Abhanga 3260
Some people's low nature will not change no matter how much good teaching or kindness you offer, so recognize the pattern and stop exhausting yourself trying to fix it.
The verse
काय वृंदावन मोहियेलें गुळें । काय जिरें काळें उपचारिलें ॥१॥
तैसी अधमाची जाती च अधम । उपदेश श्रम करावा तो ॥ध्रु.॥
न कळे विंचासी कुरवाळिलें अंग । आपले ते रंग दावीतसे ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे नये पाकासी दगड । शूकरासी गोड जैसी विष्ठा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Did-vrndāvana-grow-by-gūḍ? Did-jīrā-by-upachāra? Adhama-jāti-stays-adhama; upadeśa-śrama-vain. Scorpion-caressed shows-own-ranga. Tukā: stone-doesn't-cook; for-pig, viṣṭhā-sweet.
What it means
A striking 3-verse anti-fake-upadeśa polemic with-vivid-animal-images. Bound-to-17th-c language and-must-be-read-historically.
For someone today
Tukaram asks two blunt questions: did the sacred basil plant grow because someone rubbed it with jaggery, or did cumin turn black just because it was treated a certain way? His point is that a person whose nature is low stays low, and pouring effort into teaching them is often wasted labor. He compares it to caressing a scorpion, which will still show its own true colors no matter how gently you handle it, and to a pig, which finds filth sweet even when good food is offered. Tukaram's blunt conclusion is that a stone cannot be cooked into food. Sometimes the honest thing is to see a pattern for what it is and stop exhausting yourself trying to change what will not change.
मराठी: तुकाराम दोन थेट प्रश्न विचारतात: तुळशीचे वृंदावन गुळाने चोळल्याने वाढते का, किंवा जिरे उपचार केल्याने काळे होते का? त्यांचा मुद्दा असा आहे की ज्याचा स्वभावच खालावलेला आहे तो तसाच राहतो, आणि त्याला शिकवण्यात घातलेले कष्ट अनेकदा वाया जातात. ते याची तुलना विंचवाला कुरवाळण्याशी करतात, जो कितीही हळुवारपणे हाताळला तरी आपला खरा रंग दाखवतोच, आणि डुकराशी करतात, ज्याला चांगले अन्न दिले तरी घाण गोड लागते. तुकारामांचा थेट निष्कर्ष असा आहे की दगड शिजवून अन्न बनत नाही. कधी कधी खरी गोष्ट म्हणजे एखादा पॅटर्न जसा आहे तसा ओळखणे आणि जे बदलणार नाही ते बदलण्यासाठी स्वतःला थकवणे थांबवणे.
Where this applies
- When you keep giving good advice to someone who reverts to the same harmful habits every time
- When you feel guilty for wanting to stop investing energy in a relationship that never changes
- When someone repays your patience and kindness by showing their same true colors again
- When you need to accept that some patterns will not shift no matter how much effort you put in