Abhanga 553
Watching a hollow performance of devotion with greed still in your own heart makes you as implicated as the performer putting it on.
The verse
पोटाचे ते नट पाहों नये छंद । विषयांचे भेद विषयरूप ॥१॥ अर्थ परमार्थ कैसा घडों सके । चित्त लोभी भीके सोंग वांयां ॥ध्रु.॥ देवाचीं चरित्रें दाखविती लीळा । लाघवाच्या कळा मोहावया ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे चित्तीं राहे अभिळास । दोघां नरकवास सारिखा चि ॥३॥
Literal translation
Poṭa-cē-naṭa — don't watch — chamda — viṣaya-bhēda — viṣaya-rūpa. Artha-paramārtha — how? — citta lōbhī — sōnga vāyām. Deva's caritra-līḷā — lāghava skills — mōha. Tuka says: citta — abhilāṣa — both — naraka-vāsa — same.
मराठी: पोटाचे ते नट पाहों नये छंद — विषयांचे भेद विषयरूप. अर्थ परमार्थ कैसा घडों सके — चित्त लोभी भीके सोंग वांयां. देवाचीं चरित्रें दाखविती लीळा — लाघवाच्या कळा मोहावया. तुकाराम म्हणतां — चित्तीं राहे अभिळास — दोघां नरकवास सारिखा चि.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| पोटाचे ते नट पाहों नये छंद | "poṭa-cē naṭa — don't watch chamda" |
| विषयांचे भेद विषयरूप | "viṣaya-bhēda — viṣaya-rūpa" |
| अर्थ परमार्थ कैसा घडों सके | "artha-paramārtha — how to happen?" |
| चित्त लोभी भीके सोंग वांयां | "citta lōbhī — sōnga vāyām" |
| देवाचीं चरित्रें दाखविती लीळा | "deva's caritra-līḷā shown" |
| लाघवाच्या कळा मोहावया | "lāghava skills — for mōha" |
| चित्तीं राहे अभिळास | "citta — abhilāṣa remains" |
| दोघां नरकवास सारिखा चि | "both — naraka-vāsa — same" |
What it means
A belly-actor's-performance-don't-watch-shared-naraka abhang. Continues 0552's false-bhakta-criticism but turns to the audience-implication: those who watch greedily share the naraka. Three claims:
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पोटाचे ते नट पाहों नये छंद — विषयांचे भेद विषयरूप — poṭa-cē naṭa — don't watch chamda — viṣaya-bhēda — viṣaya-rūpa. The opening-warning: thepoṭa-cē naṭa(actors-for-the-belly = those who perform-bhakti-as-livelihood) — don't watch theirchamda(performance, indulgence); viṣaya-bhēda (different objects-of-sense), viṣaya-rūpa (form-of-objects).Don't-watch-belly-actors; their performance is sense-form-not-deva-form.
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अर्थ परमार्थ कैसा घडों सके — चित्त लोभी भीके सोंग वांयां — देवाचीं चरित्रें दाखविती लीळा — लाघवाच्या कळा मोहावया — artha-paramārtha — how? — citta lōbhī — sōnga vāyām — deva's caritra-līḷā shown — lāghava skills — for mōha. The fraud-mechanism-claim: artha-paramārtha (worldly-and-otherworldly fulfillment)— how can it happen?; thecittaislōbhī(greedy, beggar-spirited); thesōnga(pose / role) isvāyām(in vain); they show the deva'scaritra-līḷā(deeds-and-play); withlāghava(sleight, illusion) skills; formōha(delusion / attraction). Greedy-citta-fraudulent-display-of-deva-caritra-for-deluding-audience.
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तुका म्हणे चित्तीं राहे अभिळास — दोघां नरकवास सारिखा चि — Tuka says: citta — abhilāṣa — both — naraka-vāsa — same. The closing-shared-naraka-claim: Tuka says: in thecittaifabhilāṣa(greedy-desire) remains; both (the performer and the spectator) — have the same naraka-vāsa (naraka-dwelling).Both-go-to-same-naraka if abhilāṣa-in-citta.The audience-is-implicated.Don't-watch-the-fraud-or-share-the-naraka.
[T]
For someone today
Tukaram warns not just about fake devotees but about the people who watch and enjoy their performance. Someone who treats devotion as a paid act, putting on a show for their own gain, cannot produce anything spiritually real, because a greedy heart and a false pose cannot deliver true purpose. Even skillful, dazzling displays of sacred stories can be used simply to charm and delude an audience rather than to teach them anything true. Tukaram's sharpest point is that the audience is not innocent either, if you watch with your own greed and craving still alive in your heart, you share the same fate as the performer putting on the show.
मराठी: तुकाराम फक्त खोट्या भक्तांबद्दलच नाही, तर त्यांचा खेळ बघून आनंद घेणाऱ्या प्रेक्षकांबद्दलही इशारा देतात. जो माणूस भक्तीला पगारी नाटक समजतो आणि स्वतःच्या फायद्यासाठी तमाशा करतो, तो काहीही खरे आध्यात्मिक फळ देऊ शकत नाही, कारण लोभी मन आणि खोटा आव यातून खरा उद्देश साध्य होऊ शकत नाही. देवाच्या पवित्र कथांचे कुशल आणि चमकदार सादरीकरणसुद्धा फक्त प्रेक्षकांना भुरळ घालण्यासाठी वापरले जाऊ शकते, त्यातून काहीही खरे शिकवले जात नाही. तुकारामांचा सगळ्यात तीक्ष्ण मुद्दा असा आहे की प्रेक्षकही निर्दोष नाहीत, जर तुम्ही स्वतःच्या मनात लोभ आणि हावरेपणा ठेवून बघितलं, तर तमाशा करणाऱ्यासारखेच तुमचेही नशीब असते.
Where this applies
- Belly-actors — don't watch. Audience-warning.
- Greedy citta — sōnga in vain. No-fruit.
- Lāghavaformōha. Delusion-skill.
- Both share naraka. Audience-implicated.