Abhanga 244

This is one of Tukaram's sharpest critiques — directed not at unbelievers but at religious-claimants:

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A anti-renunciate-pride abhang. Four sharp claims:

1. देवाचे म्हणोनि देवीं अनादर — हें मोठें आश्चर्य वाटतसे — saying of-the-deva and disrespecting the deva — great wonder. The contradiction: someone who self-identifies as belonging-to-the-deva (devāchē = of-the-deva; e.g., a renunciate, a sannyāsi, a religious-claimant) and yet disrespects the deva (in the deva-form, in the deva-bhakta, in the deva's manifestations). The contradiction itself is the great āścarya — astonishment-and-pity. (Tukaram is gentle here — āścarya not condemnation.)

2. आतां येरा जना म्हणावें तें काई — जया भार डोई संसाराचा — what to say to the others — those with samsāra-burden on the head. The implicit-comparison. The renunciates who claim devāchē but disrespect the deva are worse than the householders carrying the samsāra-burden. The householders are at least honestly carrying the weight; the renunciates are dishonestly avoiding-it-while-claiming-devotion.

3. त्यजुनी संसार अभिमान सांटा — जुलूम हा मोटा दिसतसे — renouncing samsāra, exchanging for abhimāna — great violence. The exchange-mechanics. The renunciate doesn't actually drop the load; he exchanges it for abhimāna (pride / ego) — he replaced family-ego with saint-ego. This exchange is great julūma (violence / oppression). The abhimāna-substitute is more violent than the samsāra it replaced.

4. तुका म्हणे अळस करूनियां साहे — बळें कैसे पाहें वांयां जाती — Tuka says: lazily bearing; forcefully — see — in vain wasted. Two failure-modes of the abhimāna-renunciate:

5. Lazily-bearing (āḷasa karūnīyām sāhē) — they carry the abhimāna lazily, not engaging the actual practice.
6. Forcefully-wasted (baḷē kaisē pāhē vāyām jātī) — they forcefully practice, but in vain are wasted — the practice produces nothing because the abhimāna is at the root.

[T]

For someone today

This is one of Tukaram's sharpest critiques — directed not at unbelievers but at religious-claimants:

1. Beware the of-the-deva-while-disrespecting-the-deva* contradiction. Devāchē mhaṇonī devīm anādara. This is the renunciate-pride failure: claiming-belonging-to-the-deva while not honoring the deva in the deva's actual manifestations (other bhaktas, ordinary people, simple-things, the cosmic-presence). When this contradiction shows up — recognize it as great wonder*.

2. The honest-householder is better than the dishonest-renunciate. Yērā jana (others) carrying the samsāra-bhāra (worldly-burden) on the head are honestly carrying their weight. The renunciate-with-abhimāna has exchanged the weight for something more harmful.

3. Renunciation that exchanges for abhimāna is jully* (violence). Tyajunī samsāra abhimāna sānṭā — julūma hā mōṭā. Real-renunciation drops the load; abhimāna-renunciation exchanges it for ego-load. The exchange itself is violence*.

4. Two failure-modes: lazy-abhimāna or forceful-but-in-vain. Either way, vāyām jātī — in vain wasted. The abhimāna at the root makes both modes fruitless.

For today: when assessing renunciate-claimants (yourself or others), check for this contradiction: do they show anādara toward the deva-as-manifested? Do they have abhimāna about their renunciation? If yes, recognize the violence of the exchange and the in-vain-wasted-ness.

This is a sharp abhang. Tukaram is not anti-renunciation; he is anti-abhimāna-substitution. The renunciation-without-abhimāna (= the bhakta-mode) is honored throughout the Gatha. (Compare 197 the kīrtana-bhakta is happier than the forest-yogi, 222 all-skilled begs for innocence, 241 deity not in the yogis' dhyāna.)

मराठी: ही ओवी तुकारामांच्या sharpest critiques पैकी एक — unbelievers कडे directed नाही पण religious-claimants कडे:

1. Of-the-deva-while-disrespecting-the-deva contradiction पासून सावध. देवाचे म्हणोनि देवीं अनादर. हे renunciate-pride failure: देवाचे असल्याचा claim करताना देवाच्या actual manifestations (other bhaktas, ordinary people, simple-things, cosmic-presence) ला honor न करणं. हा contradiction दिसला — great wonder म्हणून ओळखा*.

2. Honest-householder dishonest-renunciate पेक्षा बरा. येरा जना (इतर) डोक्यावर samsāra-bhāra घेऊन — honestly त्यांचं weight वाहत आहेत. Abhimāna-असलेला renunciate weight ला अधिक हानिकारक गोष्टीत exchange केलंय.

3. Abhimāna मध्ये exchange झालेली renunciation जुलूम*. त्यजुनी संसार अभिमान सांटा — जुलूम हा मोटा. Real-renunciation load drop करते; abhimāna-renunciation ego-load मध्ये exchange करते. Exchange स्वतःच violence*.

4. दोन failure-modes: lazy-abhimāna किंवा forceful-but-in-vain. Either way — वांयां जाती. Root वर abhimāna दोन्ही modes fruitless करतो.

आज: renunciate-claimants (स्वतः किंवा इतर) assess करताना — हा contradiction check करा: देव-as-manifested कडे अनादर दाखवतात का? Renunciation बद्दल abhimāna आहे का? असेल — exchange ची violence आणि in-vain-wasted-ness ओळखा.

ही sharp ओवी. तुकाराम anti-renunciation नाहीत; anti-abhimāna-substitution आहेत. Renunciation-without-abhimāna (= bhakta-mode) Gatha भर honored.

Where this applies

• Of-the-deva claim with anādara toward deva-as-manifested. Recognize as wonder.
• Renunciation exchanging for abhimāna is julūma. Honest-householder is better.
• Lazy-abhimāna or forceful-but-in-vain. Both wasted.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2467
• Abhanga 4481
• Abhanga 4482
• Abhanga 4497