Abhanga 774
Going through the motions of ritual while breaking its substance earns nothing, and there is no divine reward for someone who lacks patience and steadiness.
The verse
करी संध्यास्नान । वारी खाउनियां अन्न ॥१॥ तया नाहीं लाभहानी । आदा वेंचाचिये मानीं ॥ध्रु.॥ मजुराचें धन । विळा दोर चि जतन ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे नाहीं । अधीरासी देव कांहीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Sandhyā-snāna — does — vāri — eating — anna. Him — no — lābha-hānī — ādā-vēnca — account. Majurā — dhana — viḷā-dōrā — only — jatana. Tuka says: adhīra — deva — anything — none.
मराठी: करी संध्या-स्नान — वारी खाउनियां अन्न. तया नाहीं लाभ-हानी — आदा-वेंचाच्या मानीं. मजुराचें धन — विळा-दोर च जतन. Tuka म्हणे: नाहीं — अधीरासी देव कांहीं.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| करी संध्यास्नान | "sandhyā-snāna — does" |
| वारी खाउनियां अन्न | "vāri — eating — anna" |
| तया नाहीं लाभहानी | "him — no — lābha-hānī" |
| आदा वेंचाचिये मानीं | "ādā-vēnca — account" |
| मजुराचें धन | "majurā — dhana" |
| विळा दोर चि जतन | "viḷā-dōrā — only — jatana" |
| अधीरासी देव कांहीं | "adhīra — deva — anything" |
What it means
A sandhyā-snāna-but-eats-forbidden-no-profit-loss-account-labourer's-wealth-only-tools-no-deva-for-impatient abhang. No-deva-for-impatient register. Three claims:
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संध्या-स्नान-करी — वारी-खाउन-अन्न — लाभ-हानी-नाहीं — आदा-वेंचा-मानी. Sandhyā-snāna-but-eats-forbidden-claim. (The hypocrite) doessandhyā-snāna(the formal morning-evening ritual); butvāri(rejects, with-vārī meaning here possibly: eats-and-then-vomits-it / eats-forbidden-and-then-tries-to-reject; or: keeps doing the bath while eating forbidden food); for him there is nolābha-hānī(profit-or-loss) — in hisādā-vēnca(income-expense) account. Sandhyā-snāna-but-eating-wrong-no-account-balance.
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मजुराचें-धन — विळा-दोर च जतन. Labourer's-wealth-only-tools-claim. Themajurā's (labourer's)dhana(wealth); only theviḷā-dōrā(sickle-and-rope — his daily-work-tools) — that's-all hisjatana(keepsake, asset). Labourer-only-keeps-tools. (The labourer earns daily-wages; he keeps only his tools as wealth. By analogy, the formalist-bhakta keeps only his ritual-tools, not the substance.)
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Tuka: नाहीं — अधीरासी देव-कांहीं. No-deva-for-impatient-claim. Tuka says: there isnothing; for theadhīra(impatient, restless, one-without-dhīra), nodevaof any kind. No-deva-for-the-impatient.
[T]
For someone today
Tukaram takes aim at people who keep up the outer form of religion while breaking its substance: someone who performs the morning and evening ritual bath but eats what should not be eaten has no real spiritual profit to show for it, whatever he thinks he has earned. He compares this to a day laborer whose only wealth is his sickle and rope, the bare tools of the job and nothing more; a formalist likewise ends up owning only the ritual gestures and none of their meaning. Tukaram closes with a hard verdict: there is no god at all for the person who lacks patience and staying power. Consistency and steadiness matter more than the appearance of devotion.
मराठी: तुकाराम अशा लोकांवर टीका करतात जे धर्माचं बाह्य रूप पाळतात पण त्याचा गाभा मोडतात — जो माणूस संध्या-स्नान करतो पण जे खाऊ नये ते खातो, त्याच्या हाती खरा आध्यात्मिक फायदा काहीच लागत नाही, त्याला वाटो किंवा न वाटो. याची तुलना ते मजुराशी करतात, ज्याच्या जवळ फक्त विळा आणि दोर एवढीच संपत्ती असते, दुसरं काही नाही; तसंच औपचारिकतेला चिकटलेल्या माणसाच्या हाती फक्त कर्मकांडाची बाह्य कृती उरते, अर्थ काहीच उरत नाही. आणि शेवटी तुकाराम ठाम निर्णय देतात — ज्याच्याकडे धीर आणि स्थिरता नाही, त्याच्यासाठी देव काहीच नाही. दिखाव्यापेक्षा सातत्य आणि स्थिरता जास्त महत्त्वाची आहे.
Where this applies
- Sandhyā but forbidden food. Hypocrisy.
- Labourer's tools. Analogy.
- Adhīra — no deva. Verdict.