Abhanga 3942
Tukaram makes a simple observation using two images: everyone loves sweet food, but to a sick person, the same food acts like poison. And a mirror is hated by exactly one kind of person, someone with no nose to see, because it only shows him what's missing. In the same way, he says, a wicked or corrupt person feels revulsion toward good advice, because it only reflects back their own flaws. This is a lesson in understanding why guidance sometimes provokes anger instead of gratitude: what you're offering may be good, but it depends entirely on whether the other person is actually able to receive it.
The verse
आवडे सकळां मिष्टान्न । रोग्या विषा त्यासमान ॥१॥
दर्पण नावडे तया एका । ठाव नाहीं ज्याच्या नाका ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे तैशा खळा । उपदेशाचा कांटाळा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Āvaḍe sakaḷā miṣṭānna — all love sweet-food; rōgyā viṣā tyā-samāna — to the sick, it equals viṣa. Darpaṇa nāvaḍe tayā ekā — the mirror is not liked by the one; ṭhāva nāhī jyāñcyā nākā — who has no place for a nose. Tukā mhaṇe taiśā khaḷā — Tukā says: similarly, the khaḷa; upadeśāñcā kāṇṭāḷā — has revulsion for upadeśa.
What it means
A short 3-verse observation by Tukārām with 2 striking-images.
The images: 1. Miṣṭānna-loved-by-all but-poison-to-sick 2. Mirror-hated by-the-noseless (because-the-mirror-shows-the-defect)
The application: the khaḷa hates upadeśa — because upadeśa-exposes-his-fault like-mirror-exposes-no-nose.
For someone today
Tukaram makes a simple observation using two images: everyone loves sweet food, but to a sick person, the same food acts like poison. And a mirror is hated by exactly one kind of person, someone with no nose to see, because it only shows him what's missing. In the same way, he says, a wicked or corrupt person feels revulsion toward good advice, because it only reflects back their own flaws. This is a lesson in understanding why guidance sometimes provokes anger instead of gratitude: what you're offering may be good, but it depends entirely on whether the other person is actually able to receive it.
मराठी: तुकाराम दोन प्रतिमांच्या साहाय्याने एक साधे निरीक्षण मांडतात: सगळ्यांना गोड जेवण आवडते, पण आजारी माणसासाठी तेच अन्न विषासारखे ठरते. आणि आरसा फक्त एकाच प्रकारच्या माणसाला आवडत नाही — ज्याला नाकच नाही, कारण त्यातून त्याला फक्त आपली उणीव दिसते. त्याचप्रमाणे, दुष्ट किंवा भ्रष्ट माणसाला चांगल्या सल्ल्याचा तिटकारा वाटतो, कारण तो सल्ला त्याला केवळ त्याचे स्वतःचे दोष दाखवतो, असे तुकाराम म्हणतात. यातून हा धडा मिळतो की मार्गदर्शन कधीकधी कृतज्ञतेऐवजी राग का निर्माण करते हे समजून घेणे: तुम्ही जे देत आहात ते चांगले असू शकते, पण समोरचा माणूस ते खरोखर स्वीकारण्यास सक्षम आहे की नाही यावर सगळे अवलंबून असते.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's fitness-of-receiver observation
- Mirror-and-noseless canonical-image
- Khaḷa-hates-upadeśa canonical-claim