Abhanga 4083
Keep your inner intentions honest, since hidden falseness always surfaces eventually, and only your own sincerity, not others' praise or blame, truly bears fruit.
The verse
आपुली कसोटी शुद्ध राखी कारण । आगीनें भूषण अधिक पुट ॥१॥
नाहीं कोणासवें बोलणें लागत । निश्चिंतीनें चित्तसमाधान ॥ध्रु.॥
लपविलें तें ही ढेंकरें उमटे । खोटियाचें खोटें उर फोडी ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे निंदा स्तुति दोन्ही वाव । आपुलाला भाव फळा येतो ॥३॥
Literal translation
Own-kasōṭī-shuddha — fire-gold-burnishes. No-talking — niścinti-chitta-samādhāna. Hidden-comes-out-by-ḍhēnkara — khōṭa-bursts. Tukā: nindā-stuti-vāva — own-bhāva-fruits.
What it means
A 4-verse self-test text. Keep your own touchstone-test pure — by the fire, the gold-ornament gets more burnishing. One doesn't need to talk with anyone; in unworried-state, the chitta has its peace. What is hidden comes out by a burp; the false-one's chest bursts. Tukā says: blame and praise are both empty; your own bhāva bears the fruit. The fire-burnishes-gold image is striking — adversity is testing-by-fire that makes the gold more shining.
For someone today
Tukaram tells us to keep our inner standards honest and pure, just as fire tests and polishes gold until it shines even brighter. You don't need to explain or defend yourself to everyone; a calm, untroubled mind finds its own peace without constant talking. Whatever is hidden or false has a way of surfacing on its own, the way a burp reveals what was swallowed, and pretense always eventually cracks open. In the end, both blame and praise from others are empty, what truly matters and bears fruit is the sincerity of your own inner intention.
मराठी: तुकाराम सांगतात की आपली अंतःकरणातील कसोटी शुद्ध ठेवावी, जसे अग्नी सोन्याला तापवून अधिकच झळाळी देतो. प्रत्येकाला स्वतःचे स्पष्टीकरण देत बसण्याची गरज नाही; शांत, निश्चिंत मन आपोआप समाधान मिळवते, सतत बोलण्याची गरज नसते. जे लपवलेले किंवा खोटे असते ते आपोआप उघड होते, जसे ढेकर आल्याने आतले बाहेर येते, तसे ढोंग शेवटी फुटतेच. शेवटी, इतरांची निंदा किंवा स्तुती दोन्ही व्यर्थ असतात; खरोखर फळाला येते ते तुमच्या स्वतःच्या मनातील प्रामाणिक भावच.
Where this applies
- When you feel pressured to constantly justify or explain yourself to keep your reputation intact
- When you are going through a hard, testing time and need to see it as something that can refine you
- When you are hiding something false and it keeps threatening to surface on its own
- When praise or criticism from others is swaying you more than your own honest sense of what's right