Abhanga 2019
For today: does the snake eat food? — what kind of dhyāna is the heron's?; inner buddhi false — belly full of bad; does the rat not run? — the donkey smears himself with ash; Tuka says — the crocodile in the water — why don't the crows bathe?
The verse
काय सर्प खातो अन्न । काय ध्यान बगाचें ॥१॥ अंतरींची बुद्धि खोटी । भरलें पोटीं वाईंट ॥ध्रु.॥ काय उंदीर नाहीं धांवीं । राख लावी गाढव ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे सुसर जळीं । काउळीं कां न न्हाती ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: Does the snake eat food? — what kind of dhyāna is the heron's? Inner buddhi is false — belly full of bad. Does the rat not run? — the donkey smears himself with ash. Tuka says: the crocodile in the water — why don't the crows bathe?
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| काय सर्प खातो अन्न | "does the snake eat food" |
| काय ध्यान बगाचें | "what kind of dhyāna is the heron's" |
| अंतरींची बुद्धि खोटी | "the inner buddhi is false" |
| भरलें पोटीं वाईंट | "belly full of bad" |
| काय उंदीर नाहीं धांवीं | "does the rat not run" |
| राख लावी गाढव | "the donkey smears himself with ash" |
| तुका म्हणे सुसर जळीं | "Tuka says — the crocodile in the water" |
| काउळीं कां न न्हाती | "why don't the crows bathe" |
What it means
False-pious-creatures + outer-bath-without-inner-cleansing abhang.
The opening — exposing-false-pious creatures: kāya sarpa khātō anna — kāya dhyāna bagāchē — does the snake eat food? — what kind of dhyāna is the heron's?. The snake doesn't-eat-grain (it eats other-creatures); the heron's-dhyāna (stillness) is just-fishing-pretense. (= echoing 2015's baisalāsī jaisā baga.)
The buddhi-charge: antarīñchī buddhi khōṭī — bharalē pōṭīm vāīmṭa — the inner buddhi is false — belly full of bad. False-bhaktas have inner-buddhi false; belly-full-of-evil.
The donkey-and-rat: kāya undīra nāhīm dhāmvīm — rākha lāvī gāḍhava — does the rat not run? — the donkey smears himself with ash. The rat-runs (its-nature); the donkey-smears-himself-with-ash (mimicking sādhu's-vibhūti) — classic-image of-the-false-sādhu (= rolling in ash to appear-renunciate).
The closing — crows and crocodile: Tukā mhaṇē susara jaḷīm — kā'uḷīm kām na nhātī — Tuka says: the crocodile in the water — why don't the crows bathe?. Just-because-the-crocodile-lives-in-water doesn't-make-it-pure; just-because-crows-can't-bathe-properly doesn't-make-them-sādhus. Outer-water doesn't-purify-the-inner-nature.
[T]
For someone today
For today: does the snake eat food? — what kind of dhyāna is the heron's?; inner buddhi false — belly full of bad; does the rat not run? — the donkey smears himself with ash; Tuka says — the crocodile in the water — why don't the crows bathe?
Where this applies
- Snake-doesn't-eat-grain-heron's-fake-dhyāna.* Sarpa-anna-bagāchē-dhyāna.
- Inner-buddhi-false-belly-bad.* Antarīñchī-buddhi-khōṭī-pōṭīm-vāīmṭa.
- Donkey-smears-ash-imitating-sādhu.* Undīra-dhāmvīm-gāḍhava-rākha.
- Outer-water-doesn't-purify.* Susara-jaḷīm-kā'uḷīm-na-nhātī.