Abhanga 1439
English: Jīva is Deva — bhōjana is bhakti — maraṇa is mukti — that's the pāpāṇḍī's doctrine.
The verse
जीव तो चि देव भोजन ते भक्ति । मरण तेचि मुक्ति पापांड्याची ॥१॥ पिंडाच्या पोषकी नागविलें जन । लटिकें पुराण केलें वेद ॥ध्रु.॥ मना आला तैसा करिती विचार । म्हणती संसार नाहीं पुन्हा ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे पाठीं उडती यमदंड । पापपुण्य लंड न विचारी ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: Jīva is Deva — bhōjana is bhakti — maraṇa is mukti — that's the pāpāṇḍī's doctrine. In the body-pōṣaka, they have robbed the jana — made the Purāṇa, the Veda, laṭikā. Whatever pleases the mana — that's their vicāra — they say no samsāra again. Tuka says: yama-daṇḍa flies at their back — the laṇḍa does not consider pāpa-puṇya.
मराठी: जीव — तो — चि — देव; — भोजन — ते — भक्ति; — मरण — तेचि — मुक्ति — पापांड्याची. पिंडाच्या — पोषकी — नागविलें — जन; — लटिकें — पुराण — केलें — वेद. मना — आला — तैसा — करिती — विचार; — म्हणती — संसार — नाहीं — पुन्हा. Tukā म्हणे — पाठीं — उडती — यम-दंड; — पाप-पुण्य — लंड — न — विचारी.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| जीव तो चि देव | "jīva — that very (tō chi) — (is) Deva" |
| भोजन ते भक्ति | "bhōjana (eating) — that — is bhakti" |
| मरण तेचि मुक्ति पापांड्याची | "maraṇa (death) — that very — (is) mukti — the pāpāṇḍī's (= heretic's) (doctrine)" |
| पिंडाच्या पोषकी नागविलें जन | "in the piṇḍa (body)'s — pōṣaka (feeding) — (they have) nāgavilēm (= robbed / stripped) — jana (people)" |
| लटिकें पुराण केलें वेद | "laṭikā (= false / counterfeit) — they made — Purāṇa — Veda" |
| मना आला तैसा करिती विचार | "as the mana — pleases (ālā taisā) — they make (their) vicāra (thinking)" |
| म्हणती संसार नाहीं पुन्हा | "(they) say — samsāra — no (= no future-samsāra) — punhā (= again)" |
| तुका म्हणे पाठीं उडती यमदंड | "Tuka says — at (the) pāṭha (back) — yama-daṇḍa (Yama's staff) — flies (uḍatī)" |
| पापपुण्य लंड न विचारी | "pāpa-puṇya — the laṇḍa (= rascal) — does not consider (na vicārī)" |
What it means
Anti-cārvāka / anti-pāpāṇḍī polemic abhang. A direct attack on a materialist-religious doctrine. The opening identifies the heretic's three-part theology: jīva tō chi Deva — bhōjana tē bhakti — maraṇa tē chi mukti — pāpāṇḍyācī — (1) jīva itself is Deva; (2) eating is bhakti; (3) death itself is mukti — that's the pāpāṇḍī's doctrine. (Pāpāṇḍī — one of the strongest invective-words in Marathi — heretic / charlatan; the doctrine described matches the cārvāka-lokāyata + body-pampering tantric distortions of Tukaram's day.)
The accusation: piṇḍācyā pōṣakī nāgavilēm jana — laṭikēm purāṇa kēlē Veda — in body-feeding — they have robbed the people; — they have made the Purāṇa and Veda into laṭikā (= false / counterfeit). The body-feeding-doctrine lets them rob people (= materially exploit them); they fake the Purāṇa-Veda authority to do it. (Anti-fake-religious-pedagogy — the body-pampering-spirituality uses Veda-Purāṇa-name to legitimize itself.)
The argument-style: manā ālā taisā karitī vicāra — mhaṇatī samsāra nāhīm punhā — whatever pleases the manā — that's their vicāra (thinking); — they say — no samsāra punhā (= no rebirth). Their thinking is whatever-pleases-the-mind; — they deny rebirth. (Classic cārvāka tenet: no afterlife, no karma-fruit, no rebirth.)
The closing-warning: pāṭhīm uḍatī yama-daṇḍa — pāpa-puṇya laṇḍa na vicārī — at the back (pāṭha) — yama-daṇḍa (= Yama's staff) — flies (= comes flying down); — pāpa-puṇya — the laṇḍa (= rascal) — does not consider. Yama-daṇḍa is on its way; the laṇḍa (= scoundrel — strong invective) fails to consider pāpa-puṇya. (= no-rebirth-doctrine doesn't make rebirth go away; Yama's staff still descends.)
[T]
For someone today
For today: the heretic says jīva-is-Deva, eating-is-bhakti, death-is-mukti — they rob people in body-feeding and falsify the Purāṇa-Veda; their 'thinking' is whatever-pleases-the-mind and they deny rebirth; but Yama's staff flies at their back regardless.
Where this applies
- Heretic's-three-part-doctrine-jīva-Deva-eating-bhakti-death-mukti.* Pāpāṇḍī-jīva-Deva-bhōjana-bhakti-maraṇa-mukti.
- They-rob-in-body-feeding-falsify-veda-purāṇa.* Piṇḍa-pōṣaka-nāgavilēm-laṭikā-purāṇa-veda.
- Whatever-pleases-mind-no-rebirth-claim.* Manā-ālā-vicāra-samsāra-na-punhā.
- Yama-staff-flies-rascal-doesn't-consider.* Yama-daṇḍa-laṇḍa-pāpa-puṇya-na.