Abhanga 3718
The verse
नेदावी सलगी न करावा संग । करी चित्ता भंग वेळोवेळा ॥१॥
सर्प शांतिरूप न म्हणावा भला । झोंबे खवळीला तात्काळ तो ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे दुरी राखावा दुर्जन । करावें वचन न घडे तें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Don't-give-salagī-don't-keep-sanga — breaks-chitta-vēḷō-vēḷā. Don't-call-sarpa-good-in-śānti-rūpa — provoked-strikes-tāt-kāḷa. Tukā: keep-durjana-far — they-don't-do-what-they-say.
What it means
★ A 3-verse anti-bad-company text. Don't give intimacy, don't keep company — (the durjana) breaks the chitta time-and-again. Don't call the snake good when in peaceful-form — when provoked it strikes immediately. Tukā: keep the durjana far — they don't do what they promise. Companion to 3531 (sāpā na kaḷē kuravāḷilē — the snake doesn't know being-petted), 3392 (canonical 4-image anti-kusanga).
For someone today
Tukārām: don't-call-the-snake-good-in-peaceful-form — it-strikes-when-provoked.
Where this applies
- ★ Tukārām's don't-call-snake-good-in-śānti-rūpa canonical-anti-bad-company
- Companion to 3392, 3531