Abhanga 94
The false guru wears holy marks and meditates like bait, feeding you kindness so the hook stays hidden, the way a butcher raises an animal lovingly before slitting its throat, and Tukaram admits he can be that too.
The verse
भोरप्यानें सोंग पालटिलें वरी । ध्यान धरी मत्स्या जैसें ॥१॥ टिळे माळा मैंद मुद्रा लावी अंगीं । देखों नेदि जगीं फांसे जैसे ॥ध्रु.॥ ढीवर या मत्स्या चारा घाली जैसा । भीतरील फांसा कळों नेदी ॥२॥ खाटिक हा स्नेहवादें पशु पाळी । कापावया नळी तया साठीं ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे तैसा भला मी लोकांत । परी तूं कृपावंत पांडुरंगा ॥४॥
Literal translation
The bhorpī (impersonator) has changed his outer disguise; he holds meditation as a fish does — as bait. He puts on tilak, garlands, false ascetic-pose, bodily mudrās — does not let the world see the snare. Just as the fisherman feeds the fish — does not let the inner-snare be known. The butcher keeps the animal lovingly — for the sake of slitting its throat. Tuka says: such am I (good-seeming) among people — but you, Pandurang, are compassionate.
मराठी: भोरप्याने वरचा सोंग पालटला; तो मत्स्यासारखं ध्यान धरतो (आमिष म्हणून). टिळे, माळा, मैंद, अंगावर मुद्रा — जगाला फांसे दिसू देत नाही. ढीवर मत्स्याला चारा घालतो — आत-फांसा कळू देत नाही. खाटिक स्नेहाने पशु पाळतो — नळी कापायला. तुकाराम म्हणतात — मी लोकांत असाच (चांगला दिसणारा); पण तू पांडुरंगा कृपावंत.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| भोरप्यानें सोंग पालटिलें वरी | "the bhorpī (impersonator / fraudster) has changed his outer disguise" |
| ध्यान धरी मत्स्या जैसें | "(he) holds meditation like a fish (= as a stillness-bait)" |
| टिळे माळा मैंद मुद्रा | "tilak, garlands, maind (false ascetic-pose), bodily mudrās" |
| देखों नेदि जगीं फांसे जैसे | "doesn't let the world see the snare" |
| ढीवर या मत्स्या चारा घाली जैसा | "as the fisherman feeds the fish (with bait)" |
| भीतरील फांसा कळों नेदी | "doesn't let the inner-snare be known" |
| खाटिक हा स्नेहवादें पशु पाळी | "the butcher keeps the animal lovingly" |
| कापावया नळी तया साठीं | "for the sake of slitting (its) throat" |
| तैसा भला मी लोकांत | "such am I (good-seeming) among people" |
| परी तूं कृपावंत पांडुरंगा | "but you are compassionate, Pandurang" |
What it means
This is one of Tukaram's most-cited false-guru abhangs. The portrait is precise and harsh: - भोरपी (impersonator) wears the outer signs (tilak, garlands, ascetic mudras) - His "meditation" is bait — like the fish that holds still to attract other fish for the fisherman - The fisherman feeds the fish so the snare goes unseen — the false-guru offers benefits to keep the disciple unsuspecting - The butcher keeps the animal lovingly to slit its throat — the cultivation of fondness is preparation for harm
The closing twist is one of Tukaram's most striking moments of self-honesty: तैसा भला मी लोकांत — such (a fraud-seeming) am I among people. Tukaram is not exempting himself from the portrait. He is naming his own susceptibility to playing the same role and saying: you, Pandurang, are compassionate — meaning, what saves Tukaram from being the fraud is not his own purity but the deity's compassion. [T] [Tradition]
For someone today
This abhang offers two diagnostics. First — for recognizing the false guru/teacher/leader. The signs: outer marks worn deliberately, meditation used as a pose rather than a genuine inner state, kindness offered as bait (the fisherman's feeding), fondness cultivated to disarm you before the harm comes (the butcher's care). If a teacher or leader's kindness is making you less able to see what they're doing, the butcher-pattern may apply. Look at the inner-snare, not the outer signs.
The harder teaching is in the closing: I am like that among people. Tukaram is not exempting himself. The honest application: notice your own moments of using spiritual vocabulary or stance as bait, of growing fond of someone in order to disarm them, of keeping someone close for purposes you haven't admitted. The portrait is a mirror, not just a warning about others.
मराठी: ही ओवी दोन diagnostics देते. पहिलं — खोट्या गुरू / शिक्षक / नेत्याची ओळख. चिन्हं: वरची चिन्हं deliberately, ध्यान खऱ्या अवस्थेऐवजी केवळ मुद्रा म्हणून धरलेलं, दयेची आमिष (मासेमाराचा चारा), हानी पोहोचवण्याआधी नि:शस्त्र करण्यासाठी जाणीवपूर्वक जोपासलेली माया (खाटकाची काळजी). शिक्षक/नेत्याची दया तुम्हाला त्यांचं काय चालू आहे ते बघायला कमी सक्षम करत असेल — खाटिक-pattern लागू असू शकतो. आत-फांसा बघा, बाहेरची चिन्हं नाही.
कठीण शिकवण शेवटी: मीही लोकांत असाच आहे. तुकाराम स्वतःला सूट देत नाहीत. प्रामाणिक application: स्वतःचे क्षण जेव्हा आध्यात्मिक भाषा/posture आमिष म्हणून वापरली, कुणाला नि:शस्त्र करण्यासाठी जाणीवपूर्वक माया लावली, हेतू न सांगता कुणाला जवळ ठेवलं — हे लक्षात घ्या. portrait आरसा आहे, फक्त इतरांबद्दलची warning नाही.
Where this applies
- Spiritual robes around a trap. Recognize the precise images.
- Tempted to use spirituality as bait. खाटिक स्नेहवादें पशु पाळी.
- Kept lovingly by someone preparing harm. Tukaram's butcher.