Abhanga 312
Keeping a devotional fast with real discipline brings you close to the divine, but stopping someone else from worship is the gravest wrong of all, worse than any personal indulgence.
The verse
एकादशीस अन्न पान । जे नर करिती भोजन । श्वानविष्ठे समान । अधम जन तो एक ॥१॥ ऐका व्रताचें महिमान। नेमें आचरती जन । गाती ऐकतीं हरिकीर्तन । ते समान विष्णूशीं ॥ध्रु.॥ अशुद्ध विटाळसीचें खळ । विडा भिक्षतां तांबूल । सांपडे सबळ । काळाहातीं न सुटे ॥२॥ सेज बाज विलास भोग । करी कामिनीशीं संग । तया जोडे क्षयरोग । जन्मव्याधी बळिवंत ॥३॥ आपण न वजे हरिकीर्तना । अणिकां वारी जातां कोणा । त्याच्या पापें जाणा । ठेंगणा महा मेरु ॥४॥ तया दंडी यमदूत । जाले तयाचे अंकित । तुका म्हणे व्रत । एकादशी चुकलीया ॥५॥
Literal translation
Eating anna-pāna on ekādaśī — those who eat — equal to śvāna-viṣṭhā — adhama jana. Listen — the vrata-mahimā — those who observe with nēma; those who sing-and-listen to hari-kīrtana — equal to Vishnu. Aśuddha viṭāḷaśī-khaḷa — begging-tāmbūla — caught strongly — not released from kāḷa's hand. Sez-baz-vilāsa-bhōga — does sanga with kāminī — gets kṣaya-rōga. Doesn't go to hari-kīrtana himself, prevents others — his pāpa — mahā-Meru becomes ṭhengaṇā. Tuka says: yama-dūta become his ankita for daṇḍa — if ekādaśī is missed.
मराठी: एकादशीस अन्न पान — जे नर करिती भोजन — श्वानविष्ठे समान — अधम जन तो एक. ऐका व्रताचें महिमान — नेमें आचरती जन — गाती ऐकतीं हरिकीर्तन — ते समान विष्णूशीं. अशुद्ध विटाळसीचें खळ — विडा भिक्षतां तांबूल — सांपडे सबळ — काळाहातीं न सुटे. सेज बाज विलास भोग — करी कामिनीशीं संग — तया जोडे क्षयरोग — जन्मव्याधी बळिवंत. आपण न वजे हरिकीर्तना — अणिकां वारी जातां कोणा — त्याच्या पापें जाणा — ठेंगणा महा मेरु. तुकाराम म्हणतां — तया दंडी यमदूत — जाले तयाचे अंकित — व्रत — एकादशी चुकलीया.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| एकादशीस अन्न पान जे नर करिती भोजन | "on ekādaśī, those who eatanna-pāna" |
| श्वानविष्ठे समान अधम जन तो एक | "equal tośvāna-viṣṭhā—adhama jana" |
| ऐका व्रताचें महिमान | "listen — thevrata-mahimā" |
| नेमें आचरती जन | "those who observe withnēma(discipline / rule)" |
| गाती ऐकतीं हरिकीर्तन ते समान विष्णूशीं | "those who sing and listen tohari-kīrtana— equal to Vishnu" |
| अशुद्ध विटाळसीचें खळ विडा भिक्षतां तांबूल | "aśuddha viṭāḷaśī-khaḷa (impure-state) — begging-tāmbūla" |
| सांपडे सबळ काळाहातीं न सुटे | "caught strongly — not released fromkāḷa's hand" |
| सेज बाज विलास भोग करी कामिनीशीं संग | "sez-baz-vilāsa-bhōga — doessangawithkāminī" |
| तया जोडे क्षयरोग जन्मव्याधी बळिवंत | "getskṣaya-rōga(consumption), strong life-disease" |
| आपण न वजे हरिकीर्तना अणिकां वारी जातां कोणा | "does not go to hari-kīrtana himself, prevents others" |
| त्याच्या पापें जाणा ठेंगणा महा मेरु | "his pāpa, know —mahā-Merubecomesṭhengaṇā(dwarfed)" |
| तया दंडी यमदूत जाले तयाचे अंकित | "yama-dūta become hisankita(subordinates) fordaṇḍa(punishment)" |
| व्रत एकादशी चुकलीया | "if ekādaśī-vrata is missed" |
What it means
A 5-verse ekādaśī-vrata abhang. Tukaram's ekādaśī-vrata-mahimā in detail. Five claims:
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Eating anna-pāna on ekādaśī = śvāna-viṣṭhā-equivalent. Adhama jana. The food-eaten on ekādaśī isequal to dog's-droppings. The register is harsh: the violation is grave.
-
Hari-kīrtana-singers and listeners on ekādaśī = Vishnu-equivalent. Te samāna Vishnu-śīm. The vrata-honoring — with nēma (discipline) and hari-kīrtana — makes the observer Vishnu-equivalent. The positive-promise.
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Other ekādaśī-violations: aśuddha-state begging tāmbūla, sez-baz-vilāsa-kāminī-sanga. Begging-tāmbūla in impure-state and engaging in sex on ekādaśī — caught strongly by kāḷa, kṣaya-rōga arises. The body-effects of vrata-violation are real.
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Blocking others from hari-kīrtana = pāpa-larger-than-Meru. Tyāchyā pāpe — ṭhengaṇā mahā-meru. Mt. Meru becomes aṭhengaṇā(dwarf) beside his pāpa. Active-blocking-others is the largest pāpa in this abhang. (Compare 244 of-the-deva-while-disrespecting-the-deva; 280's saint-atikrama makes deva-pūjā adharma.)
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Yama-dūta as subordinates for punishment. Yama-dūta becomeankita (subordinates) — they come at his command (= come to punish him) — if the ekādaśī-vrata is missed.
[T]
For someone today
Tukaram speaks with real intensity about the ekadashi fast: breaking it by eating is treated as gravely wrong, while those who keep the discipline and spend the day singing and listening to devotional songs of Hari become, in a sense, as exalted as Vishnu himself. Other violations of the fast — indulging in impure habits or sensual pleasure on that sacred day — bring real consequences, even illness, and bind a person more tightly to death's grip. But Tukaram reserves his harshest words for something else entirely: deliberately stopping someone else from going to worship and hearing devotional song. That sin, he says, is so grave it dwarfs even Mount Meru, and those who commit it will answer personally to death's messengers. The real lesson here is less about the technicalities of fasting and more about this: whatever you do or don't observe yourself, never stand between another person and their devotion.
मराठी: तुकाराम एकादशीच्या व्रताबद्दल अतिशय तीव्रतेने बोलतात — व्रत मोडून अन्न खाणं हे अत्यंत गंभीर मानलं जातं, तर जे शिस्तीने व्रत पाळतात आणि दिवसभर हरिकीर्तन गातात-ऐकतात, ते जणू विष्णूइतकेच उच्च मानले जातात. या पवित्र दिवशी अशुद्ध सवयी किंवा भोगविलासात रमणं यासारख्या इतर व्रतभंगांचे खरे परिणाम होतात, अगदी आजारपणही येऊ शकतं, आणि माणूस मृत्यूच्या पकडीत अधिकच घट्ट अडकतो. पण तुकाराम आपले सर्वात कठोर शब्द वेगळ्याच गोष्टीसाठी राखून ठेवतात — मुद्दाम कोणाला उपासनेला किंवा भक्तिगीत ऐकायला जाण्यापासून रोखणं. हे पाप इतकं मोठं आहे की ते मेरू पर्वतालाही ठेंगणं करतं, आणि असं करणाऱ्याला थेट यमदूतांना उत्तर द्यावं लागतं. या ओवीचा खरा धडा व्रताच्या बारकाव्यांपेक्षा हा आहे — तुम्ही स्वतः व्रत पाळा किंवा न पाळा, पण दुसऱ्याच्या भक्तीच्या आड कधीच येऊ नका.
Where this applies
- Ekādaśī-vrata observance with kīrtana = Vishnu-equivalent.
- Eating / sex / impure-state during vrata = grave.
- Blocking others from kīrtana = pāpa-larger-than-Meru. Universal applicable.
- Yama-dūta personalized for vrata-violators.