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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 1424 of 4582

Abhanga 1424

For today: jñānīs become beasts when they keep chewing sense-objects; greed-within-greed churns the very self-state; the fool cooks the feast for others and lives on dregs himself; this is great loss — the body wind-scattered.

When the jñānī-disguise hides chewing of sense-objects — jñānīs become beasts; the self is churned by greed within greed; the fool cooks for others and gets only buttermilk

The verse

पशु ऐसे होती ज्ञानी । चर्वणीं या विषयांचे ॥१॥ ठेवूनियां लोभीं लोभ । जाला क्षोभ आत्मत्वीं ॥ध्रु.॥ केला आणिकां वाढी पाक । खाणें ताक मूर्खासी ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे मोठा घात । वाताहात हा देह ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: Jñānīs become like paśu — by carvaṇa of these viṣaya. Having placed lōbha within lōbha — kṣōbha has happened in ātma-tva. Made for āṇika-people — the vāḍha of pāka — the mūrkha eats tāka. Tuka says: great ghāta — vātāhāta — this dēha.

मराठी: पशु — ऐसे — होती — ज्ञानी; — चर्वणीं — या — विषयांचे. ठेवूनियां — लोभीं — लोभ; — जाला — क्षोभ — आत्मत्वीं. केला — आणिकां — वाढी — पाक; — खाणें — ताक — मूर्खासी. Tukā म्हणे — मोठा — घात; — वाताहात — हा — देह.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
पशु ऐसे होती ज्ञानी "paśu (beasts) — like — become — jñānīs"
चर्वणीं या विषयांचे "by carvaṇa (chewing) — of these viṣaya (sense-objects)"
ठेवूनियां लोभीं लोभ "having placed (ṭhē'ūniyām) — lōbha — within lōbha (= greed-piled-on-greed)"
जाला क्षोभ आत्मत्वीं "kṣōbha (= disturbance / churning) — has happened — in the ātma-tva (self-state)"
केला आणिकां वाढी पाक "made — for others (āṇikām) — vāḍha (serving) — of pāka (cooked food)"
खाणें ताक मूर्खासी "(but) eats (khāṇē) — tāka (= buttermilk leftover) — the mūrkha (fool)"
तुका म्हणे मोठा घात "Tuka says — great (mōṭhā) — ghāta (loss / ruin)"
वाताहात हा देह "vātāhāta (= wind-scattered / ruined) — this dēha"

What it means

Jñānīs-become-beasts-by-chewing-objects abhang. The opening anti-fake-jñāna verdict: paśu aisē hōtī jñānī — carvaṇīm yā viṣayāñcēthe jñānīs — become like paśu (beasts); — by carvaṇa (chewing) — of these viṣaya (sense-objects). The jñānī — who talks about transcendence — becomes a beast if he is still chewing the viṣayas. Carvaṇa is the cud-chewing of cattle — the metaphor is sharp: jñānī-as-cud-chewing-cow. (Compare 1407's bhūsa-kāṇḍitī — pounding-chaff; same anti-fake-jñāna register, different image.)

The diagnosis: ṭhē'ūniyām lōbhīm lōbha — jālā kṣōbha ātma-tvīmplacing — greed-within-greed — the kṣōbha (= churning) — has happened — in ātma-tva (self-state). Greed-within-greed — the fractal greed of the would-be-jñānī — has churned the self-state itself; the very space that was supposed to be still is now kṣōbha-disturbed.

The vivid image: kēlā āṇikām vāḍhī pāka — khāṇē tāka mūrkhāsī(the fool) made — for āṇikas (others) — the vāḍha (serving / serving-portion) — of pāka (cooked food); — but eatstāka (= buttermilk-leftover / dilute-buttermilk) — the mūrkha. The cook-image: the fool prepared the rich-meal for others (= talked jñāna for others) — but ate only the leftover buttermilk (= got only the dilute-leftover for himself). One of the most damning anti-fake-jñāna images: teaches feast-knowledge to others, lives on watery dregs himself.

The closing: mōṭhā ghāta — vātāhāta hā dēhagreat ghāta (loss); — vātāhāta (= wind-scattered / ruined) — this dēha. The body — already wind-scattered (vātāhāta = the fragmenting-by-wind condition); the jñāna-talk without internal-tyāga makes the whole body's life a great loss.

[T]

For someone today

For today: jñānīs become beasts when they keep chewing sense-objects; greed-within-greed churns the very self-state; the fool cooks the feast for others and lives on dregs himself; this is great loss — the body wind-scattered.

Where this applies

Related verses