Abhanga 2798
Puḍhe jēṇe lābha ghaḍe — the lābha (gain) that would come puḍhe (ahead); tē chi veḍe nāśitī — the veḍe (fools) destroy that very thing.
The verse
पुढें जेणें लाभ घडे । तें चि वेडे नाशिती ॥१॥
येवढी कोठें नागवण । अंधारुण विष घ्यावें ॥ध्रु.॥
होणारासी मिळे बुद्धि । नेदी शुद्धी धरूं तें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे जना सोंग । दावी रंग आणीक ॥३॥
Literal translation
Puḍhe jēṇe lābha ghaḍe — the lābha (gain) that would come puḍhe (ahead); tē chi veḍe nāśitī — the veḍe (fools) destroy that very thing. Yēvaḍhī kōṭhe nāgavaṇa — where (is there) naked-loss this great; andhāruṇa viṣa ghyāve — taking viṣa (poison) in the andhāruṇa (dark, blindfold). Hōṇārāsī miḷe buddhi — the hōṇāra (going-to-happen) meets the buddhi; nēdī śuddhī dharūm te — he doesn't allow śuddhī (clarity) to be held. Tukā says: janā sōnga — dāvī ranga āṇika — people (put on) the sōnga (show, masquerade) — demonstrate the ranga (color, character) of (something) different*.
What it means
A short destructive-fool diagnostic verse. Puḍhe jēṇe lābha ghaḍe — tē chi veḍe nāśitī — the gain that would come ahead — the fools destroy that very thing. The diagnostic: the fools destroy the very-gain that was-coming. They sabotage their own future.
The dhrūpada: yēvaḍhī kōṭhe nāgavaṇa — andhāruṇa viṣa ghyāve — where naked-loss this great? — taking poison in the dark. The image: taking-poison while-in-the-dark, not-knowing-what-one-is-doing. The naked-loss (nāgavaṇa) is the loss-by-unconsciousness.
The second verse names the mechanism: hōṇārāsī miḷe buddhi — nēdī śuddhī dharūm te — the going-to-happen meets the buddhi; doesn't allow śuddhi to be held. The hōṇāra (the fate, the about-to-happen) meets the buddhi and doesn't let śuddhi (clarity) be retained. The fate-and-buddhi together-conspire to withhold-clarity.
The close: janā sōnga — dāvī ranga āṇika — people put on the masquerade — demonstrate the color of (something) different. The diagnosis: people put on a sōnga (a costume-character, a masquerade) — and their ranga (true-color) is something different. They demonstrate-themselves-as-something-they-are-not.
For someone today
A useful diagnostic-verse on self-sabotage. The gain that would come ahead — the fools destroy that very thing. What naked-loss like this? — taking poison in the dark. The going-to-happen meets the buddhi; doesn't let śuddhi stay. People put on the masquerade — demonstrate the color of (something) different. The diagnostic-question: am I destroying the very gain that was-coming? The image-test: am I taking-poison-in-the-dark? The śuddhi-test: is clarity being-withheld? And the sōnga-test: am I demonstrating-something-I'm-not? Each question is a small mirror.
Where this applies
- The destructive-fool diagnostic
- Recognizing taking-poison-in-the-dark (unconscious self-harm)
- The doesn't-let-śuddhi-stay disqualification-by-confusion
- The sōnga-demonstrating-different-color masquerade-diagnostic