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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 810 of 4582

Abhanga 810

When your own perception is inflamed or diseased, even the sweetest, healthiest things in life will taste bitter or wrong to you.

When jvara makes the body see milk as poison — and you have to recognize this register
When paramārtha distanced — sannipāta has set in — and you accept this image
When jaundice-eye sees moon yellow; alcohol-lover doesn't like butter — and you receive this final image

The verse

जेवीं नवज्वरें तापलें शरीर । लागे तया क्षीर विषातुल्य ॥१॥ तेवीं परमार्थ जीहीं दुराविला । तयालागीं झाला सन्निपात ॥ध्रु.॥ कामिनी जयाच्या जाहाली नेत्रासी । देखी तो चंद्रासी पीतवर्ण ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे मद्यपानाची आवडी । न रुचे त्या गोडी नवनीताची ॥३॥

Literal translation

Nava-jvara — tāpalē śarīra — kṣīra — viṣā-tulya. Paramārtha — distanced — sannipāta. Kāminī — nētra — moon — pīta-varṇa. Tuka says: madya-pāna — āvaḍī — nava-nīta-gōḍī — not appeal.

मराठी: जेवीं नव-ज्वरें तापलें शरीर — लागे तया क्षीर विषा-तुल्य. तेवीं परमार्थ जीहीं दुराविला — तया-लागीं झाला सन्निपात. कामिनी जयाच्या जाहाली नेत्रासी — देखी तो चंद्रासी पीत-वर्ण. Tuka म्हणे: मद्य-पानाची आवडी — न रुचे त्या गोडी नव-नीताची.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
नवज्वरें तापलें शरीर "nava-jvara — tāpalē śarīra"
लागे तया क्षीर विषातुल्य "kṣīra — viṣā-tulya"
परमार्थ जीहीं दुराविला "paramārtha — distanced"
तयालागीं झाला सन्निपात "sannipāta"
कामिनी जयाच्या नेत्रासी "kāminī — nētra"
देखी तो चंद्रासी पीतवर्ण "moon — pīta-varṇa"
मद्यपानाची आवडी "madya-pāna — āvaḍī"
न रुचे त्या गोडी नवनीताची "nava-nīta-gōḍī — not appeal"

What it means

A jvara-milk-poison-paramārtha-distanced-sannipāta-jaundice-moon-yellow-alcohol-no-butter-sweetness abhang. Disease-of-perception register. Three claims:

  1. Nava-ज्वर-तापलं-शरीर — क्षीर-विष-तुल्य — परमार्थ-दुराविला — सन्निपात. Jvara-paramārtha-sannipāta-claim. Just as a body inflamed bynava-jvara(new-fever) — milk seemsviṣā-tulya(poison-equivalent); likewise, those who-have-distancedparamārtha; for them,sannipāta(the delirium that-comes-with-tridoṣa-imbalance) has-set-in. Distancing-paramārtha-causes-sannipāta-which-makes-milk-seem-poison.

  2. Kāminī-नेत्र — चंद्र-पीत-वर्ण. Jaundice-eye-moon-yellow-claim. One whosenētrahave-becomekāminī(jaundiced — kāminī here meanskāmīla, jaundice); sees the moon aspīta-varṇa(yellow). Jaundice-eye-yellows-the-moon.

  3. Tuka: मद्य-पान-आवडी — नव-नीत-गोडी-न-रुचे. Alcohol-lover-no-butter-sweetness-claim. Tuka says: one who hasmadya-pāna āvaḍī(love-of-alcohol); thegōḍīofnava-nīta(fresh-butter) doesn't appeal. Alcohol-lover-can't-taste-butter.

The thematic-spine: the diseased-perception (paramārtha-distancing) makes-good-things-seem-bad. Just as fever-makes-milk-poison, paramārtha-distancing makes paramārtha-seem-poison. Just as jaundice-eyes see-moon-yellow, distorted-perception sees-paramārtha-distorted. Just as alcohol-lover-can't-taste-butter, the abhakta can't-taste paramārtha-gōḍī.

[T]

For someone today

This abhang names the diseased-perception pattern:

  1. A raging fever makes milk taste like poison; those who have distanced themselves from the true path fall into that same feverish delirium. Fever and distance from the true path.

  2. Jaundiced eyes see the moon as yellow. The image of jaundice.

  3. The one who loves drinking wine no longer enjoys the sweetness of fresh butter. The image of drink.

For today: the non-devotee's distancing from the true path is itself a kind of disease, like fever, jaundice, or addiction to drink; milk tastes like poison, the moon looks yellow, butter tastes flat — the diseased way of seeing distorts what is actually good. The lesson is not to blame the sweetness of the true path itself; the fault lies in the sick perception of the one who has turned away from it.

This abhang is the third in a cluster of related images (0808-810) that Tukaram uses against non-devotees. Compare 0808-809, where the same argument against non-devotees appears using animal images instead of disease images. "He no longer enjoys the sweetness of fresh butter" is the precise claim here: perception itself has been distorted by disease.

मराठी: ही ओवी विकृत-दृष्टीचा नमुना सांगते:

  1. प्रखर तापाने शरीर फणफणले की दूधही विषासारखे लागते; परमार्थापासून दूर गेलेल्यांनाही तशीच झिंग येते. ताप आणि परमार्थापासून दुरावा.

  2. कावीळ झालेल्या डोळ्यांना चंद्रही पिवळा दिसतो. काविळीची प्रतिमा.

  3. मद्यपानाची आवड असणाऱ्याला ताज्या लोण्याची गोडी रुचत नाही. मद्याची प्रतिमा.

आजसाठी: अभक्ताचे परमार्थापासून दुरावणे हाच एक प्रकारचा रोग आहे, तापासारखा, काविळीसारखा, किंवा मद्यव्यसनासारखा; दूध विषासारखे लागते, चंद्र पिवळा दिसतो, लोणी बेचव लागते — विकृत दृष्टी चांगल्या गोष्टीलाही विकृत करते. धडा हा की परमार्थाच्या गोडीलाच दोष देऊ नये; दोष त्या माणसाच्या आजारी दृष्टीत आहे, ज्याने परमार्थापासून तोंड फिरवले आहे.

ही ओवी अभक्तांविरुद्ध तुकारामांच्या संबंधित प्रतिमांच्या मालिकेतील (०८०८-८१०) तिसरी ओवी आहे. ओवी क्र. ०८०८-०८०९ शी तुलना करता येईल — तिथे हाच अभक्त-विरोधी युक्तिवाद प्राणी-प्रतिमांतून मांडला आहे. "त्याला ताज्या लोण्याची गोडी रुचत नाही" हाच इथला नेमका दावा आहे — रोगाने दृष्टीच विकृत झाली आहे.

Where this applies

Bhakti jaundice-eyes-see-moon-yellow disease-of-perception

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