Abhanga 1715
Harming the innocent out of habit or built-in hostility is a deep wickedness, whether it targets creatures or good people.
The verse
काय केलें जळचरीं । ढीवर त्यांच्या घातावरी ॥१॥ हा तों ठायींचा विचार । आहे यातिवैराकार ॥ध्रु.॥ श्वापदातें वधी । निरपराधें पारधी ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे खळ । संतां पीडिती चांडाळ ॥३॥
Literal translation
What fault did water-creatures do? — the fisherman is bent on their destruction. This is the original thinking — yāti-vairākāra. The wild-beast is killed — innocent — by hunting. Tuka says: the wicked — cāṇḍāḷas — torment the saints.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| काय केलें जळचरीं | "what fault — did water-creatures do" |
| ढीवर त्यांच्या घातावरी | "the fisherman — bent on their destruction" |
| हा तों ठायींचा विचार | "this — the original-thinking" |
| आहे यातिवैराकार | "is — yāti-vairākāra" |
| श्वापदातें वधी | "kills — the wild-beast" |
| निरपराधें पारधी | "innocent — (by) hunting" |
| तुका म्हणे खळ | "Tuka says — the wicked" |
| संतां पीडिती चांडाळ | "saints torment — cāṇḍāḷas" |
What it means
Anti-violence + wicked-as-cāṇḍāḷa-torment-saints abhang.
The fish-question: kāya kēlēm jaḷa-carīm — ḍhīvara tyāñcyā ghātāvarī — what fault did water-creatures do — the fisherman bent on their destruction. Ḍhīvara = fisherman; jaḷa-carīm = water-creatures. Innocent fish, yet the fisherman is destruction-bent.
The yāti-vairākāra: hā tōm ṭhāyīñcā vicāra — āhē yāti-vairākāra — this is the original-thinking — yāti-vairākāra. Yāti-vairākāra = the form-of-caste-(or species-)enmity (= the built-in inter-species hostility / built-in caste-attack-instinct). This is the very-original disposition (of certain castes / kinds).
The hunter-image: śvāpadātē vadhī — niraparādhē pāradhī — the wild-beast is killed — innocent — by hunting. Pāradhī = the hunter / hunting-by-trade. The hunter kills the innocent wild-beast (śvāpada).
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē khaḷa — samtām pīḍitī cāṇḍāḷa — Tuka says: the wicked — cāṇḍāḷas — torment the saints. The radical-equation: the wicked who torment saints are the cāṇḍāḷas — paralleling the fisherman-killing-fish and hunter-killing-prey sequences. Tormenting-saints is by-original-disposition for the wicked, like fishing-and-hunting are for those castes by-trade.
(Note: the cāṇḍāḷa here is used in moral-sense — the moral-cāṇḍāḷa is the saint-tormentor, not the caste-cāṇḍāḷa. Compare 1691's similar moral-cāṇḍāḷa usage.)
[T]
For someone today
For today: what fault have the water creatures done, that the fisherman is bent on destroying them? This is simply their nature — a built-in hostility between castes and species. In the same way, the innocent wild beast is killed by the hunter. Tuka says: the wicked who torment saints are no different — that same cruel nature is at work in them.
मराठी: आजसाठी: पाणवाशी जीवांनी काय अपराध केला आहे, की कोळी त्यांच्या नाशावरच उठला आहे? ही तर मुळातलीच वृत्ती आहे — जाती व प्रजातींमधील उपजत वैरभाव. त्याचप्रमाणे निरपराध वन्य पशूला शिकारी मारतो. तुका म्हणतो: संतांना छळणारे दुष्ट लोकही असेच आहेत — तीच क्रूर, उपजत वृत्ती त्यांच्यातही असते.
Where this applies
- When you see someone harm another person or creature who has done nothing to deserve it
- When cruelty has become so routine for someone that they no longer question it
- When a good or gentle person is being targeted or mocked simply for being good
- When you're tempted to justify harming someone because it's just what you or your group always does