Abhanga 268
When outward show replaces real conduct and power is used to oppress rather than serve, Tukaram names it plainly and calls on God to wake up and act.
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
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 inkali" |
| पुण्य रंक पाप बळी | "puṇya isranka(poor);pāpaisbaḷī (strong)" |
| सांडिले आचार | "ācāras (right-conducts) abandoned" |
| द्विज चाहाड जाले चोर | "dvijas — cāhāḍa (snitch) became thieves" |
| टिळे लपविती पातडीं | "ṭilakas hidden inpātaḍī(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.)
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For someone today
Tukaram catalogs the signs of a corrupt age: daughters being priced off like goods, right conduct grown weak while wrongdoing runs strong, people hiding their sacred marks out of shame or disguise, and those who sit in power oppressing the very people they should be serving rather than feeding and protecting them. His summary judgment is blunt — it's all outward color, with rot showing through underneath and nothing but a performance on top; appearance and substance have come apart completely. Rather than staying quiet about it, Tukaram names each corruption plainly and turns to call God out directly — enough sleeping, wake up and come running. This shows that bhakti for Tukaram was never just private inwardness; naming injustice out loud and demanding that the divine act in the world was part of devotion too.
मराठी: तुकाराम भ्रष्ट काळाची लक्षणे मांडतात — मुलींची किंमत ठरवली जाते जणू त्या वस्तू असाव्यात, सदाचार कमकुवत होतो आणि पाप बलवान बनते, लोक लाजेपोटी किंवा वेषांतर करून आपले धार्मिक चिन्ह लपवतात, आणि सत्तेवर बसलेले लोक ज्यांची सेवा करायला हवी त्यांनाच अन्न न देता पिडतात. त्यांचा निष्कर्ष स्पष्ट आहे — सगळे नुसते बाह्य रंग, आतून कुजलेले, वरून केवळ सोंग; रूप आणि सत्य यांत पूर्ण फारकत झालेली आहे. हे मुकाट्याने सहन करण्याऐवजी, तुकाराम प्रत्येक भ्रष्टाचार स्पष्टपणे नावाने सांगतात आणि थेट देवालाच हाक मारतात — इतकी झोप पुरे, आता जागा हो आणि धाव. यातून दिसते की तुकारामांची भक्ती केवळ अंतर्मुख नव्हती; अन्याय उघडपणे सांगणे आणि देवाला जगात कृती करण्याची मागणी करणे हाही भक्तीचाच भाग होता.
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.