Abhanga 98
This abhang is for the moment when you've been hearing non-dual teaching being deployed in a way that licenses sense-indulgence rather than dissolving it. Tukaram is not rejecting non-duality (he uses it himself); he is rejecting its misuse by dharma-thugs. The diagnostic: does the maya-is-brahma equation in this person's mouth produce body-cherishing or body-detachment? If body-cherishing — the equation has been weaponized. The cure is searching the Veda's word (i.e., consulting the actual scriptural meaning, not the bait-version), and recognizing body-cherishing as the disqualifying sign.
The verse
माया ब्रम्ह ऐसें म्हणती धर्मठक । आपणासरिसे लोक नागविले ॥१॥ विषयीं लंपट शिकवी कुविद्या । मनामागें नांद्या होऊनि फिरे ॥ध्रु.॥ करुनी खातां पाक जिरे सुरण राई । करितां अतित्याई दुःख पावे ॥२॥ औषध द्यावया चाळविलें बाळा । दावूनियां गुळा दृष्टीपुढें ॥३॥ तरावया आधीं शोधा वेदवाणी । वांजट बोलणीं वारा त्यांचीं ॥४॥ तुका म्हणे जयां पिंडाचें पाळण । न घडे नारायणभेट तयां ॥५॥
Literal translation
English: "Maya is brahman" — so say the dharma-thugs — they have stripped people like themselves. Lust-attached, they teach false-knowledge; following only their own mind, they roam. Even bitter suran-root, properly cooked, digests; over-eating brings pain. (Their teaching is) like deceiving a child by showing jaggery before its eyes — to give it medicine. Before crossing — search the Veda's word; their hot-air talks are wind. Tuka says: those who cherish the body — the meeting with Narayana does not happen for them.
मराठी: "माया ब्रह्म" असं धर्मठक म्हणतात; आपणासारख्या लोकांना नागवतात. विषयांत लंपट — कुविद्या शिकवतात; मनामागे फिरतात. कोणतीही गोष्ट प्रमाणात असली तर पचते (सुरण-राईसुद्धा); अति केल्यास दुःख. औषध द्यायला बाळाला गुळ दाखवून फसवतात तसं. तरण्याआधी वेदवाणी शोधा; त्यांची वांजट बोलणी हवा. तुकाराम म्हणतात — जे पिंडाला (शरीराला) पाळतात, त्यांना नारायण-भेट होत नाही.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| माया ब्रम्ह ऐसें म्हणती धर्मठक | "'maya is brahma' say the dharma-thugs" |
| आपणासरिसे लोक नागविले | "they have stripped people like themselves" |
| विषयीं लंपट शिकवी कुविद्या | "lust-attached, they teach false-knowledge" |
| नांद्या होऊनि फिरे | "becoming a follower of (his own) mind" |
| करुनी खातां पाक जिरे सुरण राई | "if cooked-and-eaten, suran-rai (a bitter root) digests" |
| करितां अतित्याई दुःख पावे | "(but) doing-too-much brings pain" |
| औषध द्यावया चाळविलें बाळा | "deceiving the child to give the medicine" |
| दावूनियां गुळा दृष्टीपुढें | "showing jaggery before the eyes" (jaggery-bait) |
| तरावया आधीं शोधा वेदवाणी | "before crossing — search the Veda's word" |
| वांजट बोलणीं वारा त्यांचीं | "their hot-air talks are wind" |
| जयां पिंडाचें पाळण | "those who cherish the body" |
| न घडे नारायणभेट | "the meeting with Narayana does not happen for them" |
What it means
A misuse-of-non-dual-philosophy warning. The dharma-thugs (धर्मठक) take the philosophical equation māyā = brahma — which is a real Vedantic claim — and use it as bait for sense-indulgence (since "all is one anyway"). The medicine-and-jaggery image is precise: they show jaggery (the philosophical sweetness) to make followers swallow medicine that turns out to be poison. The closing diagnostic: जयां पिंडाचें पाळण, न घडे नारायणभेट — those who cherish the body, the meeting with Narayana does not happen for them. Body-cherishing is the structural marker of the false-teacher and the deceived disciple alike. [T]
For someone today
This abhang is for the moment when you've been hearing non-dual teaching being deployed in a way that licenses sense-indulgence rather than dissolving it. Tukaram is not rejecting non-duality (he uses it himself); he is rejecting its misuse by dharma-thugs. The diagnostic: does the maya-is-brahma equation in this person's mouth produce body-cherishing or body-detachment? If body-cherishing — the equation has been weaponized. The cure is searching the Veda's word (i.e., consulting the actual scriptural meaning, not the bait-version), and recognizing body-cherishing as the disqualifying sign.
मराठी: ही ओवी अशा क्षणासाठी जेव्हा तुम्ही ऐकत आहात अद्वैत शिकवण deploy होते — सेन्द्रिय-indulgence ला license देणारी — viसर्जित न करणारी. तुकाराम अद्वैत नाकारत नाहीत (तेच वापरतात); ते धर्मठकांच्या misuse ला नाकारतात. diagnostic: या व्यक्तीच्या तोंडात माया-ब्रह्म equation body-cherishing निर्माण करते की body-detachment? body-cherishing — equation weaponize झालं. उपाय वेदवाणी शोधणं — bait-version नव्हे — आणि body-cherishing ला disqualifying सिग्नल म्हणून ओळखणं.
Where this applies
- Non-dual vocabulary licensing sense-indulgence. Misuse.
- 'All is one anyway' producing no inner change. Was bait.
- Reciting equation to skip self-restraint. Diagnosis applies.