Abhanga 4024
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
Tukārām: I-know-but-the-knot-won't-untie — like-the-donkey-with-one-stubborn-pull.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's known-but-not-acted; donkey's-one-pull canonical knowing-without-acting