Abhanga 853
Putting on a show of piety may win praise and fill your reputation, but real closeness to God is blocked by your own pride, unchecked cravings, and fear of what others think.
The verse
दंभें कीर्ति पोट भरे मानी जन । स्वहित कारण नव्हे कांहीं ॥१॥ अंतरती तुझे पाय मज दुरी । धरितां हे थोरी जाणिवेची ॥ध्रु.॥ पिंडाच्या पाळणें धांवती विकार । मज दावेदार मजमाजी ॥२॥ कैसा करूं घात आपुला आपण । धरूनि गुमान लोकलाज ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे मज दावी तो सोहोळा । देखें पाय डोळां तुझे देवा ॥४॥
Literal translation
Dambha — kīrti pōṭa — māna — jana. Sva-hita — not — anything. Stay-far — Your-pāya — me — durī. Holding — thōrī — jāṇīva. Piṇḍa — pāḷaṇa — run — vikāra. Dāvēdāra — within-me. How — ghāta — myself-by-myself. Holding — gumāna — lōka-lāja. Tuka says: show — sōhōḷā — see — pāya — ḍōḷā — Your — Dēva.
मराठी: दंभानं कीर्ति-पोट भरे — जन मानी देती — पण स्व-हिताचं कारण नव्हे काहीं. तुझे पाय मज दुरी अंतरती — ही जाणिवेची थोरी धरितां. पिंडाच्या पाळणानं विकार धांवती — माझ्यामाजीं माझेच दावेदार. कैसा करूं घात आपुला आपण — लोक-लाजेचं गुमान धरूनि?. Tuka म्हणे: मज तो सोहळा दावी — तुझे पाय डोळां देखें, देवा.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| दंभें कीर्ति पोट भरे मानी जन | "dambha — kīrti pōṭa — māna — jana" |
| स्वहित कारण नव्हे कांहीं | "sva-hita — kāraṇa — not — anything" |
| अंतरती तुझे पाय मज दुरी | "stay-far — Your-feet — me — durī" |
| धरितां हे थोरी जाणिवेची | "holding — thōrī — jāṇīva" |
| पिंडाच्या पाळणें धांवती विकार | "piṇḍa — pāḷaṇa — run — vikāra" |
| मज दावेदार मजमाजी | "me — dāvēdāra — within-me" |
| कैसा करूं घात आपुला आपण | "how — ghāta — myself-by-myself" |
| धरूनि गुमान लोकलाज | "holding — gumāna — lōka-lāja" |
| मज दावी तो सोहोळा | "me — show — sōhōḷā" |
| देखें पाय डोळां तुझे देवा | "see — pāya — ḍōḷā — Your — Dēva" |
What it means
A by-dambha-kīrti-belly-jana-honor-but-not-sva-hita-feet-stay-far-by-thorī-of-jāṇīva-piṇḍa-vikāras-claimants-against-me-self-ruin-by-lōka-lāja-show-festivity-let-me-see-feet abhang. Dambha-warning-and-feet-petition register. Five claims:
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दंभें-कीर्ति-पोट-भरे — जन-मानी — स्व-हित-कारण-नव्हे. Dambha-fills-kīrti-belly-but-not-sva-hita-claim. Bydambha (hypocritical-show, religious-pretense), kīrti and the pōṭa fill;janagivemāna (honor);(but) it is not the kāraṇa of sva-hita. Dambha-fills-belly-but-doesn't-cause-self-good. (Bracing self-warning to-religious-leaders: hypocritical-show fills-fame-and-belly but doesn't-help the sva-hita.)
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तुझे-पाय-दुरी — जाणिवेची-थोरी-धरितां. Your-feet-stay-far-by-jāṇīva-claim. Yourpāyastaydurī (far) from me;by holding this thōrī of jāṇīva (the conceit-of-being-a-knower).Your-feet-receded-by-my-conceit-of-knowing. (Self-diagnosis: it is thejāṇīva-thōrī(the pride-of-knowing-things) that keeps Your feetdurī.)
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पिंडाच्या-पाळणें-वीकार — मजमाजी-दावेदार. Piṇḍa-nurture-runs-vikāras-as-claimants-claim. In thepiṇḍa'spāḷaṇa (the body's-nurture), the vikāra (passions) run;they are dāvēdāra (claimants — claimants-on-me, those-who-have-a-legal-claim, the-opponents-in-court) within-me, against-me.Body-nurture-grows-passions-as-internal-litigants.
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कैसा-घात-आपुला-आपण — गुमान-लोक-लाजेचं. Self-ruin-by-lōka-lāja-claim. How should I doghāta of āpulā āpaṇa — holding the gumāna (the false-pride / public-fear) of lōka-lāja (fear-of-the-public's-eye)?Self-ruin-by-public-image-pride. (Thelōka-lāja-gumāna — the fear-of-public-shame, the public-image-management — is what causes-the-self-ruin.)
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Tuka: सोहळा-दावी — तुझे-पाय-डोळां. Show-festivity-let-me-see-feet-claim. Tuka says: show me thatsōhōḷā (festivity);let me dēkhē Your pāya with my ḍōḷā, Dēvā..Show-the-festivity-let-me-see-feet-with-eyes. (Closing-petition: show me thesōhōḷā — let me see-Your-feet-with-my-eyes.)
[T]
For someone today
Tukaram turns this abhang into honest self-examination. He notices that putting on a show of piety can fill his reputation and even his stomach, and people will praise him for it, but none of that actually does him any real good inside. He admits that what keeps God's feet distant from him is his own pride in thinking he already knows and understands. He notices that simply feeding and pampering the body lets his own cravings and passions run wild, turning into something like opponents standing against him from within. He asks himself why he should go on ruining his own life just to protect his image in front of other people. In the end he stops analyzing and simply asks God for one thing, to let him see those feet with his own eyes.
मराठी: या अभंगात तुकाराम स्वतःची प्रामाणिक चिकित्सा करतात. ते ओळखतात की धार्मिकतेचा दिखावा केल्याने कीर्ती आणि पोट दोन्ही भरतं, लोक मानही देतात, पण त्यातून खरं स्वहित काहीच साधत नाही. आपल्या पायांना दुरावणारं कारण म्हणजे आपलाच जाणिवेचा गर्व, आपल्याला सगळं कळतं असा अहंकार, हे ते कबूल करतात. शरीराचे लाड पुरवत गेल्याने आतल्या वासना आणि विकार मोकाट सुटतात, आणि तेच आतून आपल्याविरुद्ध दावेदारासारखे उभे राहतात, हेही ते ओळखतात. लोकलाजेखातर, इतरांसमोरच्या प्रतिमेखातर स्वतःचाच घात का करावा, असा प्रश्न ते स्वतःला विचारतात. शेवटी विश्लेषण थांबवून ते फक्त एकच मागणं करतात, आपल्या डोळ्यांनी देवाचे पाय पाहू दे.
Where this applies
- Dambha-empty. Hypocrisy.
- Conceit-blocks. Jāṇīva-thōrī.
- Internal-litigants. Vikāras.
- Public-image-ruin. Lōka-lāja.
- Show-feet. Petition.