Abhanga 265

True compassion protects the vulnerable and resists cruelty, while sin is acting without ever pausing to consider right and wrong.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A precise-definitions abhang. Three claims:

1. दया तिचें नांव भूतांचें पाळण — अणीक निर्दळण कंटकांचें — dayā: protection of beings AND cutting-down of kaṇṭakas (thorns). The two-fold definition of dayā. Most folk-understandings of dayā (compassion) = protection-only (= don't-harm). Tukaram's claim: dayā is also nirdaḷaṇa (cutting-down) of the kaṇṭakas (the thorns — those-who-harm-other-beings, the cruel-ones). Real-dayā has both protective-and-removing aspects; protection-only is partial dayā. (Note: kaṇṭakas here is those-who-cause-harm to other-beings, not political-enemies or religious-others. The nirdaḷaṇa is for the protection of beings, derivative from the protection-of-beings primary.)

2. पाप त्याचें नांव न विचारितां नीत — भलतें चि उन्मत्त करी सदा — pāpa: not considering nīti — doing whatever, mad always. The pāpa-definition. Pāpa = acting without nīti-consideration = doing whatever, drunk-always. Note: pāpa is not defined as breaking-some-specific-rule; it is acting without considering nīti at all — acting as if drunk, as if there is no consideration. The unmatta-mode is the pāpa-mode.

3. तुका म्हणे धर्म रक्षावया साठीं — देवास ही आटी जन्म घेणें — Tuka says: for dharma-rakṣaṇa, the deva himself has the āṭi of taking birth. The closing avatar-claim. Even the deva takes the āṭi (effort) of taking birth for dharma-rakṣaṇa. The avatar-doctrine (yadā yadā hi dharmasya glāniḥ — Bhagavad Gītā 4.7) is invoked: the deva himself is committed to dharma-protection through embodiment. (Compare 261: we must make effort for dharma-protection; here, even the deva makes the effort.)

[T]

For someone today

Tukaram gives two precise definitions. Real compassion isn't just refraining from harm — it also means actively standing against those who hurt other beings, cutting down cruelty wherever it grows; protection alone, without resisting harm, is only half of true compassion. This isn't license to attack anyone you simply disagree with — it applies only to those who actually cause harm to others. Sin, meanwhile, isn't defined by breaking some specific rule; it's acting without ever pausing to weigh right from wrong, moving through life recklessly, as if drunk, with no consideration at all. And Tukaram closes by noting that even God takes the trouble to be born in order to protect dharma — so if the divine itself makes that effort, we the devotees can hardly excuse ourselves from doing our part.

मराठी: तुकाराम इथे दोन नेमक्या व्याख्या देतात. खरी दया म्हणजे केवळ हानी न करणे इतकेच नव्हे — तर इतर जीवांना त्रास देणाऱ्यांविरुद्ध सक्रियपणे उभे राहणे, जिथे जिथे क्रौर्य वाढते तिथे ते नष्ट करणे; हानी होऊ न देण्याच्या प्रयत्नाशिवाय केवळ रक्षण म्हणजे अर्धीच दया. याचा अर्थ असा नव्हे की तुमच्याशी असहमत असणाऱ्या कुणावरही हल्ला करण्याचा परवाना मिळतो — हे फक्त प्रत्यक्ष इतरांना इजा करणाऱ्यांनाच लागू होते. पाप म्हणजे कोणता विशिष्ट नियम मोडणे नव्हे; तर बरोबर-चूक याचा विचारच न करता, जणू धुंदीत, बेभानपणे वागणे हेच खरे पाप. आणि शेवटी तुकाराम सांगतात की धर्माचे रक्षण करण्यासाठी खुद्द देवसुद्धा जन्म घेण्याचे कष्ट घेतो — मग देवच जर इतका प्रयत्न करतो, तर आपण भक्तांनी आपला वाटा उचलण्यापासून का टाळावे?

Where this applies

• Dayā = protection + nirdaḷaṇa of kaṇṭakas. Two-fold, real-dayā.
• Pāpa = not considering nīti. Unmatta-mode.
• Avatar-effort for dharma-rakṣaṇa. Even the deva takes birth.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2467 — What looks like your whole world, like a fig to the insect living inside it, is only a tin
• Abhanga 4481 — Tukaram promises that sincerely calling on the Lord's name, knowingly or unknowingly, with
• Abhanga 4482 — Tukaram teaches that no ritual equals sincerely speaking the Lord's name, that self-center
• Abhanga 4497 — Tukaram describes a life so soaked in devotion that Krishna's presence fills every ordinar