Abhanga 1316
For today: the vaiṣṇava cobbler is greater than the abhakta brāhmaṇa; bhakti makes lineage pure; let fire catch caste-greatness.
The verse
अभक्त ब्राम्हण जळो त्याचें तोंड । काय त्यासी रांड प्रसवली ॥१॥ वैष्णव चांभार धन्य त्याची माता । शुद्ध उभयतां कुळ याती ॥ध्रु.॥ ऐसा हा निवाडा जालासे पुराणीं । नव्हे माझी वाणी पदरींची ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे आगी लागो थोरपणा । दृष्टी त्या दुर्जना न पडो माझी ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: Let the abhakta brāhmaṇa's mouth burn — was a rāṇḍa his mother? The vaiṣṇava cāmbhāra — blessed his mother — both lineage and caste pure. This judgment has been made in the purāṇas — it is not my own vāṇī. Tuka says: let fire catch (caste-)greatness — let my eye not fall on that durjana.
मराठी: अभक्त ब्राम्हणाचें तोंड जळो — काय रांड त्याची माता? — असें त्यानें म्हणावेसें-च होतें. वैष्णव चांभार — धन्य त्याची माता — उभयतां कुळ-याति शुद्ध. हा निवाडा पुराणींच झालेला — माझी पदरींची वाणी नव्हे. Tukā म्हणे — थोरपणा (जातीचा गर्व) — आग लागो — त्या दुर्जनावर माझी दृष्टि न पडो.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अभक्त ब्राम्हण जळो त्याचें तोंड | "let the abhakta brāhmaṇa's mouth (tōṇḍa) burn" |
| काय त्यासी रांड प्रसवली | "was a rāṇḍ (woman-without-husband / unwed-woman) his mother (= did such a one give birth to him)?" |
| वैष्णव चांभार धन्य त्याची माता | "the vaiṣṇava cāmbhāra (cobbler) — blessed (dhanya) his mātā (mother)" |
| शुद्ध उभयतां कुळ याती | "(both) ubhayatā (paternal and maternal) — pure — kuḷa (lineage) and yāti (caste)" |
| ऐसा हा निवाडा जालासे पुराणीं | "this nivāḍā (judgment / verdict) — has been (made) in the purāṇas" |
| नव्हे माझी वाणी पदरींची | "(it is) not my own (padarīmcī) vāṇī" |
| आगी लागो थोरपणा | "let fire (āgī) catch (caste-)thōrapaṇa (greatness)" |
| दृष्टी त्या दुर्जना न पडो माझी | "let my dṛṣṭi (eye) not fall on that durjana (wicked)" |
What it means
Foundational anti-caste-pride abhang — Tukaram's most quoted on this theme.
The opening line is unusually severe: abhakta brāhmaṇa jaḷō tyācē tōṇḍa — let the abhakta brāhmaṇa's mouth burn. The abhakta-brāhmaṇa (a Brahmin without bhakti) is despised — kāya tyāsī rāṇḍa prasavalī — was his mother a rāṇḍa (= an unwed-woman / one without proper marriage)? The reverse-caste-claim from 1229 returns at full force.
The dhruva is the inversion: vaiṣṇava cāmbhāra dhanya tyācī mātā — śuddha ubhayatā kuḷa yātī — the vaiṣṇava cobbler — blessed his mother — both lineage and caste are pure. The cāmbhāra (cobbler / leather-worker, traditionally one of the most-stigmatized castes in 17th-c. Maharashtra) — if a vaiṣṇava — has blessed mother and pure lineage. The traditional caste-purity-categories are reversed by bhakti.
The disclaimer: aisā hā nivāḍā jālāsē purāṇīm — navhē mājhī vāṇī padarīmcī — this judgment has been made in the purāṇas — it is not my own vāṇī. Tukaram cites śāstric authority, not personal opinion. (This is ambiguous — the warkari purāṇa-tradition includes Bhāgavata 7's kim varṇena dharmoktyā and various avatar-stories where lower-caste bhaktas surpass brāhmaṇas; Tukaram is grounding his anti-caste teaching in scriptural precedent.)
The closing: āgī lāgō thōrapaṇā — dṛṣṭī tyā durjanā na paḍō mājhī — let fire catch (caste-)greatness — let my eye not fall on that durjana. Thōrapaṇā — birth-greatness — is fire-worthy. The durjana — the prideful caste-claimant — is so revolting that Tuka asks his eye not even to fall on him.
Note: this abhang's source-text ends with the Gatha-editor's heading for the next group: नामदेव व पांडुरंग यांनी स्वप्नांत येऊन स्वामींस आज्ञा केली कीं कवित्व करणें - ते अभंग ॥२॥ — Nāmdēv and Pāṇḍuranga came in dream and ordered Swāmī to do kavitva — those abhangs ॥२॥. This frames 1317 (and the next, at 1318) as the dream-commission abhangs.
[T]
For someone today
For today: the vaiṣṇava cobbler is greater than the abhakta brāhmaṇa; bhakti makes lineage pure; let fire catch caste-greatness.
Where this applies
- Abhakta-brāhmaṇa-mouth-burn.* Abhakta-brāhmaṇa-jaḷō-tōṇḍa.
- Vaiṣṇava-cobbler-blessed-mother.* Vaiṣṇava-cāmbhāra-dhanya-mātā.
- Both-lineage-and-yāti-pure.* Śuddha-ubhayatā-kuḷa-yātī.
- In-purāṇas-not-my-own.* Nivāḍā-purāṇīm.
- Fire-to-caste-greatness.* Āgī-lāgō-thōrapaṇā.
- Eye-not-on-durjana.* Dṛṣṭī-tyā-durjanā-na-paḍō.