Abhanga 268
This abhang names signs of social-corruption that recur in any era:
The verse
हातीं होन दावी बेना । करिती लेंकीच्या धारणा ॥१॥ ऐसे धर्म जाले कळीं । पुण्य रंक पाप बळी ॥ध्रु.॥ सांडिले आचार । द्विज चाहाड जाले चोर ॥२॥ टिळे लपविती पातडीं । लेती विजारा कातडीं ॥३॥ बैसोनियां तक्तां । अन्नेंविण पिडिती लोकां ॥४॥ मुदबख लिहिणें । तेलतुपावरी जिणें ॥५॥ नीचाचे चाकर । चुकलिया खाती मार ॥६॥ राजा प्रजा पीडी । क्षेत्री दुश्चितासी तोडी ॥७॥ वैश्यशूद्रादिक । हे तों सहज नीच लोक ॥८॥ अवघे बाह्य रंग । आंत हिरवें वरी सोंग ॥९॥ तुका म्हणे देवा । काय निद्रा केली धांवा ॥१०॥
Literal translation
English: Gold in the hand — shown — daughters' price-fix is being made. Such has dharma become in kali — puṇya is poor, pāpa is strong. Ācāras abandoned; the dvija-snitches became thieves. Tilakas hidden in book-folios; leather pants worn. Sit on the throne — oppress people without food. Mudbakh-writing — life on oil-and-ghee. Servants of the nīca (low-status); if they miss — beaten. King oppresses subjects; kṣatri kills the worried. Vaiśya-śūdras and others — naturally low people. All — outer color; inside green; on top show. Tuka says: deva — what — sleep — run!
मराठी: हातीं होन दावी बेना — करिती लेंकीच्या धारणा. ऐसे धर्म जाले कळीं — पुण्य रंक पाप बळी. सांडिले आचार — द्विज चाहाड जाले चोर. टिळे लपविती पातडीं — लेती विजारा कातडीं. बैसोनियां तक्तां — अन्नेंविण पिडिती लोकां. मुदबख लिहिणें — तेलतुपावरी जिणें. नीचाचे चाकर — चुकलिया खाती मार. राजा प्रजा पीडी — क्षेत्री दुश्चितासी तोडी. वैश्यशूद्रादिक — हे तों सहज नीच लोक. अवघे बाह्य रंग — आंत हिरवें वरी सोंग. तुकाराम म्हणतात — देवा — काय निद्रा केली — धांवा.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| हातीं होन दावी बेना | "hāmta hōna (gold) — show — bēnā (here? / show off?)" |
| करिती लेंकीच्या धारणा | "lēmkī's (daughter's) dhāraṇā (price-fix) is being made" |
| ऐसे धर्म जाले कळीं | "such has dharma become in kali*" |
| पुण्य रंक पाप बळी | "puṇya is ranka (poor); pāpa is baḷī* (strong)" |
| सांडिले आचार | "ācāras (right-conducts) abandoned" |
| द्विज चाहाड जाले चोर | "dvijas — cāhāḍa (snitch) became thieves" |
| टिळे लपविती पातडीं | "ṭilakas hidden in pātaḍī (book-folio)" |
| लेती विजारा कातडीं | "viṭārā kātaḍī (leather vidžāra / leather pants) worn*" |
| बैसोनियां तक्तां | "sit on the takhta (throne / official-seat)" |
| अन्नेंविण पिडिती लोकां | "oppress people without food" |
| मुदबख लिहिणें | "mudbakh (record-keeping) writing" |
| तेलतुपावरी जिणें | "life on oil-and-ghee" |
| नीचाचे चाकर चुकलिया खाती मार | "servants of the nīca (low-status); if missed, beaten" |
| राजा प्रजा पीडी क्षेत्री दुश्चितासी तोडी | "king oppresses subjects, kṣatri (warrior) kills the duścita (worried)" |
| वैश्यशूद्रादिक हे तों सहज नीच लोक | "vaiśya-śūdras and others — naturally low people" |
| अवघे बाह्य रंग | "all — outer color" |
| आंत हिरवें वरी सोंग | "inside — green; on top — sōnga (mask / show)" |
| देवा काय निद्रा केली धांवा | "deva — what — sleep — run!" |
What it means
A 10-verse kali-yuga social-corruption critique. Tukaram catalogs the signs of the time. Note: this abhang reflects 17th-century Maharashtrian social-context (with reference to Mughal-era roles, leather-pants, mudbakh — Persian-derived bureaucratic-vocabulary). Some lines (verse 8) seem to use the conventional caste-frame but Tukaram's broader corpus — anti-caste-pride (compare 100, 245, 258) — suggests this is the social-fact-as-named-in-his-time, not Tukaram's normative claim.
Reading-priority: the abhang's core point is all-show-no-substance, all-oppression, all-pāpa-strong; the closing call is deva, awaken, run. The individual lines name specific corruptions; the summary line — avaghē bāhya ranga; amta hiravēm varī sōnga — all is outer-color; inside green, on top mask — is the structural-claim.
The closing-call: देवा — काय निद्रा केली — धांवा — deva — what — sleep — run! The bhakta's frustration with the deity's apparent-non-intervention in social-corruption. The deva must run / awaken to address this. (Compare 220's master runs without laziness; 261's we must protect dharma; here the bhakta calls on the deity to also act.)
[T]
For someone today
This abhang names signs of social-corruption that recur in any era:
-
Daughters being priced — when human-relations are commoditized (dowry-systems, marriage-markets, transactional-relations), the kali-mode is operative. (Tukaram is not endorsing or describing dowry as natural; he is naming it as kali-corruption.)
-
Puṇya is poor, pāpa is strong — when right-action is weak and wrong-action is dominant, the kali-mode is operative.
-
Tilak hidden in books — when religious-marks are hidden (= the practitioners are ashamed of their tradition or practicing under disguise), corruption is at work.
-
Sitting on takhta, oppressing without food — those in office-positions oppress those-they-should-serve. The takhta is misused.
-
Outer-color, inside-green-and-show — appearance-and-substance disjoint. This is the structural-summary of all the corruptions.
-
Tuka calls on the deva to wake up and run — the bhakta does not stay silent about social-corruption; the bhakta names it and calls on the deity to intervene.
For today (translating to your-era): name the commodifications, the puṇya-weakness, the tradition-hiding, the office-misuse, the appearance-substance-disjoint. Don't stay silent; name them and call on the deity (and the bhakta-band) to awaken and run.
This abhang is important because it shows Tukaram engaged-with-social-criticism, not only with the inner-life. The bhakta-tradition has both registers — inner-bhakti and social-critique; both belong.
मराठी: ही ओवी कोणत्याही era मध्ये पुनरावृत्त होणाऱ्या social-corruption चे signs नाव सांगते:
-
मुलींना price-fix — human-relations commoditized झाली (dowry-systems, marriage-markets, transactional-relations) — kali-mode operative.
-
पुण्य रंक, पाप बळी — right-action weak आणि wrong-action dominant — kali-mode.
-
टिळक pustakāत लपवलेले — religious-marks लपवले जात आहेत (= practitioners आपल्या tradition चा शरमिंदा किंवा disguise खाली practice करत आहेत) — corruption चालू.
-
Takhta वर बसून food-शिवाय oppress — office-positions मध्ये असलेले serve करायच्या-ऐवजी oppress करतात. Takhta misused.
-
बाह्य रंग, आंत हिरवें, वर सोंग — appearance-and-substance disjoint. सर्व-corruptions चं structural-summary.
-
Tuka देवाला जागवायला आणि धावायला बोलवतो — bhakta social-corruption वर silent राहत नाही; bhakta नाव सांगतो आणि देवाला intervene करायला बोलवतो.
आज (तुमच्या-era ला translate करून): commodifications, puṇya-weakness, tradition-hiding, office-misuse, appearance-substance-disjoint नाव सांगा. Silent राहू नका; नाव सांगा आणि देव (आणि bhakta-band) ला awaken and run करायला बोलवा.
ही ओवी महत्त्वाची कारण तुकारामांचं social-criticism सह engagement दाखवते, फक्त inner-life नाही. Bhakta-tradition मध्ये दोन्ही registers — inner-bhakti आणि social-critique; दोन्ही belong.
Where this applies
- Commoditization of human-relations. Sign of corruption.
- Tilak hidden, religious-marks disguised. Sign of corruption.
- Office-positions oppress instead of serve. Sign of corruption.
- Appearance-substance disjoint. Structural-summary.
- Call on the deity to awaken. Bhakta's social-engagement role.