Abhanga 3855
Judge the actual quality of a thing or person, not the humble or unlikely place it came from.
The verse
आपणा लागे काम वाण्याघरीं गुळ । त्याचे याति कुळ काय कीजे ॥१॥
उकरड्यावरी वाढली तुळसी । टाकावी ते कैसी ठायागुणें ॥ध्रु.॥
गाईंचा जो भक्ष अमंगळ खाय । तीचें दूध काय सेवूं नये ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे काय सलपटासी काज । फणसांतील बीज काढुनि घ्यावें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Āpaṇā lāge kāma vāṇyā gharīm guḷa — if (I) need jaggery for work, (I go) to vāṇī's house; tyāñce yāti kuḷa kāya kīje — what (matter) his yāti-kuḷa. Ukaraḍyāvarī vāḍhalī tuḷasī — on dunghill grows tuḷasī; ṭākāvī te kaisī ṭhāyāguṇe — should it be discarded by place-quality. Gāīmñcā jō bhakṣa amangaḷa khāya — cow eats amangaḷa food; tīñce dūdha kāya sevūm naye — should we not drink its milk. Tukā mhaṇe kāya salapaṭāsī kāja — Tukā says: what use is the peel; phaṇasāmtīla bīja kāḍhuni ghyāve — take the seed from jackfruit (by removing peel).
What it means
A canonical 3-image bhakti-democratization text. The 4 illustrations: jaggery-from-grocer (don't-ask-jāti); tuḷasī-on-dunghill (don't-judge-by-place); cow-eats-amangaḷa-but-milk-pure; jackfruit-bīja-from-the-peel.
For someone today
Tukaram argues that where something comes from should not stop you from taking what is actually good in it. When you need jaggery, you buy it from the grocer without caring what caste or family he belongs to. A tulsi plant growing on a garbage heap is still tulsi, and you would not throw it away just because of where it took root. A cow may eat filthy things, yet nobody refuses to drink its milk on that account. So, Tukaram says, look past the outer husk of the jackfruit and take the sweet seed inside, rather than judging by the rough covering.
मराठी: तुकाराम सांगतात की एखादी गोष्ट कुठून आली यावरून तिच्यातला खरा गुण नाकारू नये. जाळेल्या गुळाची गरज असेल तेव्हा तो वाण्याकडून विकत घेतो, त्याची जात-कुळ काय आहे याची पर्वा न करता. उकिरड्यावर उगवलेली तुळस तरीही तुळसच असते, ती कुठे उगवली म्हणून टाकून दिली जात नाही. गाय अमंगळ काहीही खात असली तरी तिचे दूध कोणी नाकारत नाही. म्हणून तुकाराम म्हणतात, फणसाच्या खरखरीत सालीकडे न बघता आतले गोड बी घ्यावे, वरच्या रूपावरून पारख करू नये.
Where this applies
- When you catch yourself judging a person's worth by their family, background, or social status
- When something good comes from an unexpected or humble place and you're tempted to dismiss it
- When you focus on someone's rough exterior instead of the good quality inside them
- When you have to decide whether to accept help or wisdom from someone you'd normally overlook