Abhanga 792

Wisdom sold for petty gain and dressed in religious talk is not wisdom at all, just delusion in disguise.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A jñāna-for-onion-jana-deceived-pūjā-money-from-disciple-no-Brahma-just-viṣaya-bhrama abhang. Anti-fake-jñānī-for-money register. Three claims:

1. कांद्या-साठीं-जालं-jñāna — जन-नाडिलं — काम-क्रोध-buca-buci — व्यालीची-पुची-भुंके. Jñāna-for-onion-jana-deceived-claim. Jñāna (turned) for kāndyā-sāṭīm (for the sake of an onion — i.e., for a trivial-thing, for a meal);by-it, the jana (people) are nāḍilē (deceived);listen — kāma-krōdha-bucabuci (kāma-krōdha-snorting / sniffling);(he) bhunkē (barks) like pucī — a vyālī (a sheep-with-young / female-in-heat).Jñāna-sold-for-onion; lust-anger-snorting-and-barking-like-sheep-in-heat.

2. पूजे-लागीं-द्रव्य-मागे — शिष्यातें-काय-सांगे. Pūjā-money-from-disciple-claim. Asks fordravya(money) forpūjā (his own pūjā, his honor);what does he tell the śiṣya? (= what teaching can he-then-give?).Money-for-pūjā-no-real-teaching.

3. Tuka: कैंचें-Brahma — अवघा-bhrama-विषयांचा. No-Brahma-just-viṣaya-bhrama-claim. Tuka says: where Brahma? — all isbhrama(delusion) ofviṣaya. Not-Brahma-but-viṣaya-bhrama.

[T]

For someone today

Tukaram takes aim here at teachers who trade wisdom for petty gain, selling knowledge as if it were an onion at the market, and cheating people in the process. Underneath their spiritual talk he sees lust and anger snarling like an animal in heat, and when it comes time for worship they just ask their disciples for money, with nothing real to teach in return. His verdict is blunt: this has nothing to do with Brahman at all, it is only the delusion of chasing sense-objects dressed up in religious language. The lesson is to look past the performance and ask what a teacher actually gives you, and what they actually want from you.

मराठी: इथे तुकाराम अशा गुरूंवर कठोर टीका करतात जे ज्ञानाचा सौदा एखाद्या कांद्यासारखा करतात, म्हणजे क्षुल्लक फायद्यासाठी विकतात, आणि त्यातून लोकांना फसवतात. त्यांच्या अध्यात्मिक बोलण्यामागे काम-क्रोध लपलेला असतो, जो माजलेल्या जनावरासारखा गुरगुरतो; आणि पूजेच्या वेळी ते फक्त शिष्यांकडून पैसे मागतात, प्रत्यक्षात काहीच खरी शिकवण न देता. तुकारामांचा निर्णय स्पष्ट आहे — यात ब्रह्माचा काहीही संबंध नाही, हा फक्त विषयांच्या मागे धावण्याचा भ्रम आहे जो धार्मिक भाषेत गुंडाळलेला आहे. यातून हा धडा मिळतो की देखाव्यापलीकडे पाहून गुरू खरोखर काय देतो आणि तो तुमच्याकडून काय अपेक्षा ठेवतो हे तपासावे.

Where this applies

• Jñāna for onion. Cheap-sale.
• Pūjā-money. Disciples-fleeced.
• NoBrahma. Verdict.

Related verses

• Abhanga 4466 — Someone with little real knowledge but great pride who mocks good people and treats them a
• Abhanga 1478 — For today: the fake-guru gives takra to the disciple but reserves dugdha for himself as go
• Abhanga 1793 — A leader who destroys what genuinely nourishes people while dressing up harm as wisdom mus
• Abhanga 1878 — Worldly honor, status, and showy display are worth no more than pig's dung, so ask God to