Abhanga 4236
Lying under oath is a grave wrong whose consequences do not stay with the liar alone but drag the whole family down with him.
The verse
लटिकी ग्वाही सभेआंत । देतां पतित आगळा ॥१॥
कुंभपाकीं वस्ती करूं । होय धुरु कुळेसी ॥ध्रु.॥
रजस्वला रुधिर स्रवे । तें चि घ्यावें तृषेसी ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे जन्मा आला । काळ जाला कुळासी ॥३॥
Literal translation
Laṭikī gvāhī sabheāmta — false evidence in sabhā; detām patita āgaḷā — makes one (most) patita. Kumbha-pākīm vastī karūm — settlement in kumbha-pāka; hōya dhuru kuḷesī — becomes dhuru of kuḷa. Rajasvalā rudhira srave — where menstruating-woman's blood flows; te chi ghyāve trṣesī — that very (one) drinks for thirst. Tukā mhaṇe janmā ālā — Tukā says: came to janma; kāḷa jālā kuḷāsī — became kāḷa for kuḷa.
What it means
A 3-verse anti-false-witness warning. False-evidence makes-one-most-fallen; kumbha-pāka-hell; drags-family-down; menstrual-blood-for-thirst (taboo-violation as-naraka-punishment); the-jīva-becomes-kāḷa-(ruin)-for-kuḷa.
For someone today
Tukaram condemns the act of lying under oath before an assembly, calling it one of the most degrading things a person can do. He describes it with the frightening image of a boiling hellish cauldron and drinking foul blood out of desperate thirst, a punishment so severe that it drags the whole family down with the liar rather than staying contained to him alone. His closing line is stark: such a person is born only to become ruin for his own family line. The lesson is that bearing false witness is not a private sin with private consequences, it damages trust and reputation far beyond yourself, harming the very people closest to you.
मराठी: तुकाराम सभेसमोर खोटी साक्ष देण्याचा कठोर निषेध करतात, आणि हे माणसाच्या सर्वात अधःपतित कृत्यांपैकी एक असल्याचे म्हणतात. ते याचे वर्णन उकळत्या नरककुंडाच्या आणि तहानेने व्याकुळ होऊन घाणेरडे रक्त प्यावे लागण्याच्या भयानक प्रतिमेने करतात, इतकी कठोर शिक्षा की ती फक्त खोटे बोलणाऱ्यापुरती मर्यादित न राहता संपूर्ण कुटुंबालाच खाली ओढते. त्यांची शेवटची ओळ स्पष्ट आहे - असा माणूस जन्माला येऊन फक्त स्वतःच्या कुळाचा नाश ठरतो. खोटी साक्ष देणे हे खाजगी पाप नसून त्याचे परिणाम फक्त स्वतःपुरते मर्यादित राहत नाहीत, तर विश्वास आणि प्रतिष्ठा दूरवर नुकसानीत जाते आणि सर्वात जवळच्या माणसांनाही झळ पोहोचते हाच यातील बोध आहे.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's anti-false-witness warning
- 17th-c naraka-imagery; bound-to-time