संत साहित्य
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Abhanga 93

This abhang is for the moment when the right-vs-wrong frame stops working — when the right things you've been doing are producing wrong outcomes inside, and the wrong things you fear are producing unexpected goods. Tukaram's reframe: the secret is upside-down. The diagnostic is single: did this make the deity more distant or nearer? That is the only metric. Politeness about checking is false. The gut-calculation is the real one.

When you've been doing right things for appearance and noticing the wrong things sneaking in through the right door — Tukaram names this
When you're tempted to be polite / discreet about checking the actual content of a practice — and you have to drop the politeness
When you have to calculate the gain in your gut rather than from prescribed signs — and you have to trust the inner accounting

The verse

भोगें घडे त्याग । त्यागें अंगा येती भोग ॥१॥ ऐसें उफराटें वर्म । धर्मा अंगीं च अधर्म ॥ध्रु.॥ देव अंतरे तें पाप । खोटे उगवा संकल्प ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे भीड खोटी । लाभ विचारावा पोटीं ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: Through enjoyment, renunciation arises; through renunciation, enjoyments come to the body. The secret is upside-down — in the body of dharma, adharma itself. What makes the deity become distant — that is paap; uproot false intentions. Tuka says: politeness is false; calculate the gain in your gut.

मराठी: भोगाने त्याग घडतो; त्यागाने अंगाला भोग येतात. वर्म उफराटं — धर्माच्या अंगातच अधर्म. देव दूर होतो — तेच पाप; खोटे संकल्प उगवा. तुकाराम म्हणतात — भीड खोटी; पोटात लाभ विचारा.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
भोगें घडे त्याग "by enjoyment, renunciation arises"
त्यागें अंगा येती भोग "by renunciation, enjoyments come to the body"
उफराटें वर्म "the secret is upside-down"
धर्मा अंगीं च अधर्म "in the body of dharma, adharma itself"
देव अंतरे तें पाप "what makes the deity become distant — that is paap (sin)"
खोटे उगवा संकल्प "uproot false intentions"
भीड खोटी "politeness / shyness is false"
लाभ विचारावा पोटीं "calculate the gain in your gut"

What it means

A short upside-down-secret abhang. The structural claim is paradoxical: enjoyment leads to renunciation (because the gut tires of it), and renunciation produces enjoyments coming back (because the renouncer is no longer chasing). The deeper claim: in the body of dharma, adharma lives. Dharma-actions performed for ego (echoes of 0090) carry adharma inside. The simplest diagnostic: देव अंतरे तें पापwhat makes the deity distant is paap. The closing instructs against politeness — भीड खोटी — and asks you to calculate the gain in your gut (in your पोट, your inner abdomen-of-truth). [T]

For someone today

This abhang is for the moment when the right-vs-wrong frame stops working — when the right things you've been doing are producing wrong outcomes inside, and the wrong things you fear are producing unexpected goods. Tukaram's reframe: the secret is upside-down. The diagnostic is single: did this make the deity more distant or nearer? That is the only metric. Politeness about checking is false. The gut-calculation is the real one.

मराठी: ही ओवी त्या क्षणासाठी जेव्हा right-vs-wrong frame चालत नाही — योग्य गोष्टी आत चुकीचे परिणाम देतायत, आणि घाबरत होतात त्या गोष्टींतून अनपेक्षित चांगले. तुकारामांचं reframe: वर्म उफराटं. diagnostic एकच: यामुळे देव दूर झाला, की जवळ आला? तेच एकमेव metric. तपासायला भीड खोटी. पोटातलं गणित खरं.

Where this applies

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