Abhanga 4545
Pride keeps people from seeing the truth about their own effort, and only direct experience, not being told, can dissolve that false sense of self-importance.
The verse
वाचाळ लटिके अक्त जे खळ । आपुलें तें बळ वाखाणीती ॥१॥
बळें हुंबरती सत्य त्यां न कळे । नुघडती डोळे अंधळ्यांचे ॥२॥
आसुडिल्या माना हात पाय नेटें । तंव भार बोटें उचलिला ॥३॥
लटिका चि आम्हीं सीण केला देवा । कळों आलें तेव्हां सकळांसि ॥४॥
आलें कळों तुका म्हणे अनुभवें । मग अहंभावें सांडवलीं ॥५॥
Literal translation
Vāchāḷa-laṭikē-akta-khaḷa — own-strength-vakhāṇitī. Strength-mooing — truth-not-known — blind-eyes-don't-open. Jerked-necks-hands-feet-strained — load-by-finger-lifted. We-made-laṭikā-sīṇa — Deva-realized-then-all. Came-to-know-by-anubhava — Tukā: aham-bhāva-cast-aside.
What it means
A 5-verse yamak-bandha — the Gopāḷas-realize-they-faked-the-strain. The diagnostic: vāchāḷas extol their own strength — they don't know the truth — blind-eyes-don't-open. They-jerked-necks-and-strained-bodies pretending-to-lift-the-mountain — meanwhile the actual lifting was by Lord's finger alone. The realization: 'we-made-a-false-exertion to-the-Deva' — the truth came-to-knowing through anubhava (direct-experience) — and the aham-bhāva was cast-aside. The lesson: realization-by-experience is-the-only-cure-for-vāchāḷa-pride. Pair with 4544 (preceding climax), 4546 (continuing prostration).
For someone today
The cowherds who strained their necks and bodies, boasting about their own strength in lifting the mountain, could not see the truth, their pride kept their eyes shut like someone blind who will not look. All along, the whole weight was actually held up by a single finger, not by their effort at all. It is only through direct experience, once the truth finally becomes plain to them, that they admit their exertion was false and let go of their sense of self-importance. Real humility rarely comes from being told, it comes from experiencing firsthand how little your own strength actually did.
मराठी: आपल्याच बळाची बढाई मारत मान आणि शरीर ताणून घेणाऱ्या गोपाळांना सत्य दिसतच नव्हते, त्यांच्या गर्वाने त्यांचे डोळे आंधळ्यासारखे बंद ठेवले होते. संपूर्ण भार खरे तर एकाच बोटावर पेलला जात होता, त्यांच्या प्रयत्नाने नव्हे. शेवटी प्रत्यक्ष अनुभवानेच, सत्य स्पष्ट झाल्यावर, त्यांना कबूल करावे लागते की त्यांचा ताण खोटा होता आणि तेव्हाच ते आपला अहंभाव सोडून देतात. खरी नम्रता क्वचितच सांगून येते, ती स्वतःच्या बळाने खरे तर किती कमी केले हे प्रत्यक्ष अनुभवल्यावरच येते.
Where this applies
- When someone boasts about effort that actually did very little of the real work
- When pride keeps you from seeing a truth that is right in front of you
- When you only realize how little you contributed after experiencing the full picture
- When direct experience finally dissolves a false sense of your own importance