Abhanga 27
There is no shortcut. The work that looks dramatic from the outside is built by years of unsexy, unwitnessed practice. Without the practice it cannot be done by anyone.
The verse
आहांच वाहांच आंत वरी दोन्ही । न लगा गडणी आम्हां तैशा ॥१॥ भेऊं नये तेथें भेडसावूं कोणा । आवरूनि मना बंद द्यावा ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे कांहीं अभ्यासावांचुनी । नव्हे हे करणी भलतीची ॥३॥
(Source: transliteral.org Sant Tukaram Gatha, abhang 27. Twenty-first in 0007-0030+ gopī-arc.)
Literal translation
English: Those who are superficial-and-pretend both inside and outside — do not become our companions like that. Where one shouldn't be afraid, do not try to frighten anyone; restrain the mind, place it under discipline. Tuka says: without practice, this work cannot be done by anyone at all.
मराठी (आधुनिक): आहांच-वाहांच — आत आणि बाहेर दोन्हीकडे केवळ देखावा करणारे — तसे लोक आमचे सोबती नका होऊ. जिथे भिऊ नये तिथे कुणाला घाबरवू नका; मनाला आवरून बंद ठेवा. तुकाराम म्हणतात — अभ्यासावाचून हे काम कोणाचंही नाही.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| आहांच वाहांच आंत वरी दोन्ही | "ahanch vahanch — superficial-and-pretend, both inside and outside" (the doubled-onomatopoeic phrase suggests insubstantial, outwardly-performed inner-life) |
| न लगा गडणी आम्हां तैशा | "such (people) — do not become our companions" (गडणी = friend, companion, peer) |
| भेऊं नये तेथें भेडसावूं कोणा | "where one shouldn't be afraid, don't try to frighten anyone" |
| आवरूनि मना बंद द्यावा | "restrain the mind, put it under bind / discipline" |
| कांहीं अभ्यासावांचुनी | "without practice / abhyāsa" |
| नव्हे हे करणी भलतीची | "this work is not for just-anyone / cannot be done by bhalti (anybody, casual person)" |
What it means
This abhang is the practice-condition counter to 0026's internal-hardness-condition. Together they specify what the gopī-path actually requires: internal hardness (mind-having-died) and abhyāsa (sustained practice). Without both, the radical move is premature. [T]
The opening आहांच वाहांच is doubled-onomatopoeic Marathi suggesting outward-show-without-substance — the performed inner life. Tukaram is rejecting these as companions. The performed-inner is recognizable: it has the right vocabulary, it makes the right gestures, but the substance is not there because the practice has not been done. [T]
The middle verse — भेऊं नये तेथें भेडसावूं कोणा — where one shouldn't be afraid, don't try to frighten anyone — is interesting. The fear-gameplay is part of how performed-spirituality works: dramatizing dangers, frightening listeners with cosmic stakes, making oneself sound important by frightening others. Tukaram declines this. आवरूनि मना बंद द्यावा — restrain the mind, place it under discipline — is the alternative. [T]
The closing — अभ्यासावांचुनी नव्हे हे करणी भलतीची — without practice, this work cannot be done by anyone at all — is one of Tukaram's plainest claims. There is no shortcut. The work that looks dramatic from the outside (0007-0025's gopī-rebellion) is built by years of unsexy practice. Without the practice, no one — भलती (just-anybody, the casual claimant) — can do it. [T]
For someone today
English: This is one of Tukaram's most uncomfortable claims for modern spiritual culture, which is heavily aesthetics-oriented. The aesthetic of inner work — the language, the rituals, the visible practices — can be acquired without the work itself being done. Tukaram is rejecting the aesthetic-without-substance as company. आहांच वाहांच — superficial-and-pretend — is not failure of effort; it is the substitution of appearance of work for work. The substitution becomes invisible to the substituter; you can spend years thinking you're doing the work because the aesthetic looks like it.
The diagnostic Tukaram offers is अभ्यास — practice — as opposed to करणी (the work, the doing). The करणी (visible doing) is downstream of अभ्यास (the slow building). Without years of practice, the visible doing is hollow. With practice, the visible doing is real. The difference is invisible from the outside but starkly real from the inside.
The hard application: if you have been aesthetically spiritual or aesthetically doing inner-work for a long time and you have not seen the changes that practice produces, the question is not what new technique should I try? — the question is have I actually been practicing, or have I been performing the appearance of practice? The answer is between you and your honesty. There is no test except the test of years.
The strange comfort, though: if you HAVE been practicing — slow, unsexy, unwitnessed — Tukaram's verse is the assurance that that practice is the only thing that works. The dramatic external moves of 0007-0025 are not available except as a result of slow practice. The practice is the path; the dramatic moves are downstream effects. So slow unsexy practice is not the preparation for the path; it is the path.
मराठी: ही तुकारामांची आधुनिक aesthetics-oriented आध्यात्मिक संस्कृतीसाठी सर्वात अस्वस्थ करणाऱ्या दाव्यांपैकी एक आहे. आंतरिक कामाची aesthetics — भाषा, विधी, दिसणारी practices — हे काम न करताही प्राप्त करता येतं. तुकाराम aesthetic-without-substance ला सोबत नाकारतात. आहांच वाहांच — देखावा — हा प्रयत्नाचा अपयश नाही; तो कामाची दिसणारी प्रतिमा च्या जागी खऱ्या कामाला घालण्याचा बदल आहे. तो बदल बदलकर्त्याला अदृश्य होतो; तुम्ही वर्षानुवर्षं काम करतोय असं वाटू शकतं — कारण aesthetic बाहेरून कामासारखं दिसतं.
तुकाराम जो diagnostic देतात — अभ्यास — practice — हा करणी (दिसणारं काम) पासून वेगळा. करणी हा अभ्यास चा परिणाम आहे. वर्षांच्या practice शिवाय दिसणारं काम पोकळ आहे. practice सह दिसणारं काम खरं आहे. फरक बाहेरून अदृश्य पण आतून स्पष्ट.
कठीण लागू: तुम्ही खूप वेळ aesthetically आध्यात्मिक राहिला असाल किंवा aesthetically आंतरिक काम केलं असेल — आणि practice देणारे बदल झाले नसतील — तर प्रश्न हा नाही "नवीन technique कोणतं वापरू?" — प्रश्न हा "मी खरंच practice केली का — की practice सारखं वागलो?" उत्तर तुम्ही आणि तुमच्या प्रामाणिकपणामध्ये. वर्षांच्या परीक्षेशिवाय दुसरी परीक्षा नाही.
विचित्र दिलासा हा: तुम्ही खरंच practice करत असाल — हळू, unsexy, unwitnessed — तर तुकारामांची ओवी ही खात्री आहे की तीच practice काम करते. ०००७-००२५ चे radical external moves फक्त practice चा परिणाम म्हणून उपलब्ध होतात. practice म्हणजेच मार्ग; radical moves म्हणजे downstream effects. म्हणून हळू unsexy practice ही मार्गाची तयारी नाही — तीच मार्ग आहे.
Where this applies
- When you're tempted to attempt a difficult spiritual or relational move without practice. Tukaram's claim: it cannot be done. The visible move is downstream of the unsexy years.
- When someone is performing inner work as aesthetic. Notice it. Don't make it your fight to expose them, but don't take their performance as evidence of substance either.
- When you've been doing slow unsexy practice for years and wonder if it's doing anything. अभ्यासावांचुनी नव्हे. The practice is the only thing that works. Trust the slow.