Abhanga 3346
Someone who honestly warns another loses nothing if the warning is ignored, but a person who has turned bitter and resentful toward their own life cannot be helped even by God.
The verse
वाट दावी त्याचें गेलें काय । नागवला जो वारितां जाय ॥१॥
ऐसीं मागें ठकलीं किती । सांगतां खाती विषगोळा ॥ध्रु.॥
विचारोनि पाहे त्यास । न वजे जीवें नव्हे नास ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे जो रुसला जीवा । तयासी केशवा काय चाले ॥३॥
Literal translation
Vāṭa dāvī tyāñce gele kāya — what is lost to (the one) who shows the way; nāgavalā jō vāritām jāya — the stripped-one who warned (still) goes. Aisīm māge ṭhakalīm kitī — how many such (have been) deceived behind; sāngatām khātī viṣa-gōḷā — when told, they eat the poison-ball. Vichārōnī pāhe tyāsa — consider and see; na vaje jīve navhe nāsa — life doesn't go, no destruction. Tukā mhaṇe jō rusalā jīvā — Tukā says: one who has grown resentful at (his own) jīva; tayāsī Keśavā kāya chāle — to him, what does Keśava do.
What it means
A 3-verse observation by Tukārām on-the-warned-who-still-go-wrong.
The argument: Showing-the-way costs-nothing; the-stripped-one-still-goes-when-warned. Many-such-deceived-have-eaten-the-poison-ball when-told. Life-isn't-lost-by-showing — no-destruction-to-the-warner. But-to-one-who-has-grown-resentful-at-his-own-jīva — Keśava himself-can't-rescue.
The closing-observation is striking: Keśava-can't-help one-who-is-resentful-at-his-own-jīva. The bhakti-condition requires-the-bhakta-to-not-reject-his-own-life.
For someone today
Tukārām's observation. What is lost to (the one) who shows the way? — (To) the stripped-one who, warned, (still) goes. How many such (have been) deceived behind — they (still) eat the poison-ball when told? Consider and see — life doesn't go away (with the showing); there is no destruction. To one who has grown resentful at (his own) life — what does Keśava do? The verse permits the bhakti-recognition: the warner loses nothing; the self-resentful can't be helped even by Keśava.
मराठी: तुकारामांचे हे निरीक्षण आहे. जो वाट दाखवतो त्याचे काय जाते? सांगूनही जो नागवला जातो, तो जातोच. असे किती जण आधी फसले आहेत — सांगूनही ते विषाचा गोळा खातात? नीट विचार करा — वाट दाखवल्याने कुणाचा जीव जात नाही, नाश होत नाही. पण जो स्वतःच्याच जीवावर रुसतो, त्याला केशवही काय करू शकतो? इशारा देणाऱ्याचे काहीच नुकसान होत नाही; पण जो स्वतःवरच रुसून बसतो, त्याला खुद्द देवही मदत करू शकत नाही, हीच या अभंगाची शिकवण आहे.
Where this applies
- When you give someone honest, caring advice and they ignore it and suffer the consequences anyway
- When you feel guilty for someone else's bad decision even though you warned them clearly
- When you watch a person repeat the same self-destructive choice despite knowing better
- When someone has become so bitter toward their own life that no outside help seems to reach them