Abhanga 4432
You can be fierce and unyielding toward cruelty while remaining completely humble before genuine goodness, the two are not contradictions.
The verse
अवघ्या कोल्ह्यांचें वर्म अंडीं । धरितां तोंडीं खीळ पडे ॥१॥
भुंकुं नका भुंकुं नका । आला तुका विष्णुदास ॥ध्रु.॥
कवणे ठायीं सादर व्हावें । नाहीं ठावें गाढवा ॥२॥
दुर्जनासि पंचानन । तुका रजरेणु संतांचा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Foxes'-anḍa-holding — khīḷa-in-mouth. Don't-bark — Viṣṇu-dāsa-Tukā-has-come. Where-respectful — donkey-doesn't-know. Durjana-pañchānana-Tukā — santa-rajareṇu-Tukā.
What it means
A 3-verse two-aspect-self-positioning text. The essential-secret of all the foxes is in (their) eggs; holding (them), a peg falls into (their) mouth (they're silenced). Don't bark, don't bark — Tukā the Viṣṇu-servant has come. To whom one should be respectful — the donkey doesn't know. To the durjana (Tukā is) the five-faced lion; Tukā (is) the dust-of-the-feet of the santas. The same-person, two-aspects: (1) pañchānana (5-faced lion) toward durjanas — fierce, silencing barking-foxes; (2) raja-reṇu (foot-dust) toward santas — humblest. Same-self-different-stance based-on-recipient. Pair with 4189 (nindaka-as-paropakārī-washerman), 4197 (diamond-price-stable-santas-mistreated).
For someone today
Tukārām compares small-minded critics to foxes that bark and snap, and says he knows exactly how to silence them, so he warns them plainly to stop barking because a true servant of God has arrived. He notes that a stubborn, foolish person, like a donkey, simply doesn't know who deserves respect and who doesn't. Then he draws a sharp contrast: toward the wicked and the malicious, he can be as fierce as a five-faced lion, but toward genuinely good and holy people, he considers himself nothing more than the dust beneath their feet. The same person can hold both postures, firm and unyielding against cruelty, but utterly humble before goodness.
मराठी: तुकाराम क्षुद्र टीकाकारांची तुलना भुंकणाऱ्या कोल्ह्यांशी करतात, आणि म्हणतात की त्यांना अशा लोकांना कसे गप्प करायचे हे नेमके ठाऊक आहे, म्हणून ते स्पष्टपणे बजावतात की भुंकणे थांबवा, कारण विष्णुदास खरोखर आले आहेत. एखादा हट्टी, मूर्ख माणूस, गाढवासारखा, कोणाचा आदर करावा आणि कोणाचा नाही हे त्याला कळतच नाही, असेही ते नमूद करतात. मग ते एक स्पष्ट फरक दाखवतात, दुष्ट आणि द्वेषी लोकांसमोर ते पंचानन सिंहासारखे कठोर होऊ शकतात, पण खऱ्या सज्जन आणि संतांसमोर ते स्वतःला त्यांच्या पायाची धूळ मानतात. एकाच व्यक्तीमध्ये हे दोन्ही रूप असू शकतात, क्रूरतेसमोर ठाम आणि अभेद्य, तर चांगुलपणासमोर पूर्णपणे नम्र.
Where this applies
- When someone keeps criticizing or mocking you without any real basis and you finally decide to push back firmly
- When you're tempted to be equally harsh with people who are genuinely good just because you've grown defensive
- When you need to set a firm boundary with someone who won't stop being cruel or malicious
- When you're in the presence of someone truly wise or good and want to show real humility instead of ego