Abhanga 4201
People who parade their household success rarely see their own faults, yet freely catalog everyone else's, while true devotion asks for honest self examination instead.
The verse
संसार करिती मोठ्या महत्वानें । दिसे लोका उणें न कळे त्या ॥१॥
पवित्रपण आपुलें घरच्यासी च दिसे । बाहेर उदास निंदिताती ॥ध्रु.॥
आपणा कळेना आपले अवगुण । पुढिलाचे दोषगुण वाखाणिती ॥२॥
विषयाचे ध्यासें जग बांधियेलें । म्हणोनि लागले जन्ममृत्यु ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे माझें संचित चि असें । देवाजीचें पिसे सहजगुण ॥४॥
Literal translation
Samsāra-with-mahatva — uṇa-not-clear-to-people. Pavitra-paṇa-only-to-own-family — outside-they-blame. Don't-know-own-faults — chronicle-others'-doṣa-guṇa. Viṣaya-dhyāsa-binds — janma-mrtyu. Tukā: my-sañchita — Deva-pisē-natural-guṇa.
What it means
THE canonical 4-verse outer-show-vs-inner anti-hypocrisy diagnostic. People conduct samsāra with great display; what's missing is not clear to people themselves. Their purity-claim is visible only to their own family; outside they go blaming. They don't know their own faults; they catalog the qualities-and-defects of others. The world is bound by viṣaya-craving; so birth-death is attached. My share, Tukā says, is just this — the natural quality of Deva-madness. The four-step diagnostic: (1) show-driven samsāra; (2) pavitra-only-to-family — outside-defamation; (3) self-blindness with others-cataloging; (4) viṣaya-craving keeps janma-mrtyu attached. The closing twist: Tukā's sañchita is precisely the opposite — Deva-pisē-natural-guṇa (the madness-of-Deva as one's natural quality). Pair with 4178 (worldly-relative's-lament about-bhakta-child), 4198 (āvā-Paṇḍharī-comic-narrative).
For someone today
Many people run their household life with a great show of importance, blind to what is actually missing in themselves. They believe they are pure and upright because that is how their own family sees them, while outside they are quick to criticize and blame others. They cannot see their own faults, yet they keep a running tally of everyone else's flaws. Tukaram says this happens because the world is gripped by craving, which keeps people caught in the cycle of birth and death, while his own inheritance is simply the natural, joyful madness of devotion to God.
मराठी: पुष्कळ माणसं संसार मोठ्या थाटामाटात करतात, पण आपल्यात नेमकं काय कमी आहे हे त्यांना कळत नाही. आपलं घर आपल्याला पवित्र आणि चांगलं वाटतं, कारण घरचेच तसं म्हणतात, पण बाहेर मात्र ते इतरांना दोष देत फिरतात. स्वतःचे अवगुण त्यांना दिसत नाहीत, पण दुसऱ्यांचे दोष-गुण मात्र बारकाईने मोजत बसतात. तुकाराम म्हणतात, विषयांच्या ओढीने जग बांधलं गेलं आहे, म्हणून जन्ममृत्यूचा फेरा चुकत नाही. माझं मात्र संचित एवढंच आहे — देवाच्या भक्तीचं सहज लागलेलं वेड.
Where this applies
- When you notice you are harsher judging others' mistakes than your own
- When your family's approval makes you assume you are above criticism
- When you catch yourself gossiping about others' flaws while ignoring your own
- When a busy, showy way of living leaves no room for honest self reflection