Abhanga 1564

The fear of hunger follows you everywhere and can corrupt even sacred practice, yet no amount of food or money ever fully quiets it.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

Belly-stuck-to-back abhang. A vivid pōṭa-bhaya (= belly-fear) diagnosis. The opening: pōṭa lāgalēm pāṭhīśīm — hiṇḍavitēm dēśō-dēśīm — thepōṭa(belly) — hasclung— to thepāṭha(back); — itmakes-wander—country-to-country. The belly has wrapped-around-and-stuck-to-the-back (= the constant-anxiety-of-feeding-it makes one carry it as burden); it makes one wander from country to country (= seek-livelihood everywhere).

The futility: pōṭā-bhēṇē jikaḍē jāvēm — tikaḍē pōṭa yētēm savēm — out offear-of-pōṭa— wherever you go; —there—pōṭa—comes along. Wherever you flee from pōṭa-anxiety, pōṭa follows. (= can't escape one's own belly.)

The corruption-of-religion: japa tapa anuṣṭhāna — pōṭā-sāṭīm jālē dīna — japa, tapa, anuṣṭhāna — forpōṭa's sake —became—dīna(= beggars / poor / pitiful). Even japa-tapa-anuṣṭhāna become beggars for the belly's sake (= religious-practice gets commodified-for-livelihood; cf. 1465's anti-paid-kathā polemic — same theme).

The dignity-loss: pōṭēm sāṇḍiyēlī cavī — nīcā-puḍhēm tēm nācavī — thepōṭa— hasthrown away— thecavī(= taste / dignity); — beforelow(people) —makes-dance. The belly throws away dignity; makes one dance before low-people. (= bowing to the wealthy-but-immoral for food.)

The closing-question-and-verdict: pōṭa kāśiyānēm bharē — jhura-jhurūm marē — thepōṭa—by what—gets filled?; —worrying-and-wasting-away—dies. What can ever fill the belly? — One dies still-worrying-and-wasting-away. (= the belly is never permanently-satisfied; the worry kills you in the end.)

The closing-marker आरत्या ॥ १३ ॥ indicates: the previous-13 abhangs constitute a sub-series (likely 1552-1564 — let me verify by content; 1564 closes some-block of 13). The next-section is "Āratyām" — Āratīs (= invocational-hymns sung at the close of pūjā). 1565-1567 are thus Āratīs, a different genre.

[T]

For someone today

For today: the belly has stuck to the back, making us wander country-to-country; out of belly-fear, wherever you go, the belly follows; even japa-tapa-anuṣṭhāna become beggars for the belly's sake; the belly throws away dignity, makes us dance before the low; by what can the belly ever be filled? — one dies still wasting-away in worry.

Where this applies

• When you take a job you dislike, or bow to someone you do not respect, purely because you need the income
• When you notice that even your prayer or meditation has quietly become a way to impress people or earn a living
• When you keep moving city to city or job to job chasing security and realize the worry just travels with you
• When you finally have enough money but still cannot stop worrying about whether it is enough

Related verses

• Abhanga 2459 — Liberation does not have to be earned through grueling effort or endless searching; it is
• Abhanga 2471 — Treating trees, animals, and birds as kin turns solitude into good company, and a simple l
• Abhanga 4482 — Tukaram teaches that no ritual equals sincerely speaking the Lord's name, that self-center
• Abhanga 2469 — Closeness to God is naturally available; the whole of devoted practice comes down to stead