Abhanga 1209
English: Kali-yuga's "sādhakas" — theirs is the long pipe of the gurguḍī (hookah).
The verse
साधक जाले कळी । गुरुगुडीची लांब नळी ॥१॥ पचीं पडे मद्यपान । भांगभुर्का हें साधन ॥ध्रु.॥ अभेदाचें पाठांतर । अति विषयीं पडिभर ॥२॥ चेल्यांचा सुकाळ । पिंड दंड भंगपाळ ॥३॥ सेवा मानधन । बरे इच्छेनें संपन्न ॥४॥ सोंगाच्या नरकाडी । तुका बोडोनियां सोडी ॥५॥
Literal translation
English: Kali-yuga's "sādhakas" — theirs is the long pipe of the gurguḍī (hookah). They've fallen into wine-drinking; bhānga-puffs are their sādhana. They have abhēda (non-duality) memorized — but they are heavily-soaked in viṣayas. Abundance of disciples; (yet they are) broken-body-and-staff sham-keepers. Sated with their own wishes — service, honor, money. (These) costume-folk are hell-bound — Tuka shaves them and discards them.
मराठी: कलियुगाचे "साधक" — गुरुगुडी (हुक्का)ची लांब नळी. मद्यपानांत बुडाले — भांगभुर्का हाच त्यांचा साधन. अभेदाचें पाठांतर — पण अति विषयांत बुडलेले. चेल्यांचा सुकाळ — पण पिंड-दंड-भंग-पाळ (देहसाधनेचा भंग केलेले ढोंग). सेवा-मानधन — आपल्या इच्छेनें संपन्न. हे सोंगाच्या (नाटकी) — नरकगाम्यांना — Tukā बोडून सोडतो.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| साधक जाले कळी | "the sādhakas of Kali-yuga have become" |
| गुरुगुडीची लांब नळी | "(theirs is) the long pipe (lāmba naḷī) of the gurguḍī (hookah)" |
| पचीं पडे मद्यपान | "they have fallen into madya-pāna (wine-drinking)" |
| भांगभुर्का हें साधन | "bhānga-bhurkā (puff-of-bhānga) is their sādhana" |
| अभेदाचें पाठांतर | "they have abhēda (non-duality) by-rote (pāṭhāntara)" |
| अति विषयीं पडिभर | "but heavily-soaked (paḍibhara) in viṣayas" |
| चेल्यांचा सुकाळ | "abundance (sukāḷa) of disciples" |
| पिंड दंड भंगपाळ | "(they are) piṇḍa-daṇḍa-bhanga-pāḷa (broken-body-and-staff sham-keepers)" |
| सेवा मानधन | "service, honor, money" |
| बरे इच्छेनें संपन्न | "well-sated (sampanna) by their (own) wishes" |
| सोंगाच्या नरकाडी | "(these are) sōnga-folk hell-bound (naraka-ḍī)" |
| तुका बोडोनियां सोडी | "Tuka shaves them (bōḍa = shave the head publicly) and discards them" |
What it means
Tukaram's sharpest Kali-yuga fake-sādhaka critique. The portrait is unsparing: - Gurguḍī-cī lāmba naḷī — long hookah-pipe instead of guru-vāṇī (the play on guru-guḍī / gurguḍī — the hookah is a parody of the sacred guru-pipe of teaching) - Madyapāna, bhānga-bhurkā — wine and bhānga-puffs marketed as sādhana (likely targeting ulṭa-sādhana tantric pretenders) - Abhēdācē pāṭhāntara — Advaita non-duality memorized by-rote, while ati-viṣayīm paḍibhara (heavily-soaked in worldly objects) - Cēlyāmcā sukāḷa — disciple-collecting (the marker of guru-business) - Sēvā-mānadhana — service-honor-fees taken - Sōngācyā narakāḍī — these are pure costume (sōnga = stage-role), bound for hell
The closing image — Tukā bōḍōniyām sōḍī — Tuka publicly shaves their head (a traditional shaming/expulsion gesture) and lets them go. There is no recovery offered, only public exposure. Tuka is famously protective of the warkari tradition's authenticity; this is the same fierce defender who insists on angēm vhāvē tēm āpaṇa (1199).
[T]
For someone today
For today: modern-day-Kali-yuga has its own gurguḍī-pipes — hookahs, intoxicants, advaita-by-rote, disciple-counting, fee-taking. The marker of the genuine is the absence of all that.
Where this applies
- Kali-yuga's-fake-sādhaka.* Sādhaka-jālē-kaḷī.
- Hookah-pipe-not-guru-pipe.* Gurguḍī-lāmba-naḷī.
- Bhānga-puffs-as-sādhana.* Bhānga-bhurkā.
- Advaita-memorized-while-soaked-in-viṣayas.* Abhēdācē-pāṭhāntara — ati-viṣayīm-paḍibhara.
- Tuka-publicly-shaves-and-discards-them.* Bōḍōniyām-sōḍī.