Abhanga 2941
Hita sānge teṇe dile jīva-dāna — (he) who speaks hita (welfare-counsel) has given jīva-dāna (life-gift); ghātakī tō jāṇa manā-māge — know that the ghātakī (killer, destroyer) is behind the mind.
The verse
हित सांगे तेणें दिलें जीवदान । घातकी तो जाण मनामागें ॥१॥
बळें हे वारावे अधर्म करितां । अंधळें चालतां आडरानें ॥ध्रु.॥
द्रव्य देऊनियां धाडावें तीर्थासी । नेदावें चोरासी चंद्रबळ ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे ऐसें आहे हें पुराणीं । नाहीं माझी वाणी पदरींची ॥३॥
Literal translation
Hita sānge teṇe dile jīva-dāna — (he) who speaks hita (welfare-counsel) has given jīva-dāna (life-gift); ghātakī tō jāṇa manā-māge — know that the ghātakī (killer, destroyer) is behind the mind. Baḷe he vārāve adharma karitām — by force, one should prevent (the doing of) adharma; andhaḷe chālatām āḍa-rāne — (like) the blind going on the wrong road. Dravya deūnīyām dhāḍāve tīrthāsī — giving dravya (money), one should send (a person) to tīrtha; nedāve chōrāsī chandra-baḷa — (but) one should not give the thief his chandra-baḷa (auspicious-period). Tukā says: aise āhe he purāṇī — this is so in the purāṇa; nāhī mājhī vāṇī padarīñchī — these are not my own words (from my pen-edge).
What it means
A short moral-discipline-on-correcting-others verse. Hita sānge teṇe dile jīva-dāna — ghātakī tō jāṇa manā-māge — speaking hita is giving jīva-dāna — the ghātakī is behind the mind. The opening-claim: (1) speaking welfare-counsel = giving life; (2) the killer (one who-says-nothing) operates behind the mind. The silence-when-correction-is-needed is itself killing.
Baḷe he vārāve adharma karitām — andhaḷe chālatām āḍa-rāne — by force prevent adharma — (like) the blind going on the wrong road. The discipline: use force if necessary to prevent adharma (like one stops a blind person from going off-road).
Dravya deūnīyām dhāḍāve tīrthāsī — nedāve chōrāsī chandra-baḷa — give money to send to tīrtha — don't give the thief chandra-baḷa. Chandra-baḷa — the favorable astrological-moment. Two-fold-discrimination: (1) for legitimate-purpose (tīrtha), give money; (2) for the thief, don't give-the-favorable-moment (don't assist).
The close: Tukā mhaṇe aise āhe he purāṇī — nāhī mājhī vāṇī padarīñchī — this is so in the purāṇa — not my own words. The appeal-to-tradition.
For someone today
A useful moral-discipline-on-correcting-others. Speaking hita has given jīva-dāna — know that the killer is behind the mind. By force prevent adharma — (like) the blind going on the wrong road. Give money and send (a person) to tīrtha — don't give the thief his chandra-baḷa. This is so in the purāṇa — these are not my own words. The verse permits four operative-disciplines: (1) speak-welfare-counsel (it's jīva-dāna); (2) silence-is-killing; (3) prevent-adharma-forcefully if-needed; (4) discriminate-help (give-for-legitimate; don't-help-the-thief). The closing appeal-to-purāṇa: this is traditional-wisdom, not my-invention.
Where this applies
- The speak-hita-gives-jīva-dāna; prevent-adharma-forcefully; don't-help-thief moral-discipline
- Recognizing ghātakī-is-behind-the-mind warning
- This-is-in-purāṇa — Tukārām's appeal-to-tradition
- Pairs with 2849 (blind-man's-stick-snatched) — both engage moral-action