Abhanga 252

Walking away from a situation does nothing if the anger inside you hasn't actually resolved; without inner change, you end up back in the same place.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

Closes the anti-fake-religion cluster (244-252; the ॥२॥ marker confirms the deliberate gatha-grouping). Three claims:

1. कुटुंबाचा केला त्याग — नाहीं राग जंव गेला — renounced the family — if the rāga did not go. The external-renunciation without internal-rāga-resolution. Family-leaving is not enough if the rāga (anger / passion) remained.

2. भजन तें वोंगळवाणें — नरका जाणें चुके ना — (that) bhajana is dirty — will not escape going to naraka. The consequence: even the bhajana performed by the renouncer-with-rāga is vōngaḷavāṇē (dirty). And the naraka-going is unavoidable. The external-form does not cleanse the internal-rāga.

3. अक्षराची केली आटी — जरी पोटीं संतनिंदा — the akṣara-āṭī was made — if in the belly is sant-nindā. The chanting-routine without internal-honoring of saints. The akṣara-āṭī (the routine of letters / chanting / scripture-reading) is vain if the belly carries sant-nindā (criticism / hostility / fault-finding toward saints).

4. तुका म्हणे मागें पाय — तया जाय स्थळासि — Tuka says: back-step — that one goes to (the same) place. The closing-claim. Mage pāya — back-step — retracing-the-path you came from. That one goes to the same place (= the prior place, naraka, the place-of-rāga). The external-renouncer-with-internal-rāga retraces back to where they started. The external-action does not move them; they end up in the same place.

[T]

For someone today

This abhang closes a run of teachings against fake religiosity with a simple truth about how change actually works. Walking away from your family or your situation accomplishes nothing if the anger inside you hasn't actually left with you — it just comes along. Even devotional singing performed by someone still carrying that unresolved anger turns dirty and can't save them from suffering its consequences; going through the motions of chanting scripture is equally empty if your heart still holds contempt for saints. Tuka says that without real inner change, you simply retrace your steps and end up back where you started — so don't trust leaving a place or performing a ritual as the real work; the real work is resolving the anger and resentment inside you.

मराठी: ही ओवी खोट्या धार्मिकतेविरुद्धची मालिका एका साध्या सत्याने संपवते — खरा बदल कसा घडतो याबद्दल. कुटुंब किंवा परिस्थिती सोडून जाणं काहीच साध्य करत नाही, जर मनातला राग खरोखर सुटलेला नसेल — तो तुमच्याबरोबरच येतो. न सुटलेला राग बाळगणाऱ्याचं भजनही मलिन होतं आणि त्याचे परिणाम भोगण्यापासून त्याला वाचवत नाही; मनात संतांबद्दल तिरस्कार असेल तर ग्रंथपठणाची किंवा जपाची क्रियाही तितकीच पोकळ असते. तुकाराम म्हणतात, खरा आंतरिक बदल झाल्याशिवाय तुम्ही केवळ मागे फिरता आणि जिथून सुरुवात केली तिथेच परत पोहोचता — त्यामुळे जागा सोडणं किंवा विधी पार पाडणं हेच खरं काम आहे असं मानू नका; खरं काम आहे मनातला राग आणि रोष सोडवणं.

Where this applies

• External-renunciation without internal-rāga-resolution. Doesn't work.
• Bhajana / chanting with rāga or sant-nindā. Dirty; vain.
• Back-step takes you to the same place. Karma-mechanics.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2464 — For today: Pāṇḍuranga is sukha-rūpa ; no wandering, no shaving, no sādhana-pressure ; Chan
• Abhanga 2490 — The divine is most reachable through the living presence of a true saint, not through a di
• Abhanga 2494 — Living in devotion turns an ordinary day into a festival and removes the fear of birth and
• Abhanga 4481 — Tukaram promises that sincerely calling on the Lord's name, knowingly or unknowingly, with