Abhanga 2328
For today: tāmasa-tapas — pāpa's luggage; rājya-mada and sukha-sampatti block — they go to niraya-village; indriyas restrained but icchā alive — dispossesses; Tuka says — without Hari-bhajana — toil not worth looking.
The verse
तामसाचीं तपें पापाची सिदोरी । तमोगुणें भरी घातले ते ॥१॥ राज्यमदा आड सुखाची संपत्ति । उलंघूनि जाती निरयगांवा ॥ध्रु.॥ इंद्रियें दमिलीं इच्छा जिती जीवीं । नागविती ठावीं नाहीं पुढें ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे हरिभजनावांचून । करिती तो सीण पाहों नये ॥३॥
Literal translation
Tāmasa-tapas — pāpa's-luggage — filled by tamō-guṇa. Rājya-mada and sukha-sampatti come between — passing over them, they go to the niraya-village. Indriyas restrained, icchā alive in jīva — dispossess them — no future-place. Tuka says: without Hari-bhajana — the toil they do — don't even look at it.
What it means
Tāmasa-tapas-is-pāpa's-luggage + no-Hari-bhajana-no-toil-worth-looking abhang.
The opening — tāmasa-tapas: tāmasāchīm tapē pāpāchī sidōrī — tamō-guṇē bharī ghātalē tē — tāmasa-tapas — pāpa's-luggage — filled by tamō-guṇa. Sidōrī = traveler's-luggage, food-pack. Tāmasa-tapas is-pāpa's-luggage; filled-and-loaded by-tamō-guṇa. (= tapas done-in-tamō-guṇa accumulates pāpa instead of merit.)
The rājya-and-sukha-block: rājya-madā āḍa sukhāchī sampatti — ulanghūni jātī niraya-gāmvā — rājya-mada and sukha-sampatti come between — passing over them, they go to the niraya-village. Rājya-pride and-sukha-wealth come-between (= block the bhakti-path); passing-over-them, they-go to-the-niraya-village.
The indriyas-and-icchā paradox: indriyē damilīm icchā jitī jīvīm — nāgavitī ṭhāvīm nāhīm puḍhē — indriyas restrained, icchā alive in jīva — dispossess them — no future-place. (They)-restrain-the-indriyas but-icchā-stays-alive in-the-jīva; (this) dispossesses them, no future-place.
The closing — no Hari-bhajana, no looking: Tukā mhaṇē Hari-bhajanāvāñchūna — karitī tō sīṇa pāhōm nayē — Tuka says: without Hari-bhajana — the toil they do — don't even look at it. Without Hari-bhajana, the toil-they-do — don't-even-look-at-it.
[T]
For someone today
For today: tāmasa-tapas — pāpa's luggage; rājya-mada and sukha-sampatti block — they go to niraya-village; indriyas restrained but icchā alive — dispossesses; Tuka says — without Hari-bhajana — toil not worth looking.
Where this applies
- When you practice strict discipline or self-denial mainly to feel proud or superior to others.
- When you have given up outward indulgences but still secretly crave them inside.
- When you chase worldly power, comfort, or status and let it crowd out any real devotion.
- When you judge your spiritual effort by how hard it looks rather than whether love for God is actually in it.