संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 790 of 4582

Abhanga 790

English: Śākta-māya — śūkarī — viṣṭhā — eats — bidī.

When the Śākta's mother is a sow eating street-viṣṭhā — and you have to recognize this register
When Śākta's mother is a donkey braying — and you accept this image
When speaking of the bastard with the vāca is itself blame-worthy — and you receive this final verdict

The verse

शाक्तांची शूकरी माय । विष्ठा खाय बिदीची ॥१॥ तिची त्या पडली सवे । मागें धांवें म्हणोनि ॥ध्रु.॥ शाक्तांची गाढवी माय । भुंकत जाय वेसदारा ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे शिंदळीचे । बोलतां वाचे निंद्य ते ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: Śākta-māya — śūkarī — viṣṭhā — eats — bidī. Her — savē — acquired — māgē dhāvē. Śākta-māya — gāḍhavī — braying — vēsa-dāra. Tuka says: śindaḷī-cē — vāca — speak — nindya.

मराठी: शाक्तांची शूकरी माय — बिदीची विष्ठा खाय. तिची त्या पडली सवे — मागें धांवे म्हणोनि. शाक्तांची गाढवी माय — भुंकत जाय वेस-दाराला. Tuka म्हणे: शिंदळीचे — बोलतां वाचे निंद्य ते.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
शाक्तांची शूकरी माय "Śākta-māya — śūkarī"
विष्ठा खाय बिदीची "viṣṭhā — eats — bidī (street)"
तिची त्या पडली सवे "her — he-has-acquired — savē (habit)"
मागें धांवें म्हणोनि "after — runs"
शाक्तांची गाढवी माय "Śākta-māya — gāḍhavī"
भुंकत जाय वेसदारा "braying — goes — vēsa-dāra"
शिंदळीचे बोलतां वाचे निंद्य ते "śindaḷī-cē — speak — vāca — nindya"

What it means

A Śākta-mother-sow-eats-viṣṭhā-Śākta-mother-donkey-braying-bastard-nindya-to-speak abhang. Anti-Śākta-curse-polemic register — one of the harshest insult-polemics in the corpus. Three claims:

  1. शाक्तांची-शूकरी-माय — बिदीची-विष्ठा-खाय — तिची-सवे-धांवे. Śākta-mother-sow-claim. The Śākta's mother is a śūkarī (sow); eats viṣṭhā in the bidī (street); the Śākta has paḍilī savē (acquired her habit) — runs māgē (after) her. Mother-sow-Śākta-runs-after-her-eating-street-filth.

  2. शाक्तांची-गाढवी-माय — भुंकत-जाय-वेस-दारा. Śākta-mother-donkey-claim. The Śākta's mother is a gāḍhavī (she-donkey); goes braying (bhunkata) to the vēsa-dāra (the gate-at-the-village-edge). Mother-donkey-braying-at-the-gate.

  3. Tuka: शिंदळीचे — बोलतां-वाचे-निंद्य. Speaking-of-bastard-itself-nindya-claim. Tuka says: of the śindaḷ-ī-cē (bastard, illegitimate-one); speaking (bōlatām) with the vāca (about him) is itself nindya (blame-worthy / disgraceful-to-utter). Of-the-bastard-talking-itself-blameworthy*.

This is one of Tukaram's most-virulent-curse-polemics. The Śākta-tāntrika is described in animal-terms — mother-sow, mother-donkey — and the Śākta himself is called śindaḷī (bastard). The closing acknowledges-this-is-nindya — but the bhakta says-it-anyway-out-of-righteous-anger. (The polemical-style is consistent with classical-Indian vāda and the anti-tāntrika brahminical-orthodoxy of Tukaram's-time.)

[T]

For someone today

This abhang names the anti-Śākta-curse-polemic register:

  1. Śākta-mother-sow eating street-viṣṭhā; he has-her-habit, runs after. Mother-sow.

  2. Śākta-mother-donkey braying at the gate. Mother-donkey.

  3. Of the bastard, speaking is itself blame-worthy. Speak-itself-nindya.

For today: the Śākta (left-hand-tāntrika) is excoriated by Tukaram in animal-terms — mother-sow eating street-filth, mother-donkey braying at the gate; the Śākta himself is called śindaḷ (bastard); Tuka acknowledges: speaking-this with the vāca is itself nindya (disgraceful-utterance), but says-it-anyway. (The most-virulent insult-polemic; reflects Tukaram's view that the Śākta-tāntrika antinomian-practice is so-corrupting that it deserves the harshest-possible-condemnation, even at the cost of the speaker's-own-vāca.)*

This abhang is Tukaram's anti-Śākta-curse-polemic-mother-sow-mother-donkey-bastard register — one of the harshest insult-polemics in the corpus. Compare 0785-786 (Tuka's mudra) for the broader anti-Śākta-cluster. The bōlatām vācē nindya tē (speaking with the vāca itself disgraceful) acknowledges the polemic's-extreme-character; the bhakta is willing-to-soil-his-own-vāca to-curse-this-corrupting-element. (Modern readers often find such polemics uncomfortable; they are best read as historical-rhetorical-mode of brahminical-Vārkarī polemics against antinomian-tāntrika practices in 17th-century-Maharashtra.)

मराठी: ही ओवी anti-Śākta-curse-polemic register नाव सांगते:

  1. Śākta-mother-sow; street-viṣṭhā; तो-तिच्या-मागें. Mother-sow.

  2. Śākta-mother-donkey; vēsa-dāra-braying. Mother-donkey.

  3. शिंदळीचे — बोलतां-वाचे-निंद्य. Speak-itself-nindya.

आज: Śākta (left-hand-tāntrika) Tukaram-ने animal-terms-त excoriate केला — mother-sow eating street-filth, mother-donkey braying at gate; Śākta-स्वतः śindaḷ (bastard) म्हटला; Tuka acknowledge: speaking-this-with-vāca itself nindya (disgraceful-utterance), पण-says-it-anyway. (Most-virulent insult-polemic; Tukaram-च्या-view-त Śākta-tāntrika-antinomian-practice-corrupting-असल्याने harshest-possible-condemnation deserve.)

Tukaram च-anti-Śākta-curse-polemic-mother-sow-mother-donkey-bastard-register — Harshest insult-polemics corpus-त पैकी एक. 0785-786 (Tuka mudra) broader-anti-Śākta-cluster compare. Bōlatām vācē nindya tē polemic-च-extreme-character acknowledge; bhakta स्वतःच्या-vāca-soil-करायला तयार-corrupting-element-curse-करायला. (Modern-readers-ला अशा polemics-uncomfortable वाटतात; historical-rhetorical-mode of brahminical-Vārkarī polemics-against antinomian-tāntrika practices-in-17th-century-Maharashtra म्हणून-read-best.)

Where this applies

Bhakti Mother / Family bond

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