संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 826 of 4582

Abhanga 826

English: Avaguṇa — no-one — pratiṣṭhilē.

When no-one-has-given-prestige-to-faults; śiṣṭācāra is from-before — and you have to recognize this register
When don't-beat-drum-over-durbaḷa's-name; that's not truth — and you accept this image
When madya and madhu share a syllable but you shouldn't drink on that basis — and you allow this distinction

The verse

अवगुण तों कोणीं नाहीं प्रतिष्ठिले । मागें होत आले शिष्टाचार ॥१॥ दुर्बळाच्या नांवें पिटावा डांगोरा । हा तों नव्हे बरा सत्यवाद ॥ध्रु.॥ मद्य आणि मधु एकरासी नांवें । तरि कां तें खावें आधारें त्या ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे माझा उच्छिष्ट प्रसाद । निवडी भेदाभेद वृष्टीन्यायें ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: Avaguṇa — no-one — pratiṣṭhilē. Śiṣṭācāra — from-before — has-come. Durbaḷa's — name — ḍāngōrā — beaten. This — not — satya-vāda. Madya — madhu — eka-rāsī — in-name. Why — drunk — on-that-ādhāra. Tuka says: my — ucchiṣṭa-prasāda — distinguishes — bhēdā-bhēda — by-vṛṣṭi-nyāya.

मराठी: अवगुणाला कोणी प्रतिष्ठा दिली नाही — शिष्टाचार पासून-च चालू आहे. दुर्बळाच्या नावानं डांगोरा पिटावा — हा बरा सत्यवाद नव्हे. मद्य आणि मधु एक-राशी नांवें (नांव "मधु" मध्ये) — तरि का त्याच्या आधारें (मद्य) खावें?. Tuka म्हणे: माझा उच्छिष्ट-प्रसाद — वृष्टि-न्यायें भेदा-भेद निवडी.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
अवगुण तों कोणीं नाहीं प्रतिष्ठिले "avaguṇa — no-one — pratiṣṭhilē"
मागें होत आले शिष्टाचार "śiṣṭācāra — from-before — has-come"
दुर्बळाच्या नांवें पिटावा डांगोरा "durbaḷa's — name — ḍāngōrā (drum) — beat"
हा तों नव्हे बरा सत्यवाद "this — not — good — satya-vāda"
मद्य आणि मधु एकरासी नांवें "madya — madhu — eka-rāsī (one-class) — in-name"
तरि कां तें खावें आधारें त्या "but — why — should-be-drunk — on-that — ādhāra"
माझा उच्छिष्ट प्रसाद "my — ucchiṣṭa — prasāda"
निवडी भेदाभेद वृष्टीन्यायें "distinguishes — bhēdā-bhēda — by-vṛṣṭi-nyāya"

What it means

A no-prestige-to-avaguṇa-śiṣṭācāra-from-before-don't-beat-drum-over-durbaḷa-name-not-truth-madya-vs-madhu-share-syllable-but-don't-drink-on-that-basis-Tuka's-ucchiṣṭa-prasāda-distinguishes-bhēdā-bhēda-by-rain-jurisprudence abhang. Anti-pākhāṇḍa-distinguishing-judgment register. Four claims:

  1. अवगुण-कोणी-प्रतिष्ठिलें-नाहीं — शिष्टाचार-मागें-चालू-आहे. No-prestige-to-avaguṇa-claim. No-one (in the cultured-tradition) has pratiṣṭhilē (given-formal-honor / made-respectable) to avaguṇa (faults, vices); the śiṣṭācāra (the ācāra of the śiṣṭa = the rules-of-the-cultured-and-restrained) has come down māgēm (from before, from earlier-times, from the tradition). Tradition has never honored faults. (Anti-pākhāṇḍa premise: cult-leaders who honor faults — say, drinking-wine-as-prasāda — are inventing, not following.)

  2. दुर्बळाच्या-नावें-डांगोरा-पिटावा — हा-नव्हे-बरा-सत्य-वाद. Don't-beat-drum-over-durbaḷa's-name-claim. To beat the ḍāngōrā (the public-announcement-drum, the loud-public-proclamation) in the name of the durbaḷa (the weak, the vulnerable, the helpless) — this is navhē barā satya-vāda (not a good truth-claim, not a sound-truth-statement). Don't loudly-proclaim by exploiting the helpless. (Targeting cult-leaders who weaponize the durbaḷa — claiming to speak-for-them while doing things in their name that harm them.)

  3. मद्य-मधु-एक-राशी-नांवें — परि-त्या-आधारें-कां-खावें?. Madya-vs-madhu-share-syllable-but-don't-drink-claim. Madya (intoxicating-liquor, alcohol) and madhu (honey) are eka-rāsī nāmvēm (in-the-same-class-of-name — i.e., they share the syllable madhu / both can be called madhu in some-Sanskrit-usages — madhu means sweet but also in some contexts liquor); but-then, on-that-ādhāra (basis), why should one drink (alcohol)? Sharing-a-name doesn't justify identity-of-substance. (Vivid anti-pākhāṇḍa-argument: cult-leaders who justify alcohol-drinking by quoting Sanskrit words for honey* are committing this fallacy. Tuka exposes the equivocation.)

  4. Tuka: माझा-उच्छिष्ट-प्रसाद — वृष्टि-न्यायें-भेदा-भेद-निवडी. Ucchiṣṭa-prasāda-distinguishes-by-rain-jurisprudence-claim. Tuka says: my ucchiṣṭa-prasāda (literally: leftover-from-eating, but devotionally: the prasāda — what remains after the deity has-partaken — the bhakta's-share) — distinguishes *bhēdā-bhēda (difference-and-non-difference, the discrimination-of-distinctions) by the vṛṣṭi-nyāya (the rain-jurisprudence). Rain-jurisprudence-distinguishes-bhēdā-bhēda. (The vṛṣṭi-nyāya — the rain falls-equally on all, but each plant absorbs and-yields-differently according-to-its-nature; the same rain becomes neem-bitterness in-the-neem and mango-sweetness in-the-mango. Tuka's ucchiṣṭa-prasāda — his offered-word — works the same way: the vacana falls-on-all, but the bhēdā-bhēda (which-is-rightly-honored-vs-wrongly-honored, avaguṇa vs guṇa) is distinguished by this rain-jurisprudence — i.e., the prasāda itself sorts the receivers.)

[T]

For someone today

This abhang names the anti-pākhāṇḍa-distinguishing-judgment register:

  1. No-one has given prestige to faults; śiṣṭācāra is from-before. No-prestige.

  2. Don't beat the drum over the durbaḷa's name; that's not truth. Don't-exploit-weak.

  3. Madya and madhu share a syllable — but don't drink on that basis. Reject-equivocation.

  4. My ucchiṣṭa-prasāda distinguishes bhēdā-bhēda by the rain-jurisprudence. Rain-distinguishes.

For today: no-one in the cultured-tradition has pratiṣṭhilē faults — the śiṣṭācāra has been consistent from-before; to beat the ḍāngōrā in the durbaḷa's name (i.e., to exploit the helpless-as-cover) is not a satya-vāda; just because madya and madhu share a syllable doesn't justify drinking (the equivocation-fallacy is rejected); Tuka's ucchiṣṭa-prasāda (his-offered-word) distinguishes bhēdā-bhēda by the vṛṣṭi-nyāya — the rain-falls-equally, but the receivers reveal-themselves by what they yield.

This abhang is Tukaram's anti-pākhāṇḍa-distinguishing-judgment-by-rain-jurisprudence register — one of the most-precise polemical-judgment statements. Compare 0716 anti-pākhāṇḍa-Tuka-rejects-cult-leaders (Tuka's mudra); same anti-pākhāṇḍa-position but here organized around madya-vs-madhu equivocation and vṛṣṭi-nyāya distinguishing. The nivaḍī bhēdā-bhēda vṛṣṭi-nyāyēm (rain-jurisprudence distinguishes bhēdā-bhēda) is the precise judgment-image*.

मराठी: ही ओवी anti-pākhāṇḍa-distinguishing-judgment register नाव सांगते:

  1. अवगुण-प्रतिष्ठा-नाहीं; शिष्टाचार-मागून. No-prestige.

  2. दुर्बळ-नावें-डांगोरा-नको. Don't-exploit-weak.

  3. मद्य-मधु-एक-नांव; आधारें-नको. Reject-equivocation.

  4. उच्छिष्ट-प्रसाद; वृष्टि-न्यायें-भेद. Rain-distinguishes.

आज: Cultured-tradition-त कोणी avaguṇa-ला प्रतिष्ठा दिली नाही — śiṣṭācāra मागून-च consistent आहे; Durbaḷa-च्या-नावानं ḍāngōrā पिटणं — हा satya-vāda नव्हे; Madya आणि madhu एक-syllable share करतात — पण त्या-ādhāra-नं (alcohol) पिऊं नये; Tuka-च्या ucchiṣṭa-prasāda — vṛṣṭi-nyāya-नं bhēdā-bhēda निवडतो — पाऊस-समान-पडतो, पण receivers त्यांच्या-yield-नं स्वतःला reveal करतात.

Tukaram च-anti-pākhāṇḍa-distinguishing-judgment-by-rain-jurisprudence-register — Most-precise polemical-judgment statements पैकी एक. 0716 anti-pākhāṇḍa-Tuka-rejects-cult-leaders (Tuka mudra) compare; तीच anti-pākhāṇḍa-position पण इथे madya-vs-madhu equivocation आणि vṛṣṭi-nyāya distinguishing च्या मार्गाने. Nivaḍī bhēdā-bhēda vṛṣṭi-nyāyēm precise judgment-image.

Where this applies

Non-dual / Advaita Name Bhakti

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