Abhanga 275
Around someone you genuinely revere, don't claim equal standing or seek their admiration for yourself; real respect means honoring their place, not competing for it.
The verse
पूज्या एकासनीं आसनीं आसन । बैसतां गमन मातेशीं तें ॥१॥ सांगतों ते धर्म नीतीचे संकेत । सावधान हित व्हावें तरी ॥ध्रु.॥ संतां ठाया ठाव पूजनाची इच्छा । जीवनीं च वळसा सांपडला ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे एकाएकीं वरासनें । दुजें तेथें भिन्न अशोभ्य तें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Sitting on the same āsana with the pūjya — equals gamana with the mātā. I am telling the dharma-nīti sankētas — be attentive, so hita may come. In the saint's place, the pūjana-icchā — caught a vaḷasā in jīvana itself. Tuka says: eka-eka — vara-āsana; the second there is bhinna and aśobhya.
मराठी: पूज्या एकासनीं आसनीं आसन — बैसतां गमन मातेशीं तें. सांगतों ते धर्म नीतीचे संकेत — सावधान हित व्हावें तरी. संतां ठाया ठाव पूजनाची इच्छा — जीवनीं च वळसा सांपडला. तुकाराम म्हणतात — एकाएकीं वरासनें — दुजें तेथें भिन्न अशोभ्य तें.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| पूज्या एकासनीं आसनीं आसन | "sitting on the sameāsanawith thepūjya(worshipped-one)" |
| बैसतां गमन मातेशीं तें | "equalsgamana(going-with / sexual-union) with themātā(mother)" |
| सांगतों ते धर्म नीतीचे संकेत | "I am telling thedharma-nīti sanketa(signs)" |
| सावधान हित व्हावें तरी | "besāvadhāna(attentive);hita(good) may come" |
| संतां ठाया ठाव पूजनाची इच्छा | "the saint'sṭhāya-ṭhāva(place-and-seat) — desire forpūjana(of him)" |
| जीवनीं च वळसा सांपडला | "injīvanaitself, avaḷasā(vortex) was caught" |
| एकाएकीं वरासनें | "eka-eka (one-only); vara-āsana (high-seat)" |
| दुजें तेथें भिन्न अशोभ्य तें | "the second there isbhinna(separate / different) andaśobhya(un-fitting)" |
What it means
A asana-violation taboo abhang. Three claims:
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पूज्या एकासनीं आसनीं आसन — बैसतां गमन मातेशीं तें — sitting on the same āsana with the pūjya — equals mating with the mother. The radical-equivalence: equal-seating with thepūjya(= the worshipped one — the saint, the deity, the elder, the teacher) is equivalent to (in the violation-register) mating with the mother (= the deepest-classical taboo, mother-incest). The equal-seating violation is at thehighest taboo-level.
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संतां ठाया ठाव पूजनाची इच्छा — जीवनीं च वळसा सांपडला — at the saint's place, the desire for pūjana — caught a vortex injīvanaitself. Reading: those who go to thesaint's placewith thedesire for pūjana-of-themselves (not to do pūjana of the saint, but to receive pūjana themselves) — get caught in a vortex injīvana(water / life) itself. The self-aggrandizing approach to the saint-place is self-drowning. (Compare 263's saint-padavī nakō; 244 of-the-deva while disrespecting-the-deva.)
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तुका म्हणे एकाएकीं वरासनें — दुजें तेथें भिन्न अशोभ्य तें — Tuka says: eka-eka — vara-āsana; the second there is bhinna and aśobhya. The closing-rule. The high-seat is for one only. A second-occupant there is bhinna (separate / different / out-of-place) and aśobhya (un-fitting, un-glorious, unbecoming). The vara-āsana-eka-eka rule: don't take equal-seat with the pūjya.
[T]
For someone today
Tukaram lays down a strict rule about how to sit with someone you truly revere — a saint, teacher, or elder: don't take a seat equal to theirs. He treats this as seriously as the deepest taboo he can name, because claiming the same seat as someone worthy of worship isn't a small breach of etiquette, it's a fundamental failure of respect. He also warns against a subtler trap — going to a saint's place hoping to be worshipped or admired yourself rather than to honor them; that self-seeking approach pulls you under, like getting caught in a whirlpool. The high seat, he says, belongs to one person only, and putting a second person there, even yourself, makes the whole picture look wrong and out of place. This isn't about treating people as unequal in general — among fellow devotees, equality is fine — it's specifically about how to hold yourself around someone you genuinely revere: honor their place instead of competing for it or angling to be honored in their stead.
मराठी: तुकाराम एक कडक नियम मांडतात — ज्याचा तुम्ही खरोखर आदर करता, म्हणजे साधू, गुरू किंवा वडीलधारे, त्यांच्यासोबत बसताना त्यांच्याच बरोबरीचे आसन घेऊ नका. ते याला सर्वांत मोठ्या निषिद्ध गोष्टीइतके गंभीर मानतात, कारण पूज्य व्यक्तीच्या बरोबरीचे आसन घेणे ही केवळ शिष्टाचाराची छोटी चूक नसून आदराची मूलभूत उणीव असते. ते आणखी एका सूक्ष्म सापळ्याबद्दलही सावध करतात — साधूच्या ठिकाणी त्यांचा सन्मान करण्यासाठी नव्हे, तर स्वतःची पूजा व्हावी या इच्छेने जाणे; असा स्वार्थी दृष्टिकोन माणसाला जणू भोवऱ्यात ओढून खाली नेतो. उच्च आसन एकाचेच असते, असे ते सांगतात, आणि तिथे दुसरी व्यक्ती बसवली — मग ती स्वतःच का असेना — तर संपूर्ण चित्रच विसंगत आणि अशोभनीय दिसते. हे सर्वसाधारण असमानतेबद्दल नाही — भक्तांमध्ये आपसात समानता ठीकच आहे — पण हे विशेषतः तुम्ही ज्याचा खरोखर आदर करता त्याच्यासमोर कसे वागावे याबद्दल आहे: त्यांच्या जागेशी स्पर्धा करण्याऐवजी किंवा स्वतःचा सन्मान मिळवण्याचा प्रयत्न करण्याऐवजी त्यांच्या जागेचा मान राखा.
Where this applies
- Don't equal-seat with the pūjya. Mother-mating taboo level.
- Don't go for self-worship at the saint-place. Vaḷasā in jīvana.
- Vara-āsana eka-eka. High-seat is for one only.
- Asana-rule applies to all forms of equal-status-claim with elder.
- Not against bhakta-equality among comrades. Specific to pūjya-relation.