Abhanga 1263
For today: the difference between paid entertainment-bhakti and a Hari-dāsa's heart-kīrtana is the difference between dōṣa-accumulation and special-puṇya — and play-acting the gōpī-stories for entertainment crosses into mātṛ-gamana-grade pāpa.
The verse
मोल देऊनियां सांटवावे दोष । नटाचे ते वेश पाहोनियां ॥१॥ हरिदासां मुखें हरिकथाकीर्तन । तेथें पुण्यें पुण्य विशेषता ॥ध्रु.॥ हरितील वस्त्रें गोपिकांच्या वेशें । पाप त्यासरिसें मात्रागमन ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे पाहा ऐसें जालें जन । सेवाक्तिहीन रसीं गोडी ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: Paying money, one accumulates dōṣa — looking at the naṭa's vēśa. In the Hari-dāsa's mouth — Hari-kathā-kīrtana — there puṇya is special-puṇya. (Those who) steal the vastras in the gōpikā-vēśa — that pāpa is like mātṛ-gamana. Tuka says: see — such people have become — sevā-bhakti-less, finding sweetness in (the dramatic) rasa.
मराठी: मोल देऊन — दोष-च सांठवायचा — नटाचा वेश पाहून. हरिदासाच्या मुखीं हरि-कथा-कीर्तन — तिथें पुण्य विशेष पुण्य. गोपिकेच्या वेशांत वस्त्र-हरण करायचें — हें पाप मातृ-गमना-सारिखें-च. Tukā म्हणे — असे झाले लोक — सेवा-भक्ति-हीन — (नाटकी) रसांत गोडी.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| मोल देऊनियां सांटवावे दोष | "paying mōla (money) — accumulate (sāṇṭavāvē) dōṣa" |
| नटाचे ते वेश पाहोनियां | "looking at the naṭa (actor)'s vēśa (costume / role)" |
| हरिदासां मुखें हरिकथाकीर्तन | "in the Hari-dāsa's mouth — Hari-kathā-kīrtana" |
| तेथें पुण्यें पुण्य विशेषता | "there — puṇya is special (viśeṣa) puṇya" |
| हरितील वस्त्रें गोपिकांच्या वेशें | "(those who) steal vastras in the gōpikā-vēśa (Kṛṣṇa-vastra-haraṇa as drama)" |
| पाप त्यासरिसें मात्रागमन | "the pāpa is like (sariśē) mātṛ-gamana (mother-incest)" |
| सेवाक्तिहीन रसीं गोडी | "sēvā-bhakti-less — gōḍī in (the dramatic) rasa" |
What it means
Anti-naṭa-vēśa (anti-dramatic-bhakti) abhang at maximum sharpness.
Tukaram makes the contrast precise:
| Mode | Result |
|---|---|
| Paying money to watch a naṭa wear bhakti-vēśa | Accumulates dōṣa |
| Hearing Hari-kathā-kīrtana in a Hari-dāsa's mouth | Special puṇya |
| Performing the gōpīs' clothes-stealing as drama-vēśa | Mātṛ-gamana-grade pāpa |
The middle case is the key concern. In Tuka's time, dramatic re-enactments of Kṛṣṇa-līlā were common — including the vastra-haraṇa episode where Kṛṣṇa hides on a tree with the gōpīs' clothes. Performed by saints in genuine bhāva, this is bhakti. Performed as naṭa-vēśa — actor's costume — for mōla (paid entertainment), Tuka equates it with mātṛ-gamana — incest with one's mother.
The reasoning: the gōpīs are bhakta-mothers; play-acting their disrobing for paying entertainment is treating bhakta-mothers as objects of titillation — which is the structural equivalent of mātṛ-gamana.
The closing — sēvā-bhakti-hīna rasīm gōḍī — those who lack sevā-bhakti finding gōḍī (sweetness) in (theatrical) rasa — names the failure: the rasa-aesthetic substituted for sevā-bhakti.
[T]
For someone today
For today: the difference between paid entertainment-bhakti and a Hari-dāsa's heart-kīrtana is the difference between dōṣa-accumulation and special-puṇya — and play-acting the gōpī-stories for entertainment crosses into mātṛ-gamana-grade pāpa.
Where this applies
- Pay-for-actor's-vēśa-dōṣa.* Mōla-naṭa-vēśa.
- Hari-dāsa's-mouth-special-puṇya.* Hari-dāsām-mukhē-puṇya-viśēṣa.
- Gōpikā-vēśa-vastra-haraṇa-mātṛ-gamana.* The strongest pāpa-equation.
- Sevā-less-finds-gōḍī-in-rasa.* Sēvāktihīna-rasīm-gōḍī.