Abhanga 4093
Do not spend your life flattering others for your livelihood while forgetting to be grateful to what truly sustains and saves you.
The verse
आपुल्या पोटासाटीं । करी लोकांचिया गोष्टी ॥१॥
जेणें घातलें संसारीं । विसरला तो चि हरी ॥ध्रु.॥
पोटा घातलें अन्न । न म्हणे पतितपावन ॥२॥
मी कोठील आणि कोण । हें न कळे ज्यालागून ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे नरस्तुति । करितो भाट त्रिजगतीं ॥४॥
Literal translation
For-own-pōṭa-speaks-people's-gōṣṭi. Forgot-Hari-who-put-him-in-samsāra. Stuffed-anna — doesn't-say-patita-pāvana. Where-from-and-who-am-I — doesn't-know. Tukā: nara-stuti-bhāṭa-of-three-worlds.
What it means
A 4-verse anti-flatterer-poet polemic. For his belly, he speaks of people's stories — but the very Hari who put him in samsāra, he has forgotten. He stuffed his belly with food — but doesn't say purifier-of-the-fallen. Where I'm from and who I am — he doesn't know. He does mortal-praise — a court-flatterer of the three-worlds. Specific target: poets-and-bhāṭas (court-poets) who praise rich-patrons for food, never the Lord. Pair with 4068 (anti-monetized-kathā), 4001 (anti-hypocrite-jñānī).
For someone today
Tukaram criticizes someone who spends their words praising other people just to earn a living, while forgetting the very source of life that sustains them in the first place. That person eats well off the flattery but never gives thanks or credit to what truly saved and provided for them. They've lost track of where they really came from and who they really are, so their praise ends up going to the wrong place entirely. The lesson is to notice who you actually owe your gratitude to, rather than spending your energy flattering whoever pays you.
मराठी: तुकाराम अशा माणसाला दोष देतात जो पोट भरण्यासाठी इतर लोकांची स्तुती करत राहतो, पण त्याला खरोखर जगवणाऱ्या मूळ स्रोताला विसरतो. तो माणूस खुशामतीतून चांगले खातो, पण ज्याने त्याला खरोखर तारले आणि पुरवले त्याचे आभार कधीच मानत नाही. तो कुठून आला आणि खरा कोण आहे हेच त्याला कळत नाही, त्यामुळे त्याची स्तुती चुकीच्या जागी जाऊन पडते. यातून शिकायचे हे की तुम्ही खरोखर कोणाचे ऋणी आहात हे लक्षात ठेवावे, त्याऐवजी जो पैसे देतो त्याची खुशामत करण्यात शक्ती वाया घालवू नये.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's anti-flatterer-poet; nara-stuti-bhāṭa canonical
- Pair with 4068 (anti-monetized-kathā), 4001 (anti-hypocrite-jñānī)