Abhanga 3780
Standing rigid in every argument traps you, while bending like a reed in water and blending easily with all kinds of people makes everyone your kin.
The verse
राहे उभा वादावादीं । तरी फंदीं सांपडे ॥१॥
लव्हाळ्यासी कोठें बळ । करिल जळ आपुलें ॥ध्रु.॥
कठिणासी बळजोडा । नम्र पीडा देखेना ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे सर्वरसीं । मिळे त्यासी गोत तें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Rāhe ubhā vādāvādīm — if (one) stands firm in argument; tarī phamdīm sāmpaḍe — one is caught in the snare. Lavhāḷyāsī kōṭhem baḷa — where is the water-reed's strength?; karila jaḷa āpule — the water makes it its own. Kaṭhiṇāsī baḷajōḍā — the hard (only) joins strength with the hard; namra pīḍā dekhenā — (it) does not see the humble's pain. Tukā mhaṇe sarva-rasīm — Tukā says: in all-rasa; miḷe tyāsī gōta te — whoever mixes — that is his kin.
What it means
A 3-verse humility-wisdom text. Standing-firm-in-quarrel falls-into-the-snare; the-lavhāḷa-water-reed has-no-strength but-the-water-bears-it; the-hard joins-only-the-hard, does-not-feel-the-humble's-pain; whoever-mixes-with-all-rasa, all-becomes-his-kin. Classic Tukārām social-wisdom.
For someone today
Tukaram warns that if you plant your feet and insist on winning every argument, you end up caught in your own trap. A water-reed has no strength of its own, and yet the water carries it along without breaking it, simply because it bends instead of resisting. Hard, rigid people only understand other hard, rigid people, and they cannot really see or feel the pain of someone soft and humble. Tukaram says that whoever is able to blend with every kind of person and mood ends up with everyone as their own family.
मराठी: तुकाराम सांगतात की जर तुम्ही प्रत्येक वादात आपला हट्ट सोडायला तयार नसाल, तर शेवटी तुम्हीच स्वतःच्या सापळ्यात अडकता. लव्हाळ्याला स्वतःची अशी काहीच ताकद नसते, तरी पाणी त्याला मोडून न टाकता वाहून नेते, कारण ते ताठ न राहता वाकते. कठोर आणि हट्टी माणसे फक्त दुसऱ्या कठोर, हट्टी माणसांनाच समजू शकतात, आणि त्यांना मृदू, नम्र माणसाचे दुःख खरोखर दिसतच नाही. तुकाराम म्हणतात की जो प्रत्येक प्रकारच्या माणसाशी आणि प्रत्येक भावाशी मिळूनमिसळून राहू शकतो, त्याला शेवटी सगळेच आपले वाटतात.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's lavhāḷa-and-water; mix-with-sarva-rasa canonical humility
- Companion to mūngī-eat-sugar humility (2882)