Abhanga 67
This abhang's claim is among Tukaram's harshest for modern spirituality, which is heavily transactional. Manifest, attract, abundance-mindset, prayer-for-outcomes — all of these have spiritual language but are, in Tukaram's diagnosis, stone worshipping stone. The deity is not present in the transaction because the transaction is not actually a relation; it is a contract. The cure is not better outcomes-prayer; it is removing the outcomes-frame. Practice as itself, not as means.
The verse
वृत्ति भूमि राज्य द्रव्य उपार्जिती । जाणा त्या निश्चितीं देव नाहीं ॥१॥ भाडेकरी वाहे पाठीवरी भार । अंतरींचें सार लाभ नाहीं ॥ध्रु.॥ देवपूजेवरी ठेवूनियां मन । पाषाणा पाषाण पूजी लोभें ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे फळ चिंतिती आदरें । लाघव हे चार शिंदळीचे ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: Those who pursue position, land, kingdom, wealth (through their practice) — know with certainty there is no deity in it. The hired porter carries the load on his back; no inner-essence gain comes to him. Setting the mind on deity-worship — stone worships stone, out of greed. Tuka says: those who fervently contemplate (the) fruit — this is the charlatanism of the harlot.
मराठी: वृत्ति, भूमी, राज्य, द्रव्य कमवायला (साधना करणारे) — त्यांच्यात निश्चितपणे देव नाही. भाडेकरी पाठीवर ओझं वाहतो — आत सार-लाभ नाही. देवपूजेवर मन ठेवून — लोभाने पाषाण पाषाणाला पूजतो. तुकाराम म्हणतात — फळ आदराने चिंतणारे — हे शिंदळीचे चार लाघव.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| वृत्ति भूमि राज्य द्रव्य उपार्जिती | "those who pursue position, land, kingdom, wealth" |
| देव नाहीं | "there is no deity" (in their pursuit) |
| भाडेकरी वाहे पाठीवरी भार | "the porter carries the load on his back" |
| अंतरींचें सार लाभ नाहीं | "no inner essence-gain (for him)" |
| पाषाणा पाषाण पूजी लोभें | "stone worships stone, out of greed" (the worshipper is stone, the icon is stone) |
| फळ चिंतिती आदरें | "they earnestly contemplate fruit (results)" |
| लाघव हे चार शिंदळीचे | "this is the charlatanism of the harlot's four" (i.e., it is sham work, like a hustler's gestures) |
What it means
The harshest single line is पाषाणा पाषाण पूजी लोभें — stone worships stone, out of greed. The worshipper, when greedy, is himself a stone (insensitive to substance); the deity-icon is also a stone; the entire transaction is mineral-on-mineral, with no living relationship anywhere. The earlier porter-image is precise: the hired porter carries weight without inner gain; transactional worship is the same. The closing — लाघव शिंदळीचे — the charlatanism of the harlot — equates result-oriented worship with sex-work as purchased gestures. [T]
For someone today
This abhang's claim is among Tukaram's harshest for modern spirituality, which is heavily transactional. Manifest, attract, abundance-mindset, prayer-for-outcomes — all of these have spiritual language but are, in Tukaram's diagnosis, stone worshipping stone. The deity is not present in the transaction because the transaction is not actually a relation; it is a contract. The cure is not better outcomes-prayer; it is removing the outcomes-frame. Practice as itself, not as means.
मराठी: ही ओवीचा दावा आधुनिक आध्यात्मिकतेसाठी सर्वात तीक्ष्ण — कारण ती heavily transactional. Manifest, attract, abundance-mindset, परिणामांसाठी प्रार्थना — हे सगळं आध्यात्मिक भाषेत आहे — पण तुकारामांच्या निदानात पाषाण पाषाणाला पूजतो. transaction मध्ये देव नाही कारण transaction नातं नाही — contract आहे. उपाय better outcome-prayer नाही — outcome-frame काढून टाकणं. साधना स्वतःचसाठी, साधन म्हणून नाही.
Where this applies
- Practice for outcomes. Stone worshipping stone.
- Spiritual results being sold. लाघव शिंदळीचे. Distance.
- Carrying practice as burden hoping for payoff. Porter's back. No gain.