Abhanga 311

Performing devotion on the surface while your mind still chases pleasure and forbidden desires is a fence-sitting pretense that shames real sainthood and leads nowhere.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A fence-sitter sādhu-pretender abhang. Four claims:

1. भजन घाली भोगावरी — अकर्तव्य मनीं धरी — throws bhajana on the bhōga; holds akartavya in mind. The contradiction-image. Bhajana is performed but placed-on-top-of bhōga (= the bhajana is layered-on-top of the underlying enjoyment-pursuit; bhajana doesn't displace bhōga). Akartavya — what should not be done — is held in the mind. The outer form is bhajana; the inner content is bhōga + akartavya.

2. धिग त्याचें साधुपण — विटाळूनी वर्ते मन — dhik his sādhu-paṇa — the mana acts viṭāḷita. Sādhu-paṇa (sādhu-status) is shamed because the mana acts viṭāḷita (impure / defiled). The sādhu-status without mana-purity is worth shame. (Compare 213's vitāḷaśī at the deva-level — same recoded sense; spiritual-impurity, not bodily.)

3. नाहीं वैराग्याचा लेश — अर्थचाड जावें आस — no leś of vairāgya — runs after artha-cāḍa with āsa. No trace of vairāgya; instead, runs-with-hope after artha-cāḍa (material-greed). The fence-sitter-sādhu has no vairāgya, only artha-greed.

4. हें ना तें सें जालें — वांयां गेलें — this-nor-that became something — gone in vain. The closing-judgment. The fence-sitter isneither this nor that — neither real-bhakta nor honest-householder. Gone in vain. (Compare 244's abhimāna-renunciation is julūma; in vain wasted; 252's back-step takes you to the same place.)

[T]

For someone today

Tukaram calls out those who perform devotion on the surface while their mind is still chasing pleasure underneath and quietly holding onto thoughts of things they know they shouldn't do. Real sainthood is shamed when it's built on a mind that stays impure inside — such fake holiness is worse than simply being an honest, ordinary person without any pretense. If there isn't a trace of real renunciation in you, and you're still eagerly chasing after wealth, that combination is the telltale sign of someone straddling the fence rather than truly committing. Tukaram says such a life ends up being neither one thing nor the other — not real devotion, not honest worldly living — and all that effort goes to waste. The lesson is to choose one path honestly rather than wear the outer form of devotion while your heart pursues something else entirely.

मराठी: तुकाराम अशा लोकांना खडसावतात जे वरवर भक्ती करतात पण मनातून अजूनही सुखांच्या मागे धावत असतात आणि जे करायला नको त्या गोष्टींचे विचार मनात बाळगून असतात. खरं साधुत्व लज्जास्पद ठरतं जेव्हा ते आतून अशुद्ध राहणाऱ्या मनावर उभं असतं — असं खोटं पावित्र्य कोणताही आव न आणता प्रामाणिकपणे साधं जगणाऱ्या माणसापेक्षाही वाईट असतं. जर तुमच्यात खऱ्या वैराग्याचा लवलेशही नसेल आणि तुम्ही अजूनही संपत्तीच्या मागे आतुरतेने धावत असाल, तर हे मिश्रण म्हणजे खऱ्या बांधिलकीऐवजी कुंपणावर बसलेल्या माणसाची खूण आहे. तुकाराम म्हणतात, असं आयुष्य शेवटी ना इकडचं राहतं ना तिकडचं — ना खरी भक्ती, ना प्रामाणिक ऐहिक जगणं — आणि सगळी मेहनत वाया जाते. धडा हा आहे की भक्तीचा बाह्य आव आणून मन दुसरीकडेच धावत ठेवण्यापेक्षा, प्रामाणिकपणे एक मार्ग निवडा.

Where this applies

• Don't layer bhajana on bhōga. Form should displace, not decorate.
• Akartavya in mind contradicts the form. Internal-purity needed.
• Sādhu-paṇa with viṭāḷita-mana = dhik. Honest-householder better than dishonest-sādhu.
• No-leś-vairāgya + artha-cāḍa = fence-sitter signature.
• Commit to one side; vain-going otherwise.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2448 — The easiest path to God is repeating divine names with love at home, right where you are,
• Abhanga 2467 — What looks like your whole world, like a fig to the insect living inside it, is only a tin
• Abhanga 2494 — Living in devotion turns an ordinary day into a festival and removes the fear of birth and
• Abhanga 4481 — Tukaram promises that sincerely calling on the Lord's name, knowingly or unknowingly, with