संत साहित्य
Work in progress. Translations and commentary are AI-generated and may contain inaccuracies or hallucinations — please use your own judgement and check against the original sources.
संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 791 of 4582

Abhanga 791

Devotion built on charms, spectacle, and superstition instead of genuine steady faith is not real devotion.

When abandoning Hari-Hara, they hold petty-deities — and you have to recognize this register
When worship the fierce-bellied with elephant-trunk; without Viṣṇu-Śiva, false-bhajan — and you receive this final verdict

The verse

हरिहर सांडूनि देव । धरिती भाव क्षुल्लकीं ॥१॥ ऐका त्यांची विटंबणा । देवपणा भक्तांची ॥ध्रु.॥ अंगीं कवडे घाली गळां । परडी कळाहीन हातीं ॥२॥ गळां गांठा हिंडें दारीं । मनुष्य परी कुतरीं तीं ॥३॥ माथां सेंदुर दांत खाती । जेंगट हातीं सटवीचें ॥४॥ पूजिती विकट दौंद । पशु सोंड गजाची ॥५॥ ऐशा छंदें चुकलीं वाटा । भाव खोटा भजन ॥६॥ तुका म्हणे विष्णुशिवा । वांचुनि देवा भजती ती ॥७॥

Literal translation

Hari-Hara — abandoning — bhāva on kṣullaka. Listen — their viṭambaṇā — bhakta-devapaṇā. Kavaḍē on neck — paraḍī — kaḷā-hīna in hand. Knot at neck, wandering doors — humans yet kutarī. Sēndura on head, biting teeth — jengaṭa of Saṭvī. Worship — vikaṭa-dauṇḍa — paśu-sōṇḍa of Gaja. By such chanda — missed-path — bhāva khōṭa bhajana. Tuka says: without Viṣṇu-Śiva — they bhajan deva.

मराठी: Hari-Hara सांडूनि देव — कशल्लकांत भाव धरिती. ऐका त्यांची विटंबणा — देवपणा भक्तांची. अंगीं कवडे, गळां — हातीं कळा-हीन परडी. गळ्यांत गाठा, दारीं हिंडे — माणूस-परि कुतरीं. माथीं सेंदुर, दांत खाती — हातीं सटवीचा जेंगट. पूजिती विकट-दौंद — पशू-सोंड गजाची. अशा-छंदें वाट चुकली — भाव खोटा, भजन. Tuka म्हणे: विष्णु-शिवा-वांचुनि — देवा भजती ती.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
हरिहर सांडूनि देव "Hari-Hara — abandoning — deva"
धरिती भाव क्षुल्लकीं "bhāva — kṣullaka"
विटंबणा देवपणा भक्तांची "viṭambaṇā — devapaṇā-bhakta"
अंगीं कवडे घाली गळां "kavaḍē (cowries) — gaḷā"
परडी कळाहीन हातीं "paraḍī — kaḷā-hīna"
गळां गांठा हिंडें दारीं "gaḷā — gānṭha — wanders-doors"
मनुष्य परी कुतरीं तीं "human — but — kutarī"
माथां सेंदुर दांत खाती "sēndura — biting teeth"
जेंगट हातीं सटवीचें "jengaṭa — Saṭvī"
पूजिती विकट दौंद "worship — vikaṭa-dauṇḍa"
पशु सोंड गजाची "paśu-sōṇḍa — Gaja"
बीज खोटा भजन "bhāva — khōṭa — bhajana"
विष्णुशिवा वांचुनि देवा "Viṣṇu-Śiva — without — deva"

What it means

A abandoning-Hari-Hara-petty-deities-cowries-paraḍī-knot-neck-dogs-sēndura-jengaṭ-Saṭvī-Gaṇeśa-trunk-false-bhāva-without-Viṣṇu-Śiva abhang. Anti-village-deity-polemic register. Seven claims:

  1. Hari-Hara-सांडून — kṣullaka-वर-bhāva — देवपणा-भक्तांची-विटंबणा. Abandoning-Hari-Hara-petty-deities-claim. AbandoningHari-Hara(the major-deities Viṣṇu-Śiva); they holdbhāvaonkṣullaka(petty / minor / village) deities; theirdevapaṇā-bhakta(deva-ness as bhaktas) isviṭambaṇā(mockery).

  2. कवडे-गळ्यांत — परडी-कळा-हीन. Cowries-paraḍī-claim. Cowries on the neck;paraḍī(begging-bowl) —kaḷā-hīna(without-dignity / lacking-art / wretched) in hand. (The local-deity-devotee carries cowries-as-mark and a-shabby-bowl.)

  3. गळ्यांत-गाठा — दारीं-हिंडे — कुतरीं. Wandering-like-dogs-claim. Agānṭha(knot, a kind of bound-charm / amulet) at the neck; wanders-doors (begging); human-form-but-likekutarī(dogs).

  4. माथीं-सेंदुर — जेंगट-Saṭvī. Sēndura-jengaṭ-Saṭvī-claim. Sēndura (vermilion) on the head;biting-teeth (in fervor / shaman-mode);jengaṭa(rattle-drum / sounding-instrument) ofSaṭvī(the goddess Sasthi / Saṭvī, deity-of-the-sixth-day-after-birth, often a village-folk-deity). Saṭvī-shaman-marks.

  5. पूजिती-विकट-दौंद — पशू-सोंड-गजाची. Worship-vikaṭa-dauṇḍa-Gaja-trunk-claim. Worship thevikaṭa-dauṇḍa(the fierce-bellied / fearsome-paunched); paśu-sōṇḍa (animal-trunk) of Gaja (Gaṇeśa). (The criticism: even theGaṇeśa-pūjā, when severed-from-Viṣṇu-Śiva-priority and reduced to avillage-popular-deity, is criticized.)

  6. अशा-छंदें — वाट-चुकली — भाव-खोटा-भजन. Missed-path-false-bhāva-claim. By suchchanda(passion / mode), they have-missed-the-path; bhāva is khōṭa (false), bhajana (their bhajan-too).

  7. Tuka: Viṣṇu-Śivā-वांचुनि — देवा-भजती. Without-Viṣṇu-Śiva-they-bhajan-claim. Tuka says: withoutViṣṇuandŚiva; they bhajan (false) deva. No-Viṣṇu-no-Śiva-but-bhajan-(false)-deva.

[T]

For someone today

This verse is Tukaram's sharp critique of devotion that has drifted into showmanship. He describes people who trade steady faith in the great gods for a scattered chase after every minor deity and charm: cowries around the neck, an amulet knot, ash and vermilion, rattling drums, trance and biting teeth, until they are going door to door like stray dogs. His point is not that being poor or outwardly religious is bad; it is that devotion built on spectacle and superstition rather than genuine feeling is not real devotion at all. True bhakti has to be anchored, pointed steadily at something worthy of it, not scattered across whatever promises quick favor.

मराठी: ही अभंग तुकारामांची टीका आहे अशा भक्तीवर जी केवळ दिखाव्यात हरवली आहे. मोठ्या देवतांवरील ठाम श्रद्धा सोडून लोक छोट्या छोट्या देवांच्या मागे धावतात — गळ्यात कवड्या, हातात परडी, गाठी-ताईत, अंगावर शेंदूर, दात खाणे, सटवीचा जेंगट वाजवणे — आणि शेवटी दारोदार भटकणाऱ्या कुत्र्यांसारखे होतात. तुकारामांचा मुद्दा असा नाही की गरीब असणे किंवा बाह्यतः धार्मिक दिसणे वाईट आहे; तर हे की दिखावा आणि अंधश्रद्धेवर उभी असलेली भक्ती खरी भक्ती नसते. खरी भक्ती स्थिर असावी लागते, योग्य त्या ठिकाणी रोखलेली, क्षणिक फायद्यासाठी इकडे-तिकडे भरकटणारी नव्हे.

Where this applies

Bhakti anti-village-deity-polemic

Related verses