Abhanga 1280

Wearing the outer signs of renunciation while secretly craving money and comfort makes devotion hollow, and Tukaram says such a mismatch keeps a person from ever truly meeting God.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

Anti-fake-sannyāsi abhang at maximum sharpness. Tukaram's portrait of the fake-renunciate is unsparing and detailed:

1. Āvaḍīcyā matē karitī bhajana — bhajan done according to (their own) preference, not according to Hari's prescription. Then they say Nārāyaṇa did the bhōga — i.e., Hari himself enjoyed (so I am free) — a misuse of advaita-doctrine to justify self-indulgence.

2. Avaghā Deva mhaṇē... arthāsāṭīm ḍōya phōḍūm pāhē — say all is Deva — what is separate? (a parrot-Advaita-line) — but for artha (money) they're ready to break someone's head. The doctrine is in the mouth, the violence is in the act.

3. Lājē kamaṇḍala dharitām — bhōpaḷā — the genuine sannyāsi's kamaṇḍalu (water-pot) feels lajja (shame) at being held by such a person — so they hold a bhōpaḷā (= pumpkin / gourd / squash-pot) instead. The bhōpaḷā is the fake sannyāsi's shorthand-pot — a hollowed pumpkin pretending to be the holy kamaṇḍalu.

4. Thīgaḷa prāvaraṇa, śālā gaḍavē, dhātu-dravya-icchā cittīm — naiśvarya bōlatī avaghē mukhē — patched outer cloth (for show), but with hidden śawls and coin-purses; icchā for metal-money in citta — but the mouth speaks naiśvarya (lordlessness, asceticism).

The verdict: yāmsa Devā nāhīm bhēṭī — kalpa-kōṭi janma ghētām — even with crore-kalpas of janma, no bhēṭī of Deva.

[T]

For someone today

Tukaram sketches a sharp portrait of the fake renunciate: someone who worships however suits them and then excuses their indulgence by saying God enjoyed it through them anyway. They recite that everything is divine and nothing is separate, yet the moment money is at stake they're ready to fight and even hurt someone. Their outer signs are borrowed and hollow, a pumpkin gourd standing in for the real ascetic's water pot, patched robes hiding a real hunger for coin and comfort, while their mouth keeps talking about renouncing the world. Tukaram's verdict is blunt: people like this never truly meet God, no matter how many lifetimes they live, because their spiritual talk and their actual desires point in opposite directions.

मराठी: तुकाराम एका ढोंगी संन्याशाचे परखड चित्र रेखाटतात: जो आपल्याला वाटेल तसे भजन करतो आणि मग म्हणतो की भोग तर नारायणानेच घेतला, म्हणून आपली चूक नाही. तो सगळे काही देवच आहे, वेगळे काही नाही असे बोलतो, पण पैशासाठी मात्र भांडायला आणि दुसऱ्याचे डोके फोडायलाही तयार होतो. त्याची बाह्य चिन्हे उसनी आणि पोकळ असतात, खऱ्या कमंडलूऐवजी भोपळा धरलेला, चिंध्यांची वस्त्रे घातलेली पण आतून पैसा आणि सुखाची तीव्र इच्छा, आणि तोंडाने मात्र सतत त्यागाच्या गोष्टी. तुकारामांचा निकाल स्पष्ट आहे: अशा लोकांना कितीही जन्म घेतले तरी देवाची खरी भेट कधीच होत नाही, कारण त्यांचे बोलणे आणि त्यांची खरी इच्छा वेगवेगळ्या दिशेला जातात.

Where this applies

• When you catch yourself using spiritual language to excuse an indulgence you actually just wanted
• When you say everything is one and equal, yet still fight fiercely to protect your own money or status
• When you notice someone's outer religious display doesn't match the greed or comfort they secretly pursue
• When you wonder why your own devotion feels hollow despite years of outward practice

Related verses

• Abhanga 2467 — What looks like your whole world, like a fig to the insect living inside it, is only a tin
• 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 4497 — Tukaram describes a life so soaked in devotion that Krishna's presence fills every ordinar