Abhanga 2589
I speak only because speech is the duty; the Ganges flows whether anyone drinks. People push away the morsel offered to their mouths, so I will do my Lord's pūjā in the taste of my own mind.
The verse
बोलावे म्हुण हे बोलतों उपाय । प्रवाहें हें जाय गंगाजळ ॥१॥
भाग्ययोगें कोणां घडेल सेवन । कैंचे येथें जन अधिकारी ॥ध्रु.॥
मुखीं देतां घांस पळवितीं तोंडें । अंगींचिया भांडे असुकानें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे पूजा करितों देवाची । आपुलिया रुची मनाचिये ॥३॥
Literal translation
I speak because speech is the means — the Ganges-water flows by its own current. By rare good-fortune someone may drink; where here are the eligible folk? When the morsel is given to the mouth, they pull their mouths away — the vessel of their body is filled with refusal. Tukā says: I do my Deva's pūjā in the taste of my own mind.
What it means
The dhrūpada line is one of Tukārām's most stoic self-descriptions of vocation: bolāvē mhaṇa hē bōlatōm upāya — I speak because speech is the prescribed means, not because anyone is listening. The Ganges does not wait for thirsty mouths; it flows. The qualified-audience question (kāñchē yēthē jana adhikārī) is bitter — where are the worthy here? The central image is unforgettable: you place a ghāmsa (morsel) at someone's mouth and they twist their head away — the body's vessel is full of refusal (angīñchiyā bhāṇḍē asukānēm). Faced with this, Tukārām does not stop performing; he relocates the audience — I do my Deva's pūjā in the taste of my own mind. Worship becomes its own validation. The teacher who keeps teaching to an empty room has crossed into this verse.
For someone today
If the work you do is a kind of flow — teaching, counseling, parenting, writing — accept that some audiences will keep their mouths shut to the morsel you offer. Their refusal is not the measure of your offering. Keep flowing because flowing is what you are; do your pūjā in the taste of your own mind, and let those whose luck conspires to drink, drink. Stopping the flow because the worthy are rare is its own kind of refusal.
Where this applies
- Teaching in classrooms or congregations where most listeners are uninterested
- Writing without an audience yet — or with an audience that misreads
- Parenting through years where the child rejects every offered guidance
- Recovery sponsorship and counseling where most of what you say is pushed away