Abhanga 2262
Truthful action naturally grows your own good just as dishonest action grows your own suffering, and no pleasant surroundings can change what a thing truly is at its root.
The verse
ऊंस वाढवितां वाढली गोडी । गुळ साकर हे त्याची परवडी ॥१॥ सत्यकर्में आचरें रे । बापा सत्यकर्में आचरें रे । सत्यकर्में आचरें होईंल हित । वाढेल दुःख असत्याचें ॥ध्रु.॥ साकरेच्या आळां लाविला कांदा । स्थूळसानापरि वाढे दुगपधा ॥२॥ सत्य असत्य हें ऐसिया परी । तुका म्हणे याचा विचार करीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Growing sugarcane, sweetness grew with it — jaggery, sugar are its varieties. Practice satya-karma, my son — practice satya-karma — practice satya-karma, hita will arise — the duḥkha of asatya will grow. Onion planted in sugar's-bed — grows in stout-and-fine manner — but [retains] dvigandha (double-stink). Such is satya-asatya — Tukā says — consider this.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ऊंस वाढवितां वाढली गोडी | "growing sugarcane, sweetness grew with it" |
| गुळ साकर हे त्याची परवडी | "jaggery, sugar are its varieties" |
| सत्यकर्में आचरें रे बापा | "practice satya-karma, my son" |
| सत्यकर्में आचरें होईंल हित | "practice satya-karma — hita will arise" |
| वाढेल दुःख असत्याचें | "the duḥkha of asatya will grow" |
| साकरेच्या आळां लाविला कांदा | "onion planted in sugar's-bed" |
| स्थूळसानापरि वाढे दुगपधा | "grows in stout-and-fine manner — but [retains] dvigandha" |
| सत्य असत्य हें ऐसिया परी | "such is satya-asatya" |
| तुका म्हणे याचा विचार करीं | "Tukā says — consider this" |
What it means
Sugarcane-vs-onion-in-sugar-bed + satya-karma-grows-hita-asatya-grows-duḥkha abhang.
The sugarcane-image: ūsa vāḍhavitām vāḍhalī gōḍī — guḷa sākara hē tyāchī paravaḍī — growing sugarcane, sweetness grew with it — jaggery, sugar are its varieties. As sugarcane-grows, sweetness-grows-with-it; the varieties-(of this sweetness) are jaggery-and-sugar. Satya-karma is-like-sugarcane: it-produces-only-sweet-products.
The repeated-injunction: satya-karmē āchaḷē rē bāpā — satya-karmē āchaḷē rē — satya-karmē āchaḷē hō'īmla hita — vāḍhēla duḥkha asatyāchē — practice satya-karma, my son — practice satya-karma — practice satya-karma, hita will arise — the duḥkha of asatya will grow. Triple-repetition for emphasis. Satya-karma yields-hita; asatya yields-duḥkha — both-grow-in-their-nature.
The onion-in-sugar's-bed image: sākarēchyā āḷām lāvilā kāndā — sthūḷa-sānā-pari vāḍhē dugapadhā — onion planted in sugar's-bed — grows in stout-and-fine manner — but [retains] dvigandha (double-stink). Āḷā = bed, planting-row. Dugapadhā (= dvigandha) = double-stink, two-fold-odor. An onion planted-in-a-sugar-bed grows-fat-and-fine, but-retains-its-double-stink (= the onion's-stink doesn't-become-sugar-sweet just-by-being-in-a-sugar-environment). THE CORE TEACHING: even-good-surroundings-don't-transform asatya-nature; satya-and-asatya are-intrinsic-to-the-karma-type.
The closing — consider this: satya asatya hē aisiyā parī — Tukā mhaṇē yāchā vichāra karīm — such is satya-asatya — Tukā says — consider this. Such is-satya-and-asatya; Tukā says, consider-this.
Echoes 2164's phala bījā'aisē: the fruit-is-like-the-seed; cause-effect together. Now-with-the-vivid sugarcane-and-onion-in-sugar imagery.
[T]
For someone today
For today: growing sugarcane — sweetness grew — jaggery, sugar; practice satya-karma, son — hita arises — asatya-duḥkha grows; onion in sugar's-bed — grows fat-and-fine, but keeps the stink; such is satya-asatya — Tukā says — consider.
Where this applies
- When you assume a good environment alone will fix a habit or attitude that stays dishonest at its core
- When you notice someone looks successful on the outside but their underlying dishonesty never changed
- When you choose between a truthful shortcut-free path and an easier deceptive one
- When you want to teach a child or yourself that consistent honest effort compounds into real good