Abhanga 2941
Speaking honest, well-meaning correction to someone is a real gift, while staying silent when you should speak up quietly does harm, so intervene for good and never assist wrongdoing.
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 speakshita(welfare-counsel) has givenjīva-dāna(life-gift); ghātakī tō jāṇa manā-māge — know that theghātakī(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 — givingdravya(money), one should send (a person) totīrtha; nedāve chōrāsī chandra-baḷa — (but) one should not give the thief hischandra-baḷa(auspicious-period). Tukā says: aise āhe he purāṇī — this is so in thepurāṇa; 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
Speaking honest, caring advice to someone is like giving them the gift of life — but staying silent when you should speak up is its own quiet form of harm. Just as you'd forcibly stop a blind person from wandering off the road, you should be willing to firmly stand in the way of wrongdoing when it matters. Help generously when it serves a good purpose, like giving someone money for a pilgrimage, but never give a thief the help or timing he needs to succeed. Tukaram closes by saying this isn't his own invention — it is wisdom drawn straight from the ancient scriptures.
मराठी: एखाद्याला प्रामाणिक व कल्याणकारी सल्ला देणे म्हणजे त्याला जीवनदान देण्यासारखे आहे — पण जिथे बोलायला हवे तिथे गप्प राहणे हीच एक शांत हानी असते. जसे आंधळ्या माणसाला चुकीच्या वाटेवर जाण्यापासून जबरदस्तीने थांबवावे, तसेच गरज पडल्यास अधर्माला ठामपणे विरोध करावा. चांगल्या कामासाठी, जसे तीर्थयात्रेसाठी, उदारपणे मदत करावी, पण चोराला यशस्वी होण्यासाठी लागणारी मदत किंवा योग्य वेळ कधीही देऊ नये. तुकाराम शेवटी म्हणतात, हे माझे स्वतःचे शब्द नाहीत — हे पुराणातील पारंपरिक शहाणपण आहे.
Where this applies
- When you're hesitant to speak up and correct a friend or family member who's making a harmful choice
- When you have to decide whether helping someone crosses the line into enabling wrongdoing
- When you're tempted to stay silent to avoid conflict, even though speaking up would actually help