Abhanga 1258

There are people who have money tucked away safely, yet still beg for pity, putting on a show of goodness to press others for sympathy. The fake devotion of a rascal, propped up by cunning, is nothing but dry, hollow show — and it earns nothing but blows. They toss the idol of God carelessly into a heap of dung and refuse, while showing off their worship somewhere else, on a pile of mere stones. Tuka says: these are just monkey tricks — the same shameless performances a prostitute uses to sell her trade.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

Anti-fake-bhakti abhang in Tuka's most caustic register. Four images of fake-bhakti:

1. Gāṇṭhōḷīsa dhana — bhākāvī karuṇā — with money already in the purse-knot, they beg for karuṇā (= public charity / sympathy). The hypocrisy of the well-off begging-for-pity.
2. Nāṭhēḷācī bhakti — kucarācē baḷa — kōraḍē vōngaḷa māra khāya — the rascal's bhakti and the cunning's strength — kōraḍē vōngaḷa (dry-revolting) gets a beating. Vōngaḷa = something gross / disgusting; the dry-revolting empty bhakti gets only blows.
3. Sāṇḍōvyāsī ghālī Devācī karaṇḍī — places the Deva's karaṇḍī (worship-basket with idol) into the sāṇḍōvī (cattle-dung-and-refuse pile) — and then vilhāḷa dhōṇḍī pūjā dāvī (shows pūjā-display to that mass of stones). The image is brutal: the deity-idol placed in a dung-heap by the worshiper's lack of devotion, while the public-show is offered to inanimate stones.
4. Mākaḍācē chanda — dhandadhanda sindaḷīcē — monkey-fancies — all the trade-fakes of a sindaḷī. Sindaḷī is a slang/coarse term for prostitute; the dhandadhanda (trades-and-trades) are her seductive performances.

This is sustained Tukaram bluntness — his way of stripping fake-bhakti of any reprieve.

[T]

For someone today

There are people who have money tucked away safely, yet still beg for pity, putting on a show of goodness to press others for sympathy. The fake devotion of a rascal, propped up by cunning, is nothing but dry, hollow show — and it earns nothing but blows. They toss the idol of God carelessly into a heap of dung and refuse, while showing off their worship somewhere else, on a pile of mere stones. Tuka says: these are just monkey tricks — the same shameless performances a prostitute uses to sell her trade.

मराठी: काही लोकांच्या गाठोळीत पैसा असूनही ते करुणा भाकतात, सज्जनतेचे सोंग करून इतरांची किव मागतात. लबाड माणसाची भक्ती, कावेबाजीच्या बळावर उभी असलेली, ही केवळ कोरडी, ओंगळ दिखावा असते — आणि तिच्या वाट्याला फक्त मार येतो. देवाची करंडी ते शेणाच्या ढिगाऱ्यात टाकतात, आणि दुसरीकडे नुसत्या धोंड्यांची पूजा दाखवत बसतात. तुका म्हणतात, हे सगळे माकडचाळे आहेत — जशा वेश्येच्या धंद्यातल्या निर्लज्ज करामती, तशाच या.

Where this applies

• When someone who clearly has enough still performs neediness to win sympathy or favors
• When you catch yourself going through the motions of prayer or ritual without any real feeling behind it
• When you notice a person's public displays of piety don't match how they actually treat what they claim to hold sacred
• When you are tempted to put on a show of devotion for others rather than practicing it honestly in private

Related verses

• Abhanga 4481 — Tukaram promises that sincerely calling on the Lord's name, knowingly or unknowingly, with
• Abhanga 4482 — Tukaram teaches that no ritual equals sincerely speaking the Lord's name, that self-center
• Abhanga 3902 — God himself takes joy in kirtana and walks alongside whoever sings his praise, as Narada's
• Abhanga 4273 — If your time, money, and attention flow easily to everything except God and genuine goodne