Abhanga 2720

Some people's inner state cannot be changed by outside teaching or treatment, so you are allowed to stop wearing yourself out trying to teach someone who simply will not receive it.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A sharp dismissive-diagnostic verse paired with 2702 (upadeśa to buddhi-hīna becomes poison even in amrta). Ukaraḍā ādhī angīm narakāḍī — jātīñcī tē jōḍī tē chi chittīm — the dung-heap has hell-pieces on it by its very nature — its kind's joining is in the chitta itself. The ukaraḍā (dung-heap) is narakāḍī (associated-with-hell-pieces) by its very-substance. And the jātīñcī jōḍī (kind's-joining, native-association) is in the chitta — not removable by external-treatment.

The dhrūpada offers two images: kāsayāne dekhē andhaḷā māṇikē — chavīvīṇa fikē vāyā jāya — by what does the blind-man see the ruby? Without taste, faded, goes wasted. The blind-man cannot see māṇika (ruby) no matter how-close it is held; the chavi-less (taste-less) reception leaves the offering fikē (faded) and vāyā (wasted).

The second verse: kāya jāṇē viṣa palaṭō upachārē — mukhāsī antara tōm chi baravē — can poison change by treatment? — only when the mouth's-inside is good. The internal-state of the receiver (mukhāsī antara) determines whether poison can be converted. External-treatment alone cannot do it.

The close: upadeśa veḍyā — sangē hōtō rēḍyāsavē kaṣṭa — teaching to the fool — company-with becomes like company-with-a-buffalo: hard work. Rēḍyā (buffalo) — a slow, heavy, stubborn animal. The bhakta-teacher's-company with the vēḍyā (fool) is kaṣṭa (hard-work) — the buffalo doesn't move, doesn't respond, just stays as it is.

The verse complements 2702 and pairs with 2698's bahumati-kharāhūnī-hīna — much-discussion is lower than donkey. The triad: refuse to teach (2702), refuse much-discussion (2698), recognize the kind's-joining is in the chitta and unchangeable by external treatment (2720).

For someone today

The verse is the third in a sharp series (2698, 2702, 2720) about refusing futile engagement with the unreceptive. The dung-heap has hellish pieces by its very nature. The blind can't see the ruby. Without taste, the offering goes faded and wasted. Poison can't change through outside treatment. Teaching the fool is like keeping company with a buffalo — hard work. The three images together say: the internal state determines everything; outside treatment cannot reach what is wrong within; refuse to spend your time trying to change what cannot be changed from the outside. The verse is unsparing about the jātīñcī jōḍī chittīm (the kinship of one's own nature that lives in the chitta) being impossible to remove from outside.

मराठी: हा अभंग (2698, 2702, 2720) या तीक्ष्ण मालिकेतील तिसरा आहे, जो न स्वीकारणाऱ्या माणसाशी व्यर्थ झगडणं टाळण्याविषयी बोलतो. उकिरड्यावर त्याच्या मूळ स्वभावानुसारच घाणीचे तुकडे असतात. आंधळ्याला माणिक दिसू शकत नाही. चव नसेल तर अर्पण फिकं होऊन वाया जातं. विष बाहेरून केलेल्या उपचारांनी बदलत नाही. मूर्खाला शिकवणं म्हणजे रेड्याची सोबत करण्यासारखं — निव्वळ कष्ट. या तीन प्रतिमांचा एकच अर्थ आहे: आतली स्थितीच सर्व काही ठरवते; बाहेरचा उपचार आतल्या दोषापर्यंत पोहोचू शकत नाही; जे बाहेरून बदलताच येत नाही, ते बदलण्यासाठी आपला वेळ खर्च करू नये. 'जातीची जोडी चित्ती' (चित्तात रुजलेलं मूळ स्वभावाचं नातं) बाहेरून काढता येत नाही, याबद्दल हा अभंग स्पष्ट आणि निर्दय आहे.

Where this applies

• Refusing futile teaching-engagements with the vēḍyā (fool)
• Recognizing that kind's-joining is in the chitta — internal not external
• The buffalo-company-is-hard-work honest assessment
• Part of the dismissive-diagnostic triad (with 2698, 2702)