Abhanga 3818
Crow-pearl-garland — no-bhūṣaṇa-shobha.
The verse
कावळ्याच्या गळां मुक्ताफळमाळा । तरी काय त्याला भूषण शोभे ॥१॥
गजालागीं केला कस्तुरीचा लेप । तिचें तो स्वरूप काय जाणे ॥ध्रु.॥
बकापुढें सांगे भावार्थे वचन । वाउगा चि सीण होय त्यासी ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे तैसे अभाविक जन । त्यांसी वांयां सीण करूं नये ॥३॥
Literal translation
Crow-pearl-garland — no-bhūṣaṇa-shobha. Elephant-kasturi-leep — doesn't-know-svarūpa. Baka-bhāvārtha-vachan — only-vāuga-śīṇa. Tukā: same-with-abhāvika-jana — don't-waste-effort.
What it means
★ A 3-verse mis-fit polemic. A pearl-garland on a crow's neck — does it count as an ornament? Putting musk-paste on an elephant — does it know its essence? Telling devotion-loaded words before a crane (hypocrite-bird) — only futile fatigue results. Same with people-without-bhāva — don't waste your effort on them. The three mis-fit pairs are precise: crow-pearl (ornament-on-unworthy), elephant-musk (subtle-fragrance-on-bulk), and the baka-bhāvārtha (sacred-word-before-hypocrite). Compare 3791 (Kāmadhēnu-seen-as-cow); the converse is 2810 (saints-list — uñca-niñca-neṇē-Bhagavanta).
For someone today
Tukārām: don't-waste-pearls-on-crows — don't-waste-sacred-word-on-the-abhāvika.
Where this applies
- ★ Tukārām's don't-waste-on-abhāvika-jana canonical mis-fit polemic
- crow-pearl / elephant-musk / baka-bhāvārtha three-pair imagery