Abhanga 830
Someone who shows up without real respect spoils the shared spirit for everyone, and a person who mocks sincere devotion only exposes and disgraces themselves.
The verse
नावडे तरि कां येतील हे भांड । घेउनियां तोंड काळें येथें ॥१॥ नासोनियां जाय रस यासंगती । खळाचे पंगती नारायणा ॥ध्रु.॥ तोंडावाटा नर्क काढी अमंगळ । मिष्टान्ना विटाळ करी सुनें ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे नाहीं संतांची मर्यादा । निंदे तो चि निंदा मायझवा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Not-like — why — come — bhāṇḍa — taking — tōṇḍa-kāḷē — here. Destroyed — goes — rasa — by-this-sangati — khaḷa — pangati — Nārāyaṇa. From-mouth — narka — pulls-out — amangaḷa — miṣṭānna — viṭāḷa — sunē. Tuka says: no — santa — maryādā — nindē — that-itself — nindā — māya-jhavā.
मराठी: नावडे तर का येतील हे भांड (फसवणारे) — काळ्या-तोंडानं इथे घेऊन?. रस ह्या-संगती-नं नष्ट होतो — खळांच्या पंगती-त, हे Nārāyaṇa. तोंडावाटा अमंगळ नर्क काढतो — सुनें मिष्टान्नाला विटाळ करतो. Tuka म्हणे: संतांची मर्यादा नाहीं — निंदे तो-च निंदा, माय-झवा.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| नावडे तरि कां येतील हे भांड | "not-like — why — come — bhāṇḍa (frauds)" |
| घेउनियां तोंड काळें येथें | "taking — tōṇḍa-kāḷē — here" |
| नासोनियां जाय रस यासंगती | "destroyed — goes — rasa — by-this-sangati" |
| खळाचे पंगती नारायणा | "khaḷa — pangati — Nārāyaṇa" |
| तोंडावाटा नर्क काढी अमंगळ | "from-mouth — narka — pulls-out — amangaḷa" |
| मिष्टान्ना विटाळ करी सुनें | "miṣṭānna — viṭāḷa — does — sunē" |
| नाहीं संतांची मर्यादा | "no — santa — maryādā" |
| निंदे तो चि निंदा मायझवा | "nindē — that-itself — nindā — māya-jhavā" |
What it means
A frauds-don't-come-with-blackened-face-rasa-destroyed-by-villains-pangati-mouth-spits-narka-dog-defiles-sweet-food-blamer-is-the-slander-māya-jhavā-curse abhang. Sharp-anti-slanderer-curse register. Four claims:
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नावडे-तर-का-येतील-भांड — काळ्या-तोंडानं — इथे. Frauds-don't-come-with-blackened-face-claim. If (you) don't-like (the saints / the bhakti-gathering), why come at-all, youbhāṇḍa (frauds, riff-raff, the-shameless)?—bringing your tōṇḍa-kāḷē (blackened-face — face-blackened-with-shame, or face-of-pollution) here?Don't come if you don't-like-it. (Sharp opening: a direct reproach to the slanderer-who-shows-up.)
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रस-नष्ट-यासंगती — खळ-पंगती — Nārāyaṇa. Rasa-destroyed-by-villains-pangati-claim. Therasa (juice, savor — of the bhakti-gathering) is destroyed by this-sangati (company);in the pangati (row of seated-eaters at a meal — the bhakti-feast-imagery) of the khaḷa (villains), O Nārāyaṇa. Villains-in-the-row-destroy-the-feast-rasa. (Powerful image: the bhakti-pangati is a feast; villains-in-the-row spoil the rasa of the whole-feast.)
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तोंडावाटा-नर्क — अमंगळ — मिष्टान्ना-विटाळ-सुनें. Mouth-spits-narka-dog-defiles-sweet-food-claim. From the mouth, (he) pulls-outnarka (filth-of-hell); amangaḷa (in-auspicious);the sunē (dog) defiles the miṣṭānna (sweet-food, the festive-dish).Mouth-spits-hell; dog-defiles-sweets. (Two-images: the mouth-of-the-slanderer pulls-outnarka; thesunē(dog) defiles themiṣṭānna — both are images of the slanderer-among-saints.)
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Tuka: संतांची-मर्यादा-नाहीं — निंदे-तो-च-निंदा-माय-झवा. Blamer-is-the-slander-māya-jhavā-claim. Tuka says: there is nomaryādā (respect-for-bounds, decorum-toward-the-saints);the one who nindē (blames-the-saints) is, itself, the nindā (the slander, the dishonor);māya-jhavā (the curse-word: mother-violator).The slanderer is itself the slander — and is cursed. (Tuka's sharp curse-closing:māya-jhavāis among the strongest-curse-words in Marathi; he uses it on those who blame-the-saints. The position: those-who-blame-the-saints haveno-maryādā, and the slander returns-on-them as the curse.)
[T]
For someone today
If you do not actually value something, do not show up and spoil it for the people who do. One insincere or hostile person in a gathering can ruin the shared savor of the whole group, the way a single bad guest sours a communal meal. Tukaram does not mince words here: someone who mocks or slanders people of genuine devotion is not exposing anyone else's flaw but their own, and the disgrace lands back on them. Real respect means either joining wholeheartedly or staying away.
मराठी: जर तुम्हाला एखादी गोष्ट खरोखर आवडत नसेल, तर तिथे जाऊन इतरांचा रसभंग करू नका. एका असंवेदनशील किंवा वैरभाव बाळगणाऱ्या व्यक्तीमुळे एकत्र जमलेल्या समुदायाचा सगळा गोडवा नाहीसा होऊ शकतो, जसा एक वाईट पाहुणा सामुदायिक जेवणाची चव बिघडवतो. तुकाराम इथे स्पष्टच बोलतात, जो कोणी प्रामाणिक भक्ती करणाऱ्यांची निंदा करतो, तो दुसऱ्याचा दोष उघड करत नसून स्वतःचाच अनादर आणि लाज ओढवून घेतो. खरा आदर म्हणजे एकतर मनापासून सामील व्हा, नाहीतर दूर राहा.
Where this applies
- When someone cynical or dismissive joins a group of people practicing something meaningful just to mock it
- When one negative person's presence changes the mood of an entire gathering or team
- When you're tempted to badmouth people who are sincerely trying to live well
- When you have to decide whether to attend something you secretly don't respect