Abhanga 3573
Abhaktāche gāmvīm sādhu mhaṇaje kāya — what is a sādhu in an abhakta's gāmva; vyāghre vāḍām gāya sāmpaḍalī — a cow caught in a tiger's wāḍā.
The verse
अभक्ताचे गांवीं साधु म्हणजे काय । व्याघ्रें वाडां गाय सांपडली ॥१॥
कसाबाचे आळी मांडिलें प्रमाण । बस्वणाची आण तया काईं ॥ध्रु.॥
केळी आणि बोरी वसती सेजारी । संवाद कोणे परी घडे येथें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे खीर केली का†हेळ्याची । शुद्ध गोडी कैची वसे तेथें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Abhaktāche gāmvīm sādhu mhaṇaje kāya — what is a sādhu in an abhakta's gāmva; vyāghre vāḍām gāya sāmpaḍalī — a cow caught in a tiger's wāḍā. Kasābāche āḷī māmḍilē pramāṇa — (what) pramāṇa is set up in a butcher's lane; basvaṇāchī āṇa tayā kāīm — what of Basavaṇṇā's āṇa there. Keḷī āṇi bōrī vasatī sējārī — banana and thorny-ber as neighbours; samvāda kōṇe parī ghaḍe yethe — what conversation occurs here. Tukā mhaṇe khīra kelī kāheḷyāchī — Tukā says: was kheer made of kohaḷā; śuddha gōḍī kaichī vase tethe — where does pure sweetness reside there.
What it means
A 4-verse bad-company text in concrete images. Sādhu-in-abhakta-village is like a-cow in a-tiger's-enclosure. In a butcher's lane, what is Basavaṇṇā's-vow worth? Banana-and-thorny-ber as neighbours — no real-conversation. Kohaḷā can't-yield kheer-sweetness. Each-image localizes the same teaching: incompatible-companies produce no exchange.
For someone today
Choose-your-neighbourhood. The sādhu's-samvāda needs a-place to-occur; among incompatible-natures, only friction-or-eating-up is possible.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's bad-company image-collection
- Companion to 2930 (anti-durjana-sanga) and 2836 (sajjana-sanga)