Abhanga 3042
When someone rationalizes doing you harm and you rationalize accepting it, both sides are practicing the same kind of self-deception.
The verse
वाघें उपदेशिला कोल्हा । सुखें खाऊं द्यावें मला ॥१॥
अंतीं मरसी तें न चुके । मज ही मारितोसी भुके ॥ध्रु.॥
येरू म्हणे भला भला । निवाड तुझ्या तोंडें जाला ॥२॥
देह तंव जाणार । घडेल हा उपकार ॥३॥
येरू म्हणे मनीं । ऐसें जावें समजोनि ॥४॥
गांठी पडली ठका ठका । त्याचा धर्म बोले तुका ॥५॥
Literal translation
Vāghē upadeśilā kōlhā — a tiger instructed a fox; sukhe khāūm dyāve malā — let me eat (you) happily. Antīm marasī te na chuke — you die anyway at the end; maja hī māritōsī bhuke — you are killing me with hunger. Yerū mhaṇe bhalā bhalā — the other said: bhalā-bhalā; nivāḍa tujhyā tōṇḍe jālā — the nivāḍa has come from your mouth. Deha tamva jāṇāra — the deha is going anyway; ghaḍela hā upakāra — let this be an upakāra. Yerū mhaṇe manīm — the other thought in mind; aise jāve samajōnī — (this is) the way to understand it. Gāṇṭhī paḍalī ṭhakā-ṭhakā — the knot was tied between cheat-and-cheat; tyāñcā dharma bōle Tukā — Tukā speaks the dharma of it.
What it means
A rare-and-striking parable-mode polemic by Tukārām.
The tiger-fox-dialogue: Tiger says: let-me-eat-you-happily; you-die-anyway-eventually; you're-also-killing-me-with-hunger. Fox says: bhalā-bhalā — your-mouth-has-spoken-the-decision; deha-is-going-anyway — this-will-be-upakāra-(favor).
The closing-line: gāṇṭhī paḍalī ṭhakā-ṭhakā — the knot was tied between cheat-and-cheat. Both-the-tiger and-the-fox are ṭhakā (cheats). The tiger-cheats by-rationalizing-violence; the fox-cheats by-pretending-to-agree-while-thinking-otherwise.
The parable seems to-target mutual-rationalization — a-bad-actor-finds-rationalizations and-the-victim-mock-agrees while-not-truly-agreeing. The structure of-deceit-in-relationships, exposed.
Aesop-like-fable-mode is rare in Tukārām. Compare-Tukārām's-other-animal-imagery (3040's donkey-crow-monkey; 2966-2967's snake-charmer-monkey).
For someone today
Tukārām's tiger-fox parable. A tiger instructed a fox: Let me eat (you) happily. You die anyway at the end — and besides, you are killing me with hunger. The other said: Very good — the judgment has come from your own mouth. The deha is going anyway — let this be an upakāra. The other thought in mind: (This is) the way to understand it. The knot was tied between cheat-and-cheat — Tukā speaks the dharma of it. The verse permits the recognition that both sides are engaged in mutual rationalization of violence, each a cheat dealing with a cheat.
मराठी: तुकारामांचा हा वाघ-कोल्ह्याचा दृष्टान्त आहे. वाघाने कोल्ह्याला उपदेश केला: मला सुखाने तुला खाऊ दे. शेवटी तू मरणारच आहेस — आणि शिवाय, तू मला भुकेने मारतो आहेस. कोल्हा म्हणाला: फार छान — हा निर्णय तुझ्याच तोंडून आला आहे. देह तर जाणारच आहे — हा तुझा उपकारच समज. कोल्ह्याने मनात विचार केला: असेच समजून घ्यावे. दोघांची गाठ पडली ती फसवा विरुद्ध फसवा अशीच — तुका त्याचा धर्म सांगतो. या अभंगातून हे कळते की हिंसेचे दोन्ही बाजूंनी समर्थन करणे हा एकाच प्रकारचा फसवेपणा आहे — एक फसवा दुसऱ्या फसव्याशी झुंजतो आहे.
Where this applies
- When someone justifies mistreating you with an argument that sounds almost reasonable.
- When you catch yourself making excuses for accepting harm instead of resisting it.
- When you notice two people quietly agreeing to something unfair because neither wants to name it plainly.