संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 349 of 4582

Abhanga 349

English: Amangaḷa-vāṇī — should not be heard in the ears.

When amangaḷa-vāṇī is offered to your ears — and you have to refuse it
When high-caste-status doesn't save the cāṇḍāla-act of Hari-kathā-criticism — and you accept this rule
When the pāpa is recognized by disregard for mother-father — and you receive this marker

The verse

अमंगळ वाणी । नये ऐकों ते कानीं ॥१॥ जो हे दूषी हरिची कथा । त्यासि क्षयरोगव्यथा ॥ध्रु.॥ याति वर्ण श्रेष्ठ । परि तो चांडाळ पापिष्ठ ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे पाप । माय नावडे ज्या बाप ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: Amangaḷa-vāṇī — should not be heard in the ears. He who criticizes Hari's kathā — for him kṣaya-rōga-vyathā. Yāti-varṇa supreme — but he is cāṇḍāḷa pāpiṣṭha. Tuka says: (such a) pāpa — to whom mother-father are not dear.

मराठी: अमंगळ वाणी — नये ऐकों ते कानीं. जो हे दूषी हरिची कथा — त्यासि क्षयरोगव्यथा. याति वर्ण श्रेष्ठ — परि तो चांडाळ पापिष्ठ. तुकाराम म्हणतां — पाप — माय नावडे ज्या बाप.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
अमंगळ वाणी नये ऐकों ते कानीं "amangaḷa-vāṇī (inauspicious-speech) — should not be heard in the ears"
जो हे दूषी हरिची कथा "he who dūṣī (criticizes / defiles) Hari's kathā"
त्यासि क्षयरोगव्यथा "for him — kṣaya-rōga-vyathā (consumption-disease-pain)"
याति वर्ण श्रेष्ठ "yāti-varṇa śrēṣṭha (caste-class supreme)"
परि तो चांडाळ पापिष्ठ "but he is cāṇḍāḷa pāpiṣṭha (wicked-sinful)"
माय नावडे ज्या बाप "to whom māya-bāpa (mother-father) are not dear"

What it means

A short anti-Hari-kathā-critic abhang. Three claims:

  1. अमंगळ वाणी — नये ऐकों ते कानीं — amangaḷa-vāṇī should not be heard in the ears. The first-rule: don't let inauspicious-speech enter your ears. (The speech-protection of the bhakta. Compare 244 evil-speech ruins the citta.)

  2. जो हे दूषी हरिची कथा — त्यासि क्षयरोगव्यथा — he who criticizes Hari's kathā — for him consumption-disease-pain. Dūṣī — defiles, criticizes, finds-fault. The Hari-kathā-critic — receives kṣaya-rōga-vyathā (the pain of kṣaya — wasting-consumption). The fault-finding-with-Hari-kathā has wasting-disease consequence. (Compare 246 defiling Ganga and fire — chāṇḍāḷa receives suffering; same self-suffering rule.)

  3. याति वर्ण श्रेष्ठ — परि तो चांडाळ पापिष्ठ — yāti-varṇa supreme — but he is cāṇḍāḷa-pāpiṣṭha. The caste-doesn't-save-the-pāpiṣṭha rule: though caste-class be supreme, the Hari-kathā-critic is cāṇḍāḷa-pāpiṣṭha. High-caste does not protect from the pāpiṣṭha-status when one is a Hari-kathā-critic. (Cāṇḍāḷa in Tukaram's recoded register = wicked-acting one, not the literal-caste — compare 75, 213, 246.)

  4. तुका म्हणे पाप — माय नावडे ज्या बाप — Tuka says: pāpa — to whom mother-father are not dear. The closing-marker: the pāpa (the sin / the sinful one) — is recognized by disregard for mother and father. (Maya nāvaḍē — to whom mother is not dear; jyā bāpa — (or) father.) The general-marker of the pāpa: no love for mother-father.

[T]

For someone today

This abhang names the protection-of-the-ear-and-the-pāpiṣṭha-marker:

  1. Don't let amangaḷa-vāṇī* enter your ears. Amangaḷa vāṇī — nayē aikōm tē kānīm. The ear-protection-rule. Inauspicious-speech corrupts; don't expose your ears to it*.

  2. Hari-kathā criticism receives kṣaya-rōga*. Jō hē dūṣī haricī kathā — tyāsi kṣaya-rōga-vyathā. The self-suffering-rule: fault-finding with Hari-kathā produces wasting-disease pain (which may be literal-disease or spiritual-wasting). Don't be the kathā-critic*.

  3. High-caste does not protect from pāpiṣṭha-status*. Yāti-varṇa śrēṣṭha — pari tō cāṇḍāḷa pāpiṣṭha. The anti-caste-protection-rule: no caste-status saves the Hari-kathā-critic from cāṇḍāḷa-pāpiṣṭha-status. (Cāṇḍāḷa = wicked-acting one, not literal-caste.) Compare 337 yāti-kuḷa apramāṇa, guṇa is the cause*; same anti-caste-protection register.

  4. The pāpa is marked by disregard for māya-bāpa*. Pāpa — māya nāvaḍē jyā bāpa. The pāpa is the one to whom mother-father are not dear. Recognize the pāpa by this marker; don't be that one*.

For today: protect your ears from amangaḷa-vāṇī; don't be the Hari-kathā-critic; don't trust caste-status to protect you from pāpiṣṭha-status; love mother and father — that is the marker of not-being-pāpa.

This abhang is companion to 246 (defiling Ganga and fire — cāṇḍāḷa receives suffering); same self-suffering rule for the pure-criticizer. The closing māya-bāpa-marker is pragmatic — the pāpa is recognized by domestic-coldness.

मराठी: ही ओवी protection-of-the-ear-and-pāpiṣṭha-marker नाव सांगते:

  1. Amangaḷa-vāṇī कानात येऊ देऊ नका. अमंगळ वाणी — नये ऐकों ते कानीं. Ear-protection-rule. Inauspicious-speech corrupts; कानांना expose करू नका.

  2. Hari-kathā criticism kṣaya-rōga* receive करते. जो हे दूषी हरिची कथा — त्यासि क्षयरोगव्यथा. Self-suffering-rule: Hari-kathā fault-finding wasting-disease pain produce करते (literal-disease किंवा spiritual-wasting). Kathā-critic होऊ नका*.

  3. High-caste pāpiṣṭha-status* पासून protect करत नाही. याति वर्ण श्रेष्ठ — परि तो चांडाळ पापिष्ठ. Anti-caste-protection-rule: कोणतीही caste-status Hari-kathā-critic ला cāṇḍāḷa-pāpiṣṭha-status पासून save करत नाही. (Cāṇḍāḷa = wicked-acting*, literal-caste नाही.) 337 compare.

  4. Pāpa — māya-bāpa* disregard ने marked. पाप — माय नावडे ज्या बाप. Pāpa — माय-बाप जिला आवडत नाहीत तो. Pāpa ला या marker ने ओळखा; तो होऊ नका*.

आज: Amangaḷa-vāṇī पासून कान protect करा; Hari-kathā-critic होऊ नका; Caste-status pāpiṣṭha-status पासून protect करेल trust नका; माय-बाप ला love करा — pāpa नसण्याचं marker.

246 च companion (Ganga-agni defile — cāṇḍāḷa suffering); same self-suffering rule for pure-criticizer. Māya-bāpa-marker pragmatic — pāpa domestic-coldness ने ओळखला जातो.

Where this applies

Anti-caste / Egalitarianism Bhakti Mother / Family bond

Related verses