Abhanga 1300
For today: the Gangā doesn't see viṭāḷa — the same water is in your pot at home; the earth was never split into caste-stairs; without the agni (of bhakti), only the separated-seeds look different.
The verse
गंगा न देखे विटाळ । तें चि रांजणीं ही जळ ॥१॥ अल्पमहदा नव्हे सरी । विटाळ तो भेद धरी ॥ध्रु.॥ काय खंडिली भूमिका । वर्णा पायरिकां लोकां ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे अगीविण । बीजें वेगळीं तों भिन्न ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: Gangā does not see viṭāḷa — the same water (is) even in the rāñjana. Small-and-great — there is no equivalence — viṭāḷa keeps the bhēda. Has the bhūmi been split into varṇa-pāyaṟī by the lōka? Tuka says: without agni — seeds are (just) different separately.
मराठी: गंगा विटाळ पहात नाहीं — तेंच जळ — रांजणीं-हि (पाण्याच्या भांड्यांत) तेंच. अल्प-महदाची सरी (बरोबरी) नव्हे — विटाळ-च भेद धरतो. भूमिका (पृथ्वी) कशी खंडित (वेगळी) झाली — वर्णानें — पायरीं-पायरीं — लोकांकडून? Tukā म्हणे — अगीविण (अग्निशिवाय) — बीजें वेगळीं असून — भिन्न-च.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| गंगा न देखे विटाळ | "Gangā does not see viṭāḷa (impurity)" |
| तें चि रांजणीं ही जळ | "the very same water (jaḷa) — even in the rāñjana (household water-pot)" |
| अल्पमहदा नव्हे सरी | "small-and-great — there is no sarī (equivalence)" |
| विटाळ तो भेद धरी | "viṭāḷa — keeps (dharī) the bhēda" |
| काय खंडिली भूमिका | "has the bhūmi (earth) been khaṇḍilī (split / divided)?" |
| वर्णा पायरिकां लोकां | "by the lōka — into varṇa pāyaṟī (caste-steps)?" |
| तुका म्हणे अगीविण | "Tuka says — without agni" |
| बीजें वेगळीं तों भिन्न | "seeds are different separately (bījē vēgaḷīm — bhinna)" |
What it means
Anti-caste-bhēda / anti-viṭāḷa abhang. The opening image is among Tukaram's most luminous: Gangā na dēkhē viṭāḷa — tēm chi rāñjanīm hī jaḷa — Gangā does not see viṭāḷa — the same water is in the household rāñjana. The Gangā doesn't refuse to be seen-in or sat-on by anyone; that very water is also in the household water-pot. Water is water; viṭāḷa (the ritual-pollution category) is a human imposition.
The middle observation: alpa-mahadā navhē sarī — viṭāḷa tō bhēda dharī — small-and-great are not equivalent (in caste-thinking) — but it's the viṭāḷa-concept itself that holds the bhēda. Without the viṭāḷa-concept, there's no inequality. Viṭāḷa generates bhēda*, not the other way around.
The rhetorical question: kāya khaṇḍilī bhūmikā — varṇā pāyarikām lōkām? — has the bhūmi (the earth itself) been khaṇḍilī (split) into varṇa-pāyaṟī (caste-steps) by people? The bhūmi doesn't have caste-steps cut into it; only people impose them.
The closing image is striking: agīviṇa bījē vēgaḷīm tōm bhinna — without agni, seeds are just different separately. Different seeds are bhinna (different) only when separated. With agni (fire / cooking / ripening), they all become the same — the same kind of food, the same flesh-and-blood. Agni is the universalizing principle that erases bhēda. (Implicit: bhakti / nāma is the agni that erases caste-bhēda.)
This is among Tukaram's most foundational anti-caste-orthodoxy abhangs.
[T]
For someone today
For today: the Gangā doesn't see viṭāḷa — the same water is in your pot at home; the earth was never split into caste-stairs; without the agni (of bhakti), only the separated-seeds look different.
Where this applies
- Gangā-doesn't-see-viṭāḷa.* Gangā-na-dēkhē-viṭāḷa.
- Same-water-at-home.* Tēm-chi-rāñjanīm-hī-jaḷa.
- Viṭāḷa-creates-bhēda.* Viṭāḷa-tō-bhēda-dharī.
- Earth-not-split-into-caste-steps.* Bhūmikā-na-khaṇḍilī.
- Without-agni-seeds-are-just-different.* Agīviṇa-bījē-bhinna.