Abhanga 787

When true duty and devotion fade, people replace them with empty rituals, arbitrary rules, and religious costume instead of real integrity.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A kali-yuga-dharma-vāṭōḷa-brahmins-leave-rāma-rāma-wear-dark-vṛtti-abandoned-begging abhang. Kali-yuga-dharma-decay register. Three claims (each a specific symptom):

1. कलियुग-मूळ-दर्म-वाटोळे — रामराम-सांडून-दोम-दोष. Kali-yuga-decay-rāma-rāma-abandoned-claim. By thekali-yuga's root —dharma'svāṭōḷa(washing-out, ruin, dilution) has happened; Brāhmaṇa abandon therāma-rāma(the rāma-greeting / rāma-rāma-as-greeting); saydōma-dōṣa(another-form / corrupt-formula — possiblyDamadānaor some-non-Vaiṣṇava greeting). Brahmins-stop-saying-rāma-rāma-and-use-other-greetings.

2. निळी-न-शिवू — काळी-वस्त्र-पांघरती. Avoid-blue-wear-dark-claim. They don't-touch theniḷī(blue cloth — in Hindu purity-rules blue/black cloth has been considered impure for some-twice-born); (yet) they wrapkāḷī(dark-black) cloth. Inconsistent-purity-claims. (The criticism: they avoid blue while wearing black — both are similar; the purity-rules are arbitrary or merely-formal.)

3. Tuka: वृत्ति-सांडून — गदा-मागत. Vṛtti-abandoned-begging-with-staff-claim. Tuka says: (having) abandoned thevṛtti(proper-livelihood-occupation, the brahmin's-traditional duties); they go begging (māgata jātī) with thegadā(staff — the sannyāsin's or wandering-monk's-staff). Brahmins-abandon-vṛtti-go-begging-with-staff. (The criticism: they pretend-to-be-sannyāsins to-get-alms-by-begging, while having abandoned-the-genuine-vṛtti.)

[T]

For someone today

Tukaram is describing a kind of decay he sees around him: people who once greeted each other with the name of Ram now use empty, corrupted formulas instead, and their sense of duty has worn thin. He points out how silly their rules of purity have become, they refuse to touch one color of cloth as impure while calmly wearing another that is just as dark. Worst of all, some have given up their honest work and duties entirely, and instead wander around begging with a staff, dressed up to look holy while really just avoiding real responsibility. The verse is a sharp reminder to notice when religious appearance replaces real substance, and when convenient rules replace genuine integrity.

मराठी: तुकाराम इथे आपल्या आजूबाजूला दिसणाऱ्या एका ऱ्हासाचे वर्णन करतात: जे लोक पूर्वी एकमेकांना रामरामाने अभिवादन करत, ते आता त्याऐवजी काहीतरी पोकळ, बिघडलेले शब्द वापरतात आणि त्यांची कर्तव्यभावना झिजून गेली आहे. शुद्धतेचे त्यांचे नियम किती हास्यास्पद झाले आहेत हेही ते दाखवतात, एक रंगाचे कापड अपवित्र म्हणून टाळतात पण तितकेच गडद असलेले दुसरे कापड आरामात नेसतात. सर्वात वाईट म्हणजे काहींनी आपले प्रामाणिक काम आणि कर्तव्य पूर्णपणे सोडून दिले आहे आणि साधूसारखा वेष घालून हातात काठी घेऊन भीक मागत फिरतात, प्रत्यक्षात खरी जबाबदारी टाळण्यासाठी. ही ओवी आपल्याला सावध करते की धार्मिक देखावा खऱ्या सत्त्वाची जागा घेतो तेव्हा, आणि सोयीचे नियम खऱ्या सचोटीची जागा घेतात तेव्हा ते ओळखावे.

Where this applies

• Greeting-changed. Decay.
• Inconsistent-purity. Arbitrary.
• Vṛtti-abandoned-begging. Pretender.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2467 — What looks like your whole world, like a fig to the insect living inside it, is only a tin
• Abhanga 4481 — Tukaram promises that sincerely calling on the Lord's name, knowingly or unknowingly, with
• Abhanga 4482 — Tukaram teaches that no ritual equals sincerely speaking the Lord's name, that self-center
• Abhanga 4497 — Tukaram describes a life so soaked in devotion that Krishna's presence fills every ordinar