Abhanga 1464
Protect your devotion by choosing solitude over the company of fakers and slanderers, since even being near someone whose heart is full of contempt can wear away your own goodness.
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
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 amātṛ-gamana(= one who has committed incest with mother —the strongest tabooin classical Indian dharma); —like that— theabhakta's (face) — Oguru-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 keepēkānta(solitude); — by that — noghāta(= loss / killing) — tobhajana. 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 thenindaka(slanderer); — in whosepōṭa(belly) — there'sdvaita(= duality / hostility) — of thecāṇḍāḷa.Cāṇḍāḷa— caste-marker, but heremoral-cāṇḍāḷa—one with hostile-duality in heart. (Note: Tuka usescāṇḍāḷametaphorically, not casteistically — formoral lowness; cf. 1316's pro-Vaiṣṇava-cāmbhāra abhang where the same word ispositivelyapplied to a vaiṣṇava-cāmbhāra. Tuka's caste-language is consistentlymoral, not birth-based.)
The closing: nakō bōlōm tyāsī gōṣṭī — jayācīyē dṛṣṭī pāpa vāḍhē — don't speakgōṣṭī(talk) to him — by whosedṛṣṭi(sight) —pāpagrows. 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
- When someone around you performs devotion or virtue outwardly but you sense it isn't genuine, and their company keeps chipping at your own sincerity
- When you are tempted to stay in noisy or negative company instead of choosing quiet solitude to protect your practice
- When a slanderer or someone full of hidden hostility tries to draw you into conversation or gossip
- When you notice that simply spending time around someone contemptuous or two-faced is dragging your own mood or values down