Abhanga 1878
Worldly honor, status, and showy display are worth no more than pig's dung, so ask God to rescue you before you get tangled in them.
The verse
दिवट्या छत्री घोडे । हें तों बर्यांत न पडे ॥१॥ आतां येथें पंढरिराया । मज गोविसी कासया ॥ध्रु.॥ मान दंभ चेष्टा । हे तों शूकराची विष्ठा ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे देवा । माझे सोडववणे धांवा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Torch-bearers, canopy, horses — these don't fit with good. Now here, Pandhari-rāyā — why do you tangle me? Honor, dambha, antics — these are pig's dung. Tuka says: deva — run for my deliverance.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| दिवट्या छत्री घोडे | "torch-bearers, canopy, horses" |
| हें तों बर्यांत न पडे | "these don't fit with good" |
| आतां येथें पंढरिराया | "now here, Pandhari-rāyā" |
| मज गोविसी कासया | "why do you tangle me" |
| मान दंभ चेष्टा | "honor, dambha, antics (cēṣṭā)" |
| हे तों शूकराची विष्ठा | "these are pig's dung (śūkarācī viṣṭhā)" |
| तुका म्हणे देवा | "Tuka says — deva" |
| माझे सोडववणे धांवा | "run — for my deliverance" |
What it means
Direct-rejection-of-Śivājī's-royal-symbols + pig-dung-equation abhang.
Historical context: This abhang is part of the 14-abhang Śivājī-Tukārām cluster (1877-1890). Per the editorial-note in 1877, Śivājī Mahārāj sent emissaries with the abdāgirī (royal-canopy), a horse, and a clerk (along with torch-bearers as standard royal-procession-symbols) to invite Tukārām to court. This abhangdirectly names the symbols Śivājī sent: divaṭyā (torch-bearers), chatrī (canopy), ghōḍē (horses).
The opening: divaṭyā chatrī ghōḍē — hē tōm baryāmta na paḍē — torch-bearers, canopy, horses — these don't fit with good. Direct rejection-of-the-royal-symbols. Baryāmta na paḍē = don't fall-into-the-good (= don't qualify-as-genuinely-good).
The bhakta's protest: ātām yēthē Pandhari-rāyā — maja gōvisī kāsayā — now here, Pandhari-rāyā — why do you tangle me?. Gōvisī = tangle, ensnare. Pandhari-rāyā, why-have-you-tangled-me-with-this-royal-temptation?.
The pig-dung-equation: māna damba cēṣṭā — hē tōm śūkarācī viṣṭhā — honor, dambha, antics — these are pig's dung. Śūkarācī viṣṭhā = pig's-dung (= the most-impure-substance in classical-folk-imagination). Bare-knuckle equation: worldly-honor + dambha + ostentation = pig-dung. Foundational renunciation-against-royal-temptation.
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē devā — mājhē sōḍavavaṇē dhāmvā — Tuka says: deva — run for my deliverance. Sōḍavavaṇē = deliverance, releasing. Run-to-deliver-me from-this-tangle.
This abhang is historically-pivotal — Tukārām's-explicit refusal of Śivājī's-royal-honors, articulated in folk-strong terms. Foundational-text in Marāṭhā-bhakti-history.
[T]
For someone today
For today: torch-bearers, canopy, horses — these don't fit with good; now here, Pandhari-rāyā — why do you tangle me?; honor, dambha, ostentation — these are pig's dung; Tuka says — deva — run for my deliverance.
Where this applies
- When you're offered status, honors, or attention that would pull you away from what actually matters to you.
- When people expect you to feel flattered by public recognition or ceremony, and it just feels like a trap.
- When you catch yourself getting pulled toward pride or showing off and want to be rescued from that habit.
- When you need blunt language to remind yourself that fame and display are not the same as goodness.