Abhanga 1649
For today: one drop of liquor falling into a pot of milk — once fallen, the milk is no longer pure; in just that way, don't do śravaṇa from a wicked mouth — your mind is polluted by their ahankāra; what use are the thirty-two auspicious-marks if the nose is missing — they have all gone in vain; Tuka says — even one fly doesn't let food digest — and the wicked-association follows you like your own dog.
The verse
दुधाचे घागरी मद्याचा हा बुंद । पडिलिया शुद्ध नव्हे मग ॥१॥ तैसे खळां मुखें न करावें श्रवण । अहंकारें मन विटाळलें ॥ध्रु.॥ काय करावीं तें बत्तीस लक्षणें । नाक नाहीं तेणें वांयां गेलीं ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे अन्न जिरों नेदी माशी । आपुलिया जैशी सवें श्वगॉ ॥३॥
Literal translation
A drop of liquor in milk's pot — fallen, no longer pure. Thus from wicked-mouth, śravaṇa should not be done — by ahankāra, mind is polluted. What use those 32 lakṣaṇas — with no nose, all gone in vain. Tuka says: fly doesn't let food digest — like one's own dog follows.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| दुधाचे घागरी मद्याचा हा बुंद | "in milk's pot — this drop — of liquor" |
| पडिलिया शुद्ध नव्हे मग | "fallen — pure — no longer — then" |
| तैसे खळां मुखें न करावें श्रवण | "thus — from wicked-mouth — not should be done — śravaṇa" |
| अहंकारें मन विटाळलें | "by ahankāra — mind — polluted" |
| काय करावीं तें बत्तीस लक्षणें | "what use — those — thirty-two lakṣaṇas" |
| नाक नाहीं तेणें वांयां गेलीं | "no nose — by that — gone in vain" |
| तुका म्हणे अन्न जिरों नेदी माशी | "Tuka says — food — digesting — doesn't let — fly" |
| आपुलिया जैशी सवें श्वगॉ | "like one's own — dog — follows" |
What it means
Anti-listening-to-wicked + drop-of-liquor-in-milk-pot abhang.
The opening image: dūdhācē ghāgarī madyācā hā bunda — paḍiliyā śuddha navhē maga — a drop of liquor in milk's pot — once fallen, no longer pure. Single-drop irreversibly-pollutes the entire pot. The single-pollutant-image.
The application: taisē khaḷām mukhē na karāvēm śravaṇa — ahankārē mana viṭāḷalēm — thus from wicked-mouth, śravaṇa should not be done — by ahankāra, mind has been polluted. Just one wicked-listening-session, and your mind becomes irreversibly-polluted by their ahankāra.
The 32-lakṣaṇa-image: kāya karāvīm tēm battīsa lakṣaṇē — nāka nāhīm tēṇē vāyām gēlīm — what use those 32 lakṣaṇas — no nose, gone in vain. Battīsa lakṣaṇa = the 32 traditional auspicious-bodily-marks (mahāpuruṣa-lakṣaṇa), used in marriage-arrangements and yogic-physiognomy to determine an excellent person. But if the nose is missing, all 32-marks are in vain — one critical-defect destroys all virtues. (Striking-folk-image: defect-of-character invalidates all 32 outward-marks.)
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē anna jirōm nēdī māśī — āpuliyā jaiśī savē śvaga — Tuka says: fly doesn't let food digest — like one's own dog follows. The fly that lands on food (= contamination by even one fly spoils digestion); the dog that follows you wherever you go. (Wicked-association-follows-and-spoils-everything.)
[T]
For someone today
For today: one drop of liquor falling into a pot of milk — once fallen, the milk is no longer pure; in just that way, don't do śravaṇa from a wicked mouth — your mind is polluted by their ahankāra; what use are the thirty-two auspicious-marks if the nose is missing — they have all gone in vain; Tuka says — even one fly doesn't let food digest — and the wicked-association follows you like your own dog.
Where this applies
- When you let one toxic conversation or one arrogant person's words linger in your mind for the rest of the day.
- When someone looks impressive on paper but one core flaw undoes all their other qualities.
- When you keep spending time with people whose influence quietly spoils your outlook, like a fly on food.
- When you're tempted to dismiss a small compromise as harmless, forgetting how quickly it can spread.