanga 2425 — Surrender every part of your life completely to what you trust most, and let go of the res
• Abhanga 2477 — Like a child too absorbed in play to notice how tired he is, let go and trust the parent c
• Abhanga 2484 — Real devotion can include anger and demand, not just sweetness, because a devotee who trul
• Abhanga 2540 — Even the smallest, most helpless creature that cries out to God in danger is sheltered and