Abhanga 4024
Knowing what is right does not automatically loosen the grip of old habit and ego, which pull as stubbornly as a donkey no matter how often you are told.
The verse
कळे परि न सुटे गांठी । जालें पोटीं कुपथ्य ॥१॥
अहंकाराचें आंदणें जीव । राहे कींव केली ते ॥ध्रु.॥
हेंकडाची एकी च वोढी । ते ही खोडी सांगती ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे सांगों किती । कांहीं चित्तीं न राहे ॥३॥
Literal translation
Known-but-knot-doesn't-untie — kupathya-in-pōṭa. Ahankāra-married-to-jīva-kept. Donkey-one-pull — bad-habit. Tukā: how-much-tell — nothing-stays-chitti.
What it means
A 3-verse knowing-without-acting text. I know — but the knot doesn't loosen; there's a bad-diet-residue in the stomach. Ego has been given to my soul in marriage — and is kept like a favoured dowry. The donkey has only one pull — that bad-habit is what they say (about the case). How much shall I tell — nothing stays in my heart. The donkey's-one-pull image — donkeys are notoriously stubborn; once they pull in one direction, they don't change. The bhakta's habit-stubbornness compared to a donkey.
For someone today
Tukaram admits something painfully honest: he understands what he should do, but the knot of old habit will not come loose, like a bad meal that keeps sitting badly in the stomach. Ego has settled into his very soul as if married to it, kept close like a prized possession he cannot part with. He compares himself to a stubborn donkey that only knows how to pull in one direction, no matter how many times someone tries to redirect it. Even hearing the same advice repeated, nothing seems to stick in his heart.
मराठी: तुकाराम अगदी प्रामाणिकपणे कबूल करतात की त्यांना काय करायला हवे हे कळते, पण जुन्या सवयीची गाठ काही सुटत नाही, जसे पोटात खराब अन्नाचा त्रास टिकून राहतो. अहंकार जणू जिवाशी लग्न लावून बसला आहे, आणि तो एखाद्या लाडक्या ऐवजासारखा जपून ठेवलेला आहे. ते स्वतःला हट्टी गाढवाशी तुलना करतात, जे फक्त एकाच दिशेने ओढत राहते, कितीही वेळा त्याला वळवण्याचा प्रयत्न केला तरी. तीच सल्ला वारंवार ऐकूनही मनात काहीच टिकत नाही.
Where this applies
- When you know exactly what you should change but keep doing the same thing anyway
- When someone points out your bad habit again and you realize you have heard it a hundred times before
- When ego quietly runs your decisions even though you can see it happening
- When you feel stuck repeating a pattern despite your best intentions