Abhanga 4014
Like grain that only shows its true worth after being threshed, a person's genuine character only becomes clear through real testing, and vanity or renewed greed can hide it from you.
The verse
वडील आणि धाकुलें । नाहीं ऐसें जालें दुसरें तें ॥१॥
लागल्या लागें त्यागें सांडूनि । लोभीये मांडणी संयोगाची ॥ध्रु.॥
हीन जालें भूषणाचें इच्छे । निवडती कैसे गुणागुण ॥२॥
पिटिलियाविण नव्हे खरें । निवडें बरें जातिशुद्ध ॥३॥
आवडी द्यावी जी येथें लाटी । तुझी जगजेठी कीर्ती वाखाणीन ॥४॥
Literal translation
Elder-younger-distinction-doesn't-work. Leaving-one-lāga — caught-in-lōbhīyē-samyōga. Hīna-by-bhūṣaṇa-iccha — can't-distinguish-guṇa-aguṇa. Without-piṭilīyā — real-jāti-śuddha-not-found. Give-favor-by-lāṭi — extol-Jagajēṭhi-kīrti.
What it means
A 4-verse purification-talk. Elder-and-younger distinction doesn't work — (we) become other-things (in samsāra). Leaving one attachment by renunciation, we are again caught in greedy combinations. One who has fallen by desire for ornaments can't distinguish guṇa from aguṇa. Without being threshed (tested), the true-essence isn't picked out. Give favor here by proper apportioning; I'll extol your kīrti, Jagajēṭhi. The image piṭilyā-viṇa-navhē-kharē-niḷaḍē (without-being-threshed/beaten, the real isn't picked out) — purification-by-trial.
For someone today
Tukaram notices how easily we fool ourselves about our own progress. Distinctions like elder and younger do not really hold up, he says, because we are all still caught up in the same condition. Even after giving up one attachment through renunciation, people often just get pulled back into new arrangements driven by the same old greed. Chasing status or ornaments makes it impossible to tell your genuine good qualities from your flaws, since vanity clouds honest self-assessment. He compares this to grain, the true, pure essence of anything only shows itself after it has been beaten and threshed, not before. So he asks for fair treatment and grace, promising in return to praise the divine's greatness honestly.
मराठी: आपण आपल्याच प्रगतीबद्दल किती सहज स्वतःला फसवतो हे तुकाराम टिपतात. मोठे-लहान असा भेद खरे तर टिकत नाही, ते म्हणतात, कारण आपण सगळे अजूनही त्याच स्थितीत अडकलेले असतो. एक आसक्ती त्यागाने सोडूनही, माणूस अनेकदा त्याच जुन्या लोभातून जन्मलेल्या नव्या गुंत्यांमध्ये पुन्हा अडकतो. दर्जा किंवा दागिन्यांच्या मागे लागल्याने आपले खरे गुण आणि दोष ओळखणे अशक्य होते, कारण अहंकार प्रामाणिक आत्मपरीक्षणावर पडदा टाकतो. ते याची तुलना धान्याशी करतात, कोणत्याही गोष्टीचे खरे, शुद्ध सार झोडपून, चाळल्यानंतरच दिसते, आधी नाही. म्हणून ते न्याय्य वागणूक आणि कृपेची मागणी करतात, आणि बदल्यात परमेश्वराच्या महानतेचे प्रामाणिकपणे गुणगान करण्याचे वचन देतात.
Where this applies
- When you assume you have outgrown an old flaw but notice it returning in a new disguise
- When chasing status or recognition is clouding your ability to see your own strengths and weaknesses clearly
- When you are going through a hard trial and wonder whether it might actually be revealing something true about you
- When you want a way to ask honestly for fair treatment while acknowledging you are still a work in progress