Abhanga 254

A person who claims spiritual realization but harms even one small living thing, boasts through their teaching, harbors jealousy, or wastes their voice on criticism and self-praise has not really received it.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

One of Tukaram's sharpest anti-fake-jñāni abhangs. Five claims:

1. ब्रम्हनिष्ठ काडी जरी जीवानांवें मोडी — तया घडली गुरुहत्या — the brahma-niṣṭha — if (he) breaks one twig to harm life — to him is done guru-hatyā. The radical-claim. Even one twig of harming-life (= minimal harm-to-living-beings) by the brahma-niṣṭha (one-who-claims-realization-of-brahman) — equals guru-hatyā (guru-killing, the gravest sin). The brahma-niṣṭhā does not give license to harm; if anything, it raises the standard.

2. गेला उपदेश तो मिथ्या — the upadeśa is mithyā. The upadeśa (the realization-instruction) the brahma-niṣṭha received — is mithyā (false, in-vain) if he then harms life. The test of having received true upadeśa is not-harming-life. If the post-upadeśa person harms life, the upadeśa was either not received or has been corrupted.

3. सांगितलें कानीं — रूप आपुलें वाखाणी — (when) told (into the) ear — describes only his own form. The self-aggrandizing critique. The upadeśa told into the ear — is used to describe only his own form / his own status / his own attainment. The upadeśa-content is appropriated for self-glorification.

4. भूतांच्या मत्सरें — ब्रम्हज्ञान नेलें चोरें — with bhūta-matsara — brahma-jñāna is carried away by the thief. The thief-claim. Bhūta-matsara — jealousy-toward-living-beings — is the thief that steals brahma-jñāna. If you have jealousy-toward-other-beings, your brahma-jñāna has already been stolen by the thief of jealousy.

5. शिकल्या सांगे गोष्टी — भेद क्रोध वाहे पोटीं — निंदा स्तुति स्तवनीं — वेंची वाणी — tells learned-things, but in belly bheda-krodha; in nindā-stuti-stavanī, uses-up the voice. The summary. The fake-jñāni speaks learned-things externally but internally carries bheda (division) and krodha (anger). He uses up his voice in criticism, praise (of self / faction), and eulogy (of self / faction). The voice that should be for jñāna is used-up in factional speech.

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For someone today

This is one of Tukaram's sharpest warnings against fake spiritual attainment. If someone claims to have realized brahman yet is willing to break even a small twig to harm a living being, that harm alone shows the teaching was never truly received — real realization can't coexist with willingness to hurt life. Watch too for the person who takes what they were taught and uses it only to talk about their own greatness, or whose jealousy toward other beings has quietly stolen away whatever spiritual knowledge they claimed to have. A genuine teacher's insides should match their words; if someone speaks learned things but carries division and anger in their heart, and spends their voice mostly on criticizing others or praising and flattering themselves, that is proof the claim doesn't hold up. Use these signs honestly, on yourself as much as on others, before trusting anyone's claim to spiritual realization.

मराठी: तुकारामांच्या सर्वांत तीक्ष्ण इशाऱ्यांपैकी हा एक आहे — खोट्या आध्यात्मिक सिद्धीविरुद्ध. जर कुणी ब्रह्मज्ञान झाल्याचा दावा करत असेल, पण एखाद्या जीवाला इजा करण्यासाठी एक काडीही मोडायला तयार असेल, तर तीच इजा दाखवते की त्याला खरं ज्ञान कधी मिळालंच नाही — खरं आत्मज्ञान जीवाला इजा करण्याच्या तयारीशी सुसंगत असूच शकत नाही. तसंच अशाही माणसाकडे लक्ष द्या जो शिकलेल्या गोष्टी फक्त स्वतःच्या मोठेपणाचं वर्णन करण्यासाठी वापरतो, किंवा ज्याचा इतर जीवांविषयीचा मत्सर त्याच्याकडे असलेलं आध्यात्मिक ज्ञान गुपचूप चोरून घेऊन गेला आहे. खऱ्या गुरूचं आतलं मन त्याच्या शब्दांशी जुळलेलं असायला हवं; कोणी शहाणपणाच्या गोष्टी बोलतो पण मनात भेद आणि क्रोध बाळगतो, आणि आपला आवाज मुख्यतः इतरांवर टीका करण्यात किंवा स्वतःची स्तुती करण्यात खर्च करतो, तर हाच त्याच्या दाव्याचा फोलपणा सिद्ध करतो. हे निकष स्वतःसाठी आणि इतरांसाठीही प्रामाणिकपणे वापरा, कुणाच्याही आध्यात्मिक सिद्धीच्या दाव्यावर विश्वास ठेवण्याआधी.

Where this applies

• Test 1: harming-life is guru-hatyā. Stringent.
• Test 2: upadeśa used for own-form-description. Self-aggrandizement.
• Test 3: bhūta-matsara steals brahma-jñāna. Thief-of-jñāna.
• Test 4: belly carries bheda-krodha. Internal-corruption.
• Test 5: voice used-up in nindā-stuti-stavanī. Voice-misuse.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2374 — Rather than scattering devotion among many lesser deities who demand offerings, Tukaram sa
• Abhanga 2377 — This detailed meditation on Vitthal standing on a brick at Pandharpur, out of love for his
• Abhanga 2387 — Accept whatever life brings with reverence, and place the burden on God rather than carryi
• Abhanga 2402 — For today: happily take rebirths — IF among the Paṇḍharī-Vārkarīs ; Hari-dāsas' company is