Abhanga 122
English: Whoever eats without any daily-rule — that one is a dog; whoever (merely) carries his body's weight — that one is a bull.
The verse
कांहीं नित्यनेमाविण । अन्न खाय तो श्वान ॥ वांयां मनुष्यपण । भार वाहे तो वृषभ ॥१॥ त्याचा होय भूमी भार । नेणे यातीचा आचार ॥ जाला दावेदार । भोगवी अघोर पितरांसि ॥ध्रु.॥ अखंड अशुभ वाणी । खरें न बोले स्वप्नीं ॥ पापी तयाहुनी । आणीक नाहीं दुसरा ॥२॥ पोट पोसी एकला । भूतीं दया नाहीं ज्याला ॥ पाठीं लागे आल्या । अतिताचे दाराशीं ॥३॥ कांहीं संतांचे पूजन । न घडे तीर्थांचें भ्रमण ॥ यमाचा आंदण । सीण थोर पावेल ॥४॥ तुका म्हणे त्यांनीं । मनुष्यपणा केली हानी ॥ देवा विसरूनी । गेलीं म्हणतां मी माझें ॥५॥
Literal translation
English: Whoever eats without any daily-rule — that one is a dog; whoever (merely) carries his body's weight — that one is a bull. He becomes a burden on the earth, knows no proper conduct of his class; has become a debtor — making his ancestors suffer harsh hells. (His) speech unbroken-inauspicious, he does not speak truth even in dreams; no sinner is greater than him. He fills only his own belly alone; for beings there is no compassion in him; chases away the wandering-monk who comes to his door. No saint-worship, no pilgrimage. Yama's gift to him: great suffering. Tuka says: such ones have done harm to humanity — by forgetting the deity, saying "I and mine."
मराठी: नित्यनेमाशिवाय अन्न खाणारा — कुत्रा; (शरीराचा) भार वाहणारा — वृषभ. भूमीचा भार होतो; जातीचा आचार कळत नाही; दावेदार होऊन पितरांना अघोर भोगवतो. अखंड अशुभ वाणी; स्वप्नातही खरं बोलत नाही; त्याहून मोठा पापी कोणी नाही. एकटा पोट पोसतो; भूतांत दया नाही; द्वारी आलेल्या अतितांना मागे लावतो. संतांचं पूजन नाही, तीर्थभ्रमण नाही. यमाची आंदण — मोठा सीण भोगेल. तुकाराम म्हणतात — त्यांनी मनुष्यपणाची हानी केली; देवाला विसरून मी-माझं म्हणत.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| कांहीं नित्यनेमाविण अन्न खाय तो श्वान | "whoever eats without any daily-rule — is a dog" |
| भार वाहे तो वृषभ | "(whoever) carries (the body's) weight is a bull" |
| भूमी भार | "burden on the earth" |
| जाला दावेदार भोगवी अघोर पितरांसि | "(he) has become a debtor — makes ancestors suffer harsh hells" (दावेदार = creditor / one who has obligations on him) |
| अखंड अशुभ वाणी | "unbroken inauspicious speech" |
| खरें न बोले स्वप्नीं | "does not speak truth even in dreams" |
| पोट पोसी एकला | "fills only his own belly alone" |
| भूतीं दया नाहीं | "no compassion for (other) beings" |
| संतांचे पूजन न घडे तीर्थांचें भ्रमण | "no saint-worship, no pilgrimage" |
| यमाचा आंदण सीण थोर पावेल | "Yama's gift — great suffering will fall to (him)" |
| मनुष्यपणा केली हानी | "(he) has done harm to humanity (= his own being-human)" |
| देवा विसरूनी गेलीं म्हणतां मी माझें | "by forgetting the deity, saying 'I and mine'" |
What it means
A humanity-wasting-portrait abhang. Tukaram catalogs the structural-features of someone who has wasted being-human: - Dog-like eating (no daily-rule, just consumption) - Bull-like burden-carrying (body just transports itself, no other purpose) - Burden on the earth (his existence subtracts, doesn't add) - Inauspicious speech, no truth - Self-feeding alone, no compassion, chases away wanderers - No saint-worship, no pilgrimage
The closing names the cause: देवा विसरूनी गेलीं म्हणतां मी माझें — forgetting the deity, saying I-and-mine. The downstream behaviors all flow from the upstream forgetting. [T]
For someone today
This abhang offers a humanity-checklist. If many of these signs are present in your own life — eating without daily-orientation, body-as-only-burden-carrier, inauspicious speech, self-only-feeding, no compassion, no saint-contact, no pilgrimage — Tukaram says you are wasting humanity. The cure is upstream: देवा विसरूनी गेलीं म्हणतां मी माझें. Address the I-and-mine claim and the deity-forgetting; the downstream behaviors will reorient. The reverse is also true — adding the saint-contact and the daily-rule slowly addresses the upstream forgetting from the downstream side.
मराठी: ही ओवी humanity-checklist देते. यांच्यापैकी अनेक चिन्हं तुमच्या जीवनात असतील — daily-orientation शिवाय जेवण, शरीर फक्त burden-carrier, अशुभ वाणी, फक्त-स्वतःला-पोसणं, करुणा नाही, संत-संपर्क नाही, तीर्थ नाही — तुकाराम म्हणतात तुम्ही humanity वाया घालवताय. उपाय upstream: देवा विसरूनी, मी-माझं. I-and-mine दावा आणि देव-विस्मरण address करा; downstream behaviors पुनर्निर्दिष्ट होतात. उलटही खरं — संत-संपर्क आणि नित्यनेम जोडल्याने upstream forgetting downstream बाजूने address होतं.
Where this applies
- Tally honestly: many checklist-items present. मनुष्यपणा हानी.
- Encountering someone wholly consumption-driven. Recognize without joining contempt.
- I-and-mine displacing deity. Upstream is the lever.