Abhanga 2591
Don't praise glass that has broken its deed; paramārtha is not got through worldly approval. Don't put your face before sharp critics; in the end, fulfilled-desire's sweetness is the imperishable kind.
The verse
नये स्तवूं काचें होतें क्रियानष्ट । फुंदाचे ते कष्ट भंगा मूळ ॥१॥
नाहीं परमार्थ साधत लौकिकें । धरुन होतों फिकें अंगा आलें ॥ध्रु.॥
पारखिया पुढें नये घालूं तोंड । तुटी लाभा खंड होतो माना ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे तरी मिरवतें परवडी । कामावल्या गोडी अविनाश ॥३॥
Literal translation
Do not praise glass — it is deed-broken; the flute-effort is the root of breakage. Paramārtha is not accomplished by worldly-respectability; what you grasp becomes faded on you. Do not put your face before connoisseurs/sharp-judges — break, loss, and a cut in honor result. Tukā says: only then does fitness show itself; the sweetness of fulfilled-desire is imperishable.
What it means
The verse stacks four warnings that Tukārām pulls together into one moral economy. First — kāchēm kriyānaṣṭa, glass whose action/practice is broken: do not praise it. Praising fragile substance just to flatter manufactures its eventual break. Second, the dhrūpada: paramārtha (the ultimate-goal) is not obtained through laukika (worldly conformity-and-reputation); whatever you grasp by that route fades on your body. Third, pārkhiyā pūṭhēm nayē ghālūm tōmḍa — don't put your face before sharp-evaluators (pārkhi = jeweler-tester, connoisseur, harsh-judge). The exposure produces tūṭi (break), lābhā khaṇḍa (loss-segment), and mānā tūṭa (cut-in-honor). The final flip: tarī mīrvatē paravaḍī — only then (when you don't perform for the wrong audiences) does true fitness shine, and kāmāvalyā gōḍī avināśa — the sweetness of fulfilled-desire is imperishable. The path is: stop praising brittle, stop chasing reputation, stop performing for sharp judges, and the imperishable sweetness arrives.
For someone today
If you find yourself praising someone or some work just because others are, check whether the substance is kāchēm — glass that will shatter under load. Your praise can become the agent of someone's eventual break. The reverse warning is your own protection: don't take your spiritual or moral life and put it on display before pārkhi audiences — sharp evaluators, online metrics, status games. Substance fades there. The imperishable sweetness comes only from the route that doesn't pass through that hall.
Where this applies
- Endorsements offered for social currency rather than truth
- Realizing the prestige path is incompatible with the path you actually want
- Refusing to perform inner life as a brand
- Recognizing imperishable sweetness in moments that no audience saw