Abhanga 2840
Even praise from people you respect can breed pride, so notice the moment you start feeling superior and ask for help before it erodes your goodness.
The verse
हीन माझी याति । वरी स्तुती केली संतीं ॥१॥
अंगीं वसूं पाहे गर्व । माझें हरावया सर्व ॥ध्रु.॥
मी एक जाणता । ऐसें वाटतसे चित्ता ॥२॥
राख राख गेलों वांयां । तुका म्हणे पंढरीराया ॥३॥
Literal translation
Hīna mājhī yāti — myyāti(caste, birth-rank) ishīna(low); varī stutī kelī santīm — upon (this), the sants have donestuti(praise). Angī vasūm pāhe garva — garva (pride) is wanting-to-vasūm (settle, dwell) in (my) anga; mājhē harāvayā sarva — tohārāvayā(erase, wipe-out) all of my (good). Mī ēka jāṇatā — I am ajāṇatā(knowing one); aisē vāṭatase chittā — thus itvāṭate(feels) in (my)chitta. Rākha rākha gelōm vāmyām — save, save — I have gone in-vain; Tukā says: Pandharī-rāyā — (O) Paṇḍharī-rāya.
What it means
A short anti-pride-petition verse. Hīna mājhī yāti — varī stutī kelī santīm — my yāti is hīna — upon this, the sants have done stuti. The autobiographical-fact: my caste/birth is low; (but) the sants have praised me. (Compare 2755's śūdra-vamśī caste-declaration.)
Angī vasūm pāhe garva — mājhē harāvayā sarva — garva (pride) is wanting-to-settle in (my) anga — to erase all of my (good). The danger-signal: the sant-stuti induces garva, which threatens to wipe-out everything good.
Mī ēka jāṇatā — aisē vāṭatase chittā — I am a knowing-one — thus it feels in (my) chitta. The honest-self-observation: the chitta has started-to-feel itself as a knowing-one. The warning-sign of garva.
Rākha rākha gelōm vāmyām — Tukā mhaṇe Pandharī-rāyā — save, save — I am going in-vain — Tukā: O Paṇḍharī-rāya. The urgent-petition: save-me from garva.
For someone today
This is a short, honest prayer against pride. Tuka admits his own caste and birth are lowly, yet the saints have praised him — and that praise threatens to plant pride in him, pride that could wipe out everything good he has. He notices himself starting to think, 'I am someone who really knows,' and recognizes that feeling as the first warning sign of pride creeping in. So before it is too late, he cries out, save me, save me, calling on the Lord of Pandhari to rescue him.
मराठी: ही एक प्रामाणिक, अहंकाराविरुद्धची छोटी प्रार्थना आहे. तुकाराम महाराज सांगतात की माझी जात हीन आहे, तरीही संतांनी माझी स्तुती केली आहे — आणि ही स्तुतीच माझ्यात गर्व निर्माण करू पाहते, जो माझे सगळे चांगुलपण पुसून टाकू शकतो. 'मीच एक जाणता आहे' असे वाटू लागल्याचे ते स्वतःच ओळखतात — हे गर्वाचे पहिले लक्षण आहे. म्हणून, वेळ जाण्याआधी, ते पंढरीरायाला हाक मारतात — वाचव, वाचव, म्हणत.
Where this applies
- When someone important praises your work and you feel a flicker of superiority
- When you start thinking you understand something better than everyone else does
- When recognition from respected people starts going to your head
- When you notice pride creeping in and want to catch it before it grows