Abhanga 4103
Some pairings simply do not work no matter how much effort is applied, and staying steadily in good company requires real inner readiness, not just desire.
The verse
चोरासी चांदणें वेश्येसी सेजार । परिसेंसी खापर काय होय ॥१॥
दुधाचे आधणीं वैरिले पाषाण । कदा काळीं जाण पाकनव्हे ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे जरि पूर्वपुण्यें सिद्धि । तरि च राहे बुद्धि संतसंगीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Thief-moonlight; prostitute-separate-bed; paris-pot-shard. Boiling-milk-with-stones — never-cooks. Tukā: only-pūrva-puṇya-siddhi — buddhi-stays-in-santa-sangi.
What it means
A 3-verse mis-fit text. For the thief, moonlight is unwelcome; for the prostitute, a separate-bed; the touchstone with a pot-shard — what comes about? Stones in boiling milk — never cooks. Only if accomplished by past-puṇya does the mind stay in sant-company. Mis-fit-images — wrong combinations don't yield results; only pūrva-puṇya keeps one in sant-sanga.
For someone today
Tukaram lists things that simply do not go together, moonlight is unwelcome to a thief who needs darkness, a separate bed is useless to someone whose whole trade depends on closeness, and a legendary touchstone touching a worthless pot-shard produces nothing. He adds that stones thrown into boiling milk will never cook no matter how long they sit there. In the same way, he says, staying steadily in the company of good and wise people is not something that just happens by accident, it takes real inner readiness built up over time, otherwise the mind simply will not settle there.
मराठी: तुकाराम अशा गोष्टींची यादी देतात ज्या मुळातच एकत्र बसत नाहीत, चोराला चांदणे नको असते कारण त्याला अंधार हवा असतो, ज्याचा धंदाच जवळिकीवर अवलंबून आहे तिला वेगळी सेजा निरुपयोगी आहे, आणि परीस दगड निरुपयोगी खापराला लावला तरी काहीच घडत नाही. ते पुढे सांगतात की उकळत्या दुधात दगड टाकले तर ते कधीही शिजत नाहीत, कितीही वेळ ठेवले तरी. त्याचप्रमाणे, ते म्हणतात, चांगल्या आणि शहाण्या माणसांच्या सहवासात स्थिरपणे राहणे हे सहज घडत नाही, त्यासाठी आधीपासून तयार झालेली अंतःकरणाची खरी तयारी लागते, नाहीतर मन तिथे स्थिरावतच नाही.
Where this applies
- When you keep forcing yourself into a situation or relationship that fundamentally does not fit who you are
- When you expect effort alone to produce results even though the basic conditions are wrong
- When you wonder why you cannot settle into good company or a healthy habit no matter how hard you try
- When you realize real readiness, not just willpower, is what lets you stay committed to something good