Abhanga 3383
Cruelty stored up returns. Knowing the jīva-in-jīva — the same life shared — is the heart of the ahimsā teaching.
The verse
मांस खातां हाउस करी । जोडुनि वैरी ठेवियेला ॥१॥
कोण त्याची करिल कींव । जीवें जीव नेणती ॥ध्रु.॥
पुढिलांसाटीं पाजवी सुरी । आपुली चोरी अंगुळी ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे कुटिती हाडें । आपुल्या नाडें रडती ॥३॥
Literal translation
Māmsa khātām hāusa karī — jōḍuni vairī ṭheviyelā — eating meat with relish — joining (himself with) an enemy stored up. Koṇa tyāchī karila kīmva — jīve jīva neṇatī — who will pity him — (those who) know not jīva-as-jīva. Puḍhilāmsāṭīm pājavī surī — āpulī chorī anguḷī — sharpens the knife for others — his own finger (is) the theft. Tukā mhaṇe kuṭitī hāḍe — āpulyā nāḍe raḍatī — Tukā says: they crunch (others') bones — at their own tether they cry.
What it means
A 3-verse ahimsā polemic on karmic reciprocity. Three images: (1) the meal stores up an enemy for the future; (2) sharpening-knife-for-others is theft of one's own life; (3) the bones-crunched-now will be the nāḍa (rope/tether) that pulls you crying-yourself later. Jīva-in-jīva — the recognition of life-in-life — is the missing knowledge.
For someone today
Cruelty stored up returns. Knowing the jīva-in-jīva — the same life shared — is the heart of the ahimsā teaching.
Where this applies
- When you dismiss another creature's suffering because it is convenient for you
- When you cause harm now without thinking about how it might come back around later
- When you notice cruelty toward animals or weaker beings being excused as normal or necessary
- When you realize a habit you enjoy is quietly building resentment or harm that will return to you