Abhanga 2767
Māna ichchhī tō apamāna pāve — one who ichchhī (desires) māna (honor) — pāve apamāna (gets disgrace); amangaḷa savē abhāgyāñcī — (this) amangaḷa (inauspicious-thing) is savē (companion) of the abhāgya (misfortunate).
The verse
मान इच्छी तो अपमान पावे । अमंगळ सवे अभाग्याची ॥१॥
एकाचिये अंगीं दुजियाचा वास । आशा पुढें नाश सद्धि करी ॥ध्रु.॥
आधीं फळासी कोठें पावों शके । वासनेची भिकेवरी चाली ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे राजहंस ढोरा नांव । काय तया घ्यावें अळंकाराचें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Māna ichchhī tō apamāna pāve — one who ichchhī (desires) māna (honor) — pāve apamāna (gets disgrace); amangaḷa savē abhāgyāñcī — (this) amangaḷa (inauspicious-thing) is savē (companion) of the abhāgya (misfortunate). Ekāñciye angīm dujiyāñcā vāsa — in one's anga (body), the dujā (other, second)'s vāsa (dwelling); āśā puḍhē nāśa siddhi karī — āśā (desire) precedes nāśa-siddhi (destruction-perfection). Ādhīm fāḷāsī kōṭhē pāvō śake — first, where can (one) at-all pāvō (reach) fāḷa (fruit)?; vāsanēñcī bhikēvarī chālī — by the vāsanēñcī (vāsanā's) bhikēvarī chālī (beggar-route walk). Tukā says: rāja-hamsa ḍhōrā nāva — the rāja-hamsa (royal-swan) called ḍhōrā (cattle); kāya tayā ghyāve aḷankārāñce — what aḷankāra (ornament) is taken (by the name-substitution)?
What it means
A sharp diagnostic verse. Māna ichchhī tō apamāna pāve — amangaḷa savē abhāgyāñcī — one who desires honor gets disgrace — the inauspicious is the misfortunate's companion. The celebrated-line: the very desire-for-honor produces disgrace. The māna-seeker attracts apamāna by his seeking. And the abhāgya (misfortunate-one) has amangaḷa (inauspicious-event) as constant savē (companion).
The dhrūpada: ekāñciye angīm dujiyāñcā vāsa — āśā puḍhē nāśa siddhi karī — in one's body, the other's dwelling; āśā precedes nāśa-siddhi (destruction-perfection). The diagnostic-claim: āśā (desire) precedes nāśa (destruction). Āśā is the precursor. Siddhi karī — perfects-the-destruction — the desire brings the destruction to its perfection. The desire-engine produces destruction.
The second verse: ādhīm fāḷāsī kōṭhē pāvō śake — vāsanēñcī bhikēvarī chālī — first, where can one reach the fruit at all? — by the vāsanā's beggar-route walk. The bhakta points out: given vāsanā-beggar-route, where would you even reach the fruit? Bhikēvarī chālī — the walking of the beggar (who walks-with-extended-hand). The vāsanā-driven walking never arrives at the fruit.
The close offers the celebrated name-substitution-test: rāja-hamsa ḍhōrā nāva — kāya tayā ghyāve aḷankārāñce — the royal-swan called ḍhōrā (cattle, beast) — what ornament is taken (by this)? Calling the royal-swan (the most-noble bird) by the name ḍhōrā (cattle, lowly-beast) — does this change anything substantive? No. The ornament (aḷankāra) — the renaming — doesn't change the substance. (Compare 2649's surā-called-milk, 2740's poison-called-amrta.)
For someone today
A useful canonical diagnostic. One who desires honor gets disgrace; amangaḷa is the misfortunate's companion. In one's body, the other's dwelling — āśā precedes destruction-perfection. Where can one even reach the fruit by vāsanā's beggar-route walk? Calling the royal-swan cattle — what ornament does that give? The structure: (1) desire-for-honor is its own punishment; (2) āśā is the engine of destruction; (3) vāsanā-driven walking never arrives; (4) renaming doesn't change substance. The verse is unsparing about the seeking-honor-producing-disgrace mechanism and the name-substitution-doesn't-fool-anyone test.
Where this applies
- The honor-seeker-gets-disgrace canonical-claim
- Recognizing that āśā precedes destruction-perfection
- The substance-doesn't-change-by-name-substitution test
- Vāsanā-beggar-route-walking-never-arrives-at-the-fruit diagnostic