Abhanga 3788
Whatever flaw you carry inside is exactly what pains you when it is reflected back, so avoiding honest truth or light is what leaves a person truly unfortunate.
The verse
दर्पणासी बुजे । नखटें तोंड पळवी लाजे ॥१॥
गुण ज्याचे जो अंतरीं । तो चि त्यासी पीडा करी ॥ध्रु.॥
चोरा रुचे निशी । देखोनियां विटे शशी ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे जन । देवा असे भाग्यहीन ॥३॥
Literal translation
Mirror-shamed — snub-face-flees-in-lāja. Guṇa-of-one-in-antara — that-itself-pains-him. Chōra-likes-night — seeing-śaśī-disgusts-him. Tukā: jana — bhāgya-hīna-of-Deva.
What it means
A 3-verse self-confrontation-diagnosis. The snub-faced person flees from the mirror in shame. The (negative) quality one carries within is precisely what pains him (when faced from outside). The thief likes the night — seeing the moon disgusts him. People (like this) are destitute of Deva. Striking psychological observation: we are most disturbed by our own defects when reflected back — therefore we avoid the mirror (truth-telling, sant-sanga, Deva-light).
For someone today
Tukaram makes a sharp psychological observation: a person with an ugly face avoids the mirror, fleeing in shame, because the flaw inside them is exactly what hurts to see reflected back. Whatever quality someone is secretly carrying inside is the very thing that torments them when it is shown to them from outside. A thief loves the darkness of night and feels disgusted by the moon, because moonlight exposes what they are trying to hide. Tukaram says people who avoid this kind of honest light, whether from truth, good company, or God, are the truly unfortunate ones, cut off from real grace.
मराठी: तुकाराम एक तीक्ष्ण मानसशास्त्रीय निरीक्षण मांडतात: कुरूप चेहऱ्याची व्यक्ती लाजेने आरशापासून दूर पळते, कारण आतमध्ये असलेला दोषच बाहेरून परत दिसल्यावर सर्वात जास्त बोचतो. माणसाच्या मनात लपलेला जो गुणदोष असतो, तोच बाहेरून समोर आणला की त्याला सर्वात जास्त त्रास देतो. चोराला रात्रीचा अंधार आवडतो आणि चांदणे पाहून तो नाराज होतो, कारण चंद्रप्रकाश त्याचे लपवलेले उघड करतो. तुकाराम म्हणतात की जे लोक अशा प्रामाणिक प्रकाशापासून, मग तो सत्याचा असो, चांगल्या संगतीचा असो किंवा देवाचा असो, दूर पळतात, तेच खरोखर दुर्दैवी असतात, कृपेपासून वंचित.
Where this applies
- When you avoid honest feedback because it might reflect a flaw you already sense in yourself
- When you notice you dislike someone simply because their goodness highlights your own shortcomings
- When you catch yourself avoiding truthful people or situations that might expose something you are hiding
- When you realize that facing an uncomfortable truth about yourself, though painful, is better than running from it