Abhanga 4197
The verse
हिरा ठेवितां काळें गाहाण । मोल न तुटे दुकाळीं जाण ॥१॥
तैसे संतजन पाहीं । विनटले श्रीहरिपायीं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे तैसे भक्त । तयांसी जन हें निंदित ॥३॥
Literal translation
Diamond-mortgaged-cheap — mōla-doesn't-fall-even-in-duṣkāḷa. So-santa-jana — fastened-at-Śrī-Hari-pāya. Tukā: such-bhaktas — jana-blames-them.
What it means
★ A 3-verse defense-of-bhakta text with sharp economic image. A diamond kept in a dark place / pawned-cheap — its price does not break even in famine, know. So too the santa-jana — see — they are fastened at Śrī-Hari's feet. Tukā says: such bhaktas — the common-people blame them. The economic-image: diamond's intrinsic value persists even under duress — santas similarly maintain intrinsic value under public-blame. Pair with 4178 (worldly-relative's-lament about bhakta-child), 4189 (nindaka-as-paropakārī).
For someone today
Tukārām: a-diamond's-value-doesn't-fall-in-famine — likewise-santas'-value-doesn't-fall-from-public-blame.
Where this applies
- ★ Tukārām's diamond-price-stable-santas-mistreated canonical