Abhanga 1793
A leader who destroys what genuinely nourishes people while dressing up harm as wisdom must be judged by what they actually leave behind, and firmly corrected if they won't listen.
The verse
तोडुनि पुष्पवटिका फळवृक्षयाति । बाभळा राखती करूनि सार ॥१॥ कोण हित तेणें देखिलें आपुलें । आणीक पाहिलें सुख काईं ॥ध्रु.॥ धान्यें बीजें जेणें जाळिलीं सकळें । पेरितो काळें जिरें बीज ॥२॥ मोडोनिया वाटा पुढिलांची सोय । आडरानें जाय घेउनि लोकां ॥३॥ विषाचें अमृत ठेवूनियां नाम । करितो अधम ब्रम्हहत्या ॥४॥ तुका म्हणे त्यास नाइके सांगतां । तया हाल करितां पाप नाहीं ॥५॥
Literal translation
Cutting down flower-vatikā and fruit-tree-species, they preserve babhaḷ (thorn-tree), making it the essential. What good has he seen for himself? — what other sukha? Burning all the grain-seeds, he sows kāḷē-jīrē. Breaking the future-convenience of the path, he goes through impassable-forest, leading the people. Placing the name 'amṛta' on viṣa — the adhama commits brahma-hatyā. Tuka says: if not heeded when told — applying discipline to him is no pāpa.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| तोडुनि पुष्पवटिका फळवृक्षयाति | "cutting down — flower-vatika — fruit-tree-species" |
| बाभळा राखती करूनि सार | "they preserve — babhaḷ (acacia / thorn-tree) — making it the sāra (essential)" |
| कोण हित तेणें देखिलें आपुलें | "what good — has he seen — for himself" |
| आणीक पाहिलें सुख काईं | "what other — sukha — did he see" |
| धान्यें बीजें जेणें जाळिलीं सकळें | "all the grain-seeds — which (he) burned" |
| पेरितो काळें जिरें बीज | "sows — kāḷē-jīrē (black-cumin = pungent-but-not-staple)" |
| मोडोनिया वाटा पुढिलांची सोय | "breaking — the future-convenience — of the path" |
| आडरानें जाय घेउनि लोकां | "through impassable-forest — (he) goes — taking the people" |
| विषाचें अमृत ठेवूनियां नाम | "on viṣa — placing — the name — amṛta" |
| करितो अधम ब्रम्हहत्या | "the adhama — commits brahma-hatyā" |
| तुका म्हणे त्यास नाइके सांगतां | "Tuka says — to him — if not heeded — when told" |
| तया हाल करितां पाप नाहीं | "to him — applying discipline — no pāpa" |
What it means
Anti-bad-leader / fake-guru abhang. A series of striking-images for the false-guide who actively-mis-leads.
Image 1 — Trees: tōḍuni puṣpa-vaṭikā phaḷa-vṛkṣa-yātī — bābhaḷā rākhatī karūni sāra — cutting down flower-vatika and fruit-tree-species, they preserve babhaḷ (acacia / thorn-tree) as essential. Puṣpa-vaṭikā = flower-garden (= what brings beauty); phaḷa-vṛkṣa = fruit-tree (= what brings sustenance); bābhaḷā = acacia / thorn-tree (= spiny, useless-as-fruit, only-suitable-for-fuel). The bad-leader cuts-down what-is-beautiful-and-useful and preserves only what-is-thorny-and-useless — as if it were the sāra (essential).
Image 2 — Seeds: dhānyēm bījēm jēṇē jāḷilīm sakaḷē — pēritō kāḷē jīrē bīja — burning all grain-seeds, he sows kāḷē-jīrē. Dhānya-bīja = grain-seeds (= staple-food); kāḷē-jīrē = black-cumin (= a pungent-spice, useful-only-as-medicine, never-as-food). He burns the grain that feeds and sows the cumin that doesn't. (= destroys-the-staple-and-cultivates-the-incidental.)
Image 3 — Paths: mōḍōniyām vāṭā puḍhilāñcī sōya — āḍa-rānē jāya ghē'uni lōkām — breaking the future-convenience of the path, he goes through impassable-forest, leading the people. Puḍhilāñcī sōya = the convenience for those-coming-after; āḍa-rānē = through impassable-forest / cross-country. He breaks-the-good-path-laid-for-future-travelers and leads-the-people through trackless-wilderness.
Image 4 — Naming: viṣācēm amṛta ṭhē'ūniyām nāma — karitō adhama brahma-hatyā — placing the name 'amṛta' on viṣa, the adhama commits brahma-hatyā. Most damning: the adhama labels-poison-as-amṛta and-thereby-kills-others — and this is brahma-hatyā (= the killing of brahma / the highest-pāpa). (Targets the fake-guru who labels his viṣa-teaching as amṛta-realization — killing-souls-by-name-deception.)
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē tyās nā'ikē sāngatām — tayā hāla karitām pāpa nāhīm — Tuka says: if he doesn't heed when told — applying discipline to him is no pāpa. Hāla = trouble, discipline, hard-treatment. Tuka's rare-fierce position: if the fake-guru doesn't heed correction, then applying-hard-discipline (= social-rejection / public-correction) is not pāpa. (Tuka usually counsels patience; here he authorizes-fierce-rebuke against the fake-guru who-kills-souls.)
This abhang is one of the most-aggressive anti-fake-guru abhangs in the gatha — pairs with abhangs about anti-vāgvilāsī, anti-pretence-of-jñāna, fake-bhakta. The brahma-hatyā charge is theological-aggression at its sharpest.
[T]
For someone today
For today: cutting down flower-gardens and fruit-trees, they preserve only the thorn-tree as the essential; what good has he seen for himself? — what other sukha?; burning all the grain-seeds, he sows black-cumin; breaking the future-convenience of the path, he goes through impassable-forest, leading the people; placing the name 'amṛta' on viṣa, the adhama commits brahma-hatyā; Tuka says — if he doesn't heed when told, applying discipline to him is no pāpa.
Where this applies
- When someone in a position of trust dismisses what genuinely helps people and pushes something showy but useless instead
- When a leader or teacher talks you away from a well-tested path and into confusion, framing it as bold new guidance
- When you notice someone dressing up something harmful with comforting, even sacred-sounding language
- When you're deciding whether it's wrong to firmly call out a leader who refuses to hear correction and keeps misleading others