Abhanga 2948
Deva avaghe pratipādī — (he who) speaks-of (preaches) Deva everywhere; vandī sakaḷām eka nindī — bows-to all (but) criticizes one.
The verse
देव अवघें प्रतिपादी । वंदी सकळां एक निंदी ॥१॥
तेथें अवघें गेलें वांयां । विष घास एके ठायां ॥ध्रु.॥
सर्वांग कुरवाळी । उपटी एकच रोमावळी ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे चत्ति । नाहीं जयाचें अंकित ॥३॥
Literal translation
Deva avaghe pratipādī — (he who) speaks-of (preaches) Deva everywhere; vandī sakaḷām eka nindī — bows-to all (but) criticizes one. Tethe avaghe gele vāmyām — there, all has gone in vāmyām (vain); viṣa ghāsa eke ṭhāyām — (like) viṣa (poison) and ghāsa (bread) in the same place. Sarvānga kuravāḷī — caressing the whole body; upaṭī ekacha rōma-vaḷī — (yet) plucking out one rōma-vaḷī (line of hair). Tukā says: chitti — (his) chitta; nāhī jayāñce ankita — is not ankita (marked, branded) of whose-(Deva-it-claims-to-be).
What it means
A short vain-praise-vitiated-by-one-criticism warning verse. Deva avaghe pratipādī — vandī sakaḷām eka nindī — praises-Deva-everywhere — bows-to-all-(yet)-criticizes-one. The diagnostic-claim: if the bhakta praises-Deva-everywhere but criticizes-just-one-person, all the praise goes-vain.
Two-fold-illustration: 1. Viṣa ghāsa eke ṭhāyām — poison and bread in the same place — even-one-poisonous-grain ruins-the-whole-bread. 2. Sarvānga kuravāḷī — upaṭī ekacha rōma-vaḷī — caressing-the-whole-body but-plucking-one-hair-line — the-caress-doesn't-feel-loving-when-one-hair-line is-plucked-out.
The close: Tukā mhaṇe chitti — nāhī jayāñce ankita — (his) chitta is not marked-as-belonging-to-whose-(Deva-it-claims-to-be). The bhakta-who-criticizes-one is not-genuinely-the-Lord's; his chitta isn't really ankita (branded) for the Lord.
(Pairs with 2810 uñca-niñca-neṇe-Bhagavanta; bhāva-bhakta-dekhōnīyām — the Lord doesn't distinguish-among-bhaktas, so neither-should-the-bhakta.)
For someone today
A useful praising-all-but-criticizing-one warning. (One who) praises Deva everywhere — bows to all — (yet) criticizes one — there, all (of it) has gone in vain. (Like) poison and bread in the same place. (Like) caressing the whole body — yet plucking out one hair-line. (His) chitta is not (truly) marked-of (whose). The verse provides a diagnostic-claim: one-criticism-of-anyone vitiates the whole-bhakti-praise. The reasoning: if the bhakta truly-sees-Deva-in-all, no-one is criticism-worthy. So the act-of-criticizing-one reveals that the bhakta-doesn't-truly-see-Deva-in-all.
Where this applies
- The praising-all-Deva-but-criticizing-one-makes-all-vain warning
- Recognizing poison-in-same-bread image
- Caress-yet-plucks-hair-line hypocrisy-image
- Pairs with 2810 (saints-list), 2917 (non-dual identification)