Abhanga 1464
For today: don't look at a fake-bhakta's face — it's like seeing a mātṛ-gamana; keep solitude — that protects bhajana; never meet a slanderer with cāṇḍāḷa-duality in belly; don't speak with him — pāpa grows by his very sight.
The verse
नये पाहों मुख मात्रागमन्याचें । तैसें अभक्ताचें गुरुपुत्रा ॥१॥ म्हणऊनि बरें धरितां एकांत । तेणें नव्हे घात भजनासी ॥ध्रु.॥ नये होऊं कदा निंदकाची भेटी । जया द्वैत पोटीं चांडाळाच्या ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे नका बोलों त्यासी गोष्टी । जयाचिये दृष्टी पाप वाढे ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: Should not see the face of a mātṛ-gamana — like that, the abhakta's, O guru-putra. Therefore, good to keep ēkānta — by that, no ghāta to bhajana. Never happen the nindaka's meeting — in whose pōṭa is cāṇḍāḷa-duality. Tuka says: don't speak gōṣṭī to him — by whose dṛṣṭi, pāpa grows.
मराठी: नये — पाहों — मुख — मात्रा-गमन्याचें; — तैसें — अभक्ताचें — गुरु-पुत्रा. म्हणऊनि — बरें — धरितां — एकांत; — तेणें — नव्हे — घात — भजनासी. नये — होऊं — कदा — निंदकाची — भेटी; — जया — द्वैत — पोटीं — चांडाळाच्या. Tukā म्हणे — नका — बोलों — त्यासी — गोष्टी; — जयाचिये — दृष्टी — पाप — वाढे.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| नये पाहों मुख मात्रागमन्याचें | "should not see — face — of a mātṛ-gamana (= one who has had intercourse with mother)" |
| तैसें अभक्ताचें गुरुपुत्रा | "like that (taisēm) — abhakta's — O guru-putra (disciple)" |
| म्हणऊनि बरें धरितां एकांत | "therefore — good to keep (dharitām) — ēkānta (solitude)" |
| तेणें नव्हे घात भजनासी | "by that — there's no ghāta (loss / killing) — to bhajana" |
| नये होऊं कदा निंदकाची भेटी | "let it never (kadā) — happen — nindaka's (slanderer's) — bhēṭa (meeting)" |
| जया द्वैत पोटीं चांडाळाच्या | "in whose — pōṭa (belly) — dvaita (duality / hostility) — of the cāṇḍāḷa" |
| तुका म्हणे नका बोलों त्यासी गोष्टी | "Tuka says — don't speak (nakō bōlōm) — to him — gōṣṭī (talk)" |
| जयाचिये दृष्टी पाप वाढे | "by whose dṛṣṭi (sight) — pāpa — grows" |
What it means
Avoid-fake-bhakta-like-mātṛ-gamana abhang. The most extreme avoidance-injunction in Tukaram's corpus. The opening: nayē pāhōm mukha mātṛ-gamaṇyācēm — taisēm abhaktācēm guru-putrā — don't see — the face — of a mātṛ-gamana (= one who has committed incest with mother — the strongest taboo in classical Indian dharma); — like that — the abhakta's (face) — O guru-putra (= disciple-of-the-guru). Striking: fake-bhakta's-face is taboo-equivalent to incest-perpetrator's-face. (Strong enough to be uncomfortable; the guru-putra address suggests it's a pedagogical-instruction to disciples — Tuka explicitly addresses those-being-trained.)
The corollary: mhaṇa'ūnī barēm dharitām ēkānta — tēṇē navhē ghāta bhajanāsī — therefore — good to keep ēkānta (solitude); — by that — no ghāta (= loss / killing) — to bhajana. Solitude prevents the bhajana-killing-encounter. (Compare 1455's sukha pāvē śāntī dharūnī ēkānta — sukha by śānti-and-solitude.)
The further-warning: nayē hō'ūm kadā nindakācī bhēṭī — jayā dvaita pōṭīm cāṇḍāḷācyā — let it never happen — meeting with the nindaka (slanderer); — in whose pōṭa (belly) — there's dvaita (= duality / hostility) — of the cāṇḍāḷa. Cāṇḍāḷa — caste-marker, but here moral-cāṇḍāḷa — one with hostile-duality in heart. (Note: Tuka uses cāṇḍāḷa metaphorically, not casteistically — for moral lowness; cf. 1316's pro-Vaiṣṇava-cāmbhāra abhang where the same word is positively applied to a vaiṣṇava-cāmbhāra. Tuka's caste-language is consistently moral, not birth-based*.)
The closing: nakō bōlōm tyāsī gōṣṭī — jayācīyē dṛṣṭī pāpa vāḍhē — don't speak gōṣṭī (talk) to him — by whose dṛṣṭi (sight) — pāpa grows. Even being-seen by him grows pāpa. (= avoidance is total: not just speech, even being-seen-by-him is harmful.)
[T]
For someone today
For today: don't look at a fake-bhakta's face — it's like seeing a mātṛ-gamana; keep solitude — that protects bhajana; never meet a slanderer with cāṇḍāḷa-duality in belly; don't speak with him — pāpa grows by his very sight.
Where this applies
- Don't-see-fake-bhakta-like-mātṛ-gamana.* Mātṛ-gamana-abhakta-mukha-na.
- Solitude-protects-bhajana.* Ēkānta-bhajana-ghāta-na.
- Never-meet-slanderer-with-cāṇḍāḷa-duality.* Nindaka-cāṇḍāḷa-dvaita-bhēṭa-na.
- Don't-talk-pāpa-grows-by-his-sight.* Gōṣṭī-na-dṛṣṭī-pāpa-vāḍhē.