Abhanga 4040
Flattering the rich while ignoring real suffering and treating people inconsistently is a mean, wasted way to spend a life.
The verse
नागलें देखोनि चांगलें बोले । आपुलें वेचूनि त्याजपुढें खुले ॥१॥
अधमाचे ओंगळ गुण । उचित नेणें तो धर्म कोण ॥ध्रु.॥
आर्तभूता न घली पाण्याचा चुळ । न मागे त्यासी घाली साखर गुळ ॥२॥
एकासी आड पडोनि होंकरी । एकासी देखोनि लपवी भाकरी ॥३॥
एकासी धड न बोले वाचा । एकासी म्हणे मी तुझे बांदीचा ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे ते गाढवपशु । लाभेंविण केला आयुष्यनाशु ॥५॥
Literal translation
Nāgale dekhōnī chāngale bōle — sees the rich, speaks well; āpule vechūnī tyājapuḍhe khule — pours own (treasure) openly before them. Adhamāñce ōngaḷa guṇa — the ugly-quality of adhama; uchita neṇe tō dharma kōṇa — doesn't know what is proper-dharma. Ārta-bhūtā na ghalī pāṇyāñcā chuḷa — doesn't pour a mouthful of water on the suffering-creature; na māge tyāsī ghālī sākhara guḷa — to those not asking, gives sugar-and-jaggery. Ekāsī āḍa paḍōnī hōmkarī — to one, falls into corner (hiding); ekāsī dekhōnī lapavī bhākarī — from another, hides the bread. Ekāsī dhaḍa na bōle vāchā — to one, doesn't speak straight; ekāsī mhaṇe mī tujhe bāmdīñcā — to another, says I am your slave. Tukā mhaṇe te gāḍhava-paśu — Tukā says: such are donkey-beasts; lābhemviṇa kelā āyuṣya-nāśu — without lābha, they have wasted life.
What it means
A striking 5-verse anti-mean-person polemic by Tukārām.
The specific behaviors of the adhama (mean person): 1. Sycophancy to-rich (praises, gives-own-treasure to wealthy) 2. Misallocation (no water to suffering; sugar to those-not-asking) 3. Hiding behavior (hides in corner from one; hides bread from another) 4. Inconsistent speech (rude to one; servile to another)
Closing-curse: gāḍhava-paśu (donkey-beasts); life-wasted-without-lābha.
For someone today
Tukārām's anti-mean-person polemic. (He) sees the rich — speaks well; pours out his own (best) before them. The ugly quality of the low one — he doesn't know what is proper dharma. He doesn't pour a mouthful of water on the suffering — but to those not asking, gives sugar and jaggery. To one — he hides in the corner; from another — he hides the bread. To one — he does not speak straight; to another — he says I am your slave. Such are donkey-beasts — without gain, life has been wasted. The verse permits this diagnostic: sycophancy toward the rich and mean, inconsistent conduct toward everyone else adds up to a wasted life.
मराठी: तुकारामांची ही हलक्या स्वभावाच्या माणसाविरुद्धची टीका. श्रीमंत दिसला की गोड बोलतो, त्याच्यापुढे आपले सर्वस्व उधळतो. या हलक्या माणसाचा घाणेरडा गुण असा की त्याला योग्य धर्म काय हे कळतच नाही. दुःखी माणसाला पाण्याचा घोटही देत नाही, पण न मागताच कुणाला साखर-गूळ देतो. एकाला पाहून कोपऱ्यात लपतो, दुसऱ्याला पाहून भाकरी लपवतो. एकाशी धड बोलत नाही, दुसऱ्याला म्हणतो मी तुझा दास आहे. तुकाराम म्हणतात — असे लोक गाढवासारखे पशू आहेत, त्यांनी काहीही न मिळवता आयुष्य वाया घालवले आहे. या ओवीत हा निकष मांडला आहे — श्रीमंतांची खुशामत आणि इतरांशी विसंगत, हलके वर्तन म्हणजे वाया गेलेले आयुष्य.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's striking anti-mean-person/sycophant polemic
- 4-behavior diagnostic
- Gāḍhava-paśu canonical-pejorative