Abhanga 2374
Rather than scattering devotion among many lesser deities who demand offerings, Tukaram says to hold onto the one supreme Lord in your heart.
The verse
नव्हे जोखाईं जोखाईं । मायराणी मेसाबाईं ॥१॥ बिळया माझा पंढरिराव । जो या देवांचा ही देव ॥ध्रु.॥ रंडी चंडी शक्ति । मद्यमांस भिक्षती ॥२॥ बहिरव खंडेराव । रोटीसुटीसाटीं देव ॥३॥ गणोबा विक्राळ । लाडुमोदकांचा काळ ॥४॥ मुंज्या म्हैसासुरें । हें तों कोण लेखी पोरें ॥५॥ वेताळें फेताळें । जळो त्यांचें तोंड काळें ॥६॥ तुका म्हणे चित्तीं । धरा रखुमाईंचा पती ॥७॥
Literal translation
Not Jokhā'ī, not Māyarāṇī, not Mēsābā'ī. Strong is my Paṇḍhari-rāva — who is Dēva of Dēvas. Raṇḍī, Chaṇḍī, Śakti — they beg liquor and meat. Bhairava, Khaṇḍērāva — gods for bread-and-bread. Gaṇōbā the terrible — destroyer of lāḍu-and-mōdaka. Muñjyā, Mhaisāsura — who considers them — [just] kids. Vetāla, Phētāla — burn their black faces. Tuka says: in the chitta — hold the husband of Rakhumā'ī.
What it means
THE FAMOUS ANTI-FOLK-DEITY POLEMIC — ONE OF TUKĀRĀM'S MOST-QUOTED EXCLUSIVE-BHAKTI POEMS.
THE OPENING REJECTION: navhē Jōkhā'īm Jōkhā'īm — Māyarāṇī Mēsābā'īm — not Jokhā'ī, not Māyarāṇī, not Mēsābā'ī. NOT-Jokhā'ī, NOT-Māyarāṇī, NOT-Mēsābā'ī (local-Maharashtrian-folk-goddesses).
The supremacy-of-Paṇḍhari-rāva: biḷayā mājhā Paṇḍhari-rāva — jō yā Dēvāñchā hī Dēva — strong is my Paṇḍhari-rāva — who is Dēva of Dēvas. Strong-is my-Paṇḍhari-rāva (Viṭhṭhal); who-is Dēva-of-Dēvas.
The catalogue of folk-deities-rejected: - Raṇḍī, Chaṇḍī, Śakti — madya-māṃsa bhikṣatī — they-beg liquor-and-meat (= demand-tāmasic-offerings) - Bhairava, Khaṇḍērāva — rōṭī-suṭī-sāṭīm Dēva — gods-for-bread-and-bread (= cheap-low-level-deities) - Gaṇōbā (Ganesha) — vikrāḷa, lāḍu-mōdakāñchā kāḷa — terrible, destroyer-of-lāḍūs-and-mōdakas (= just-an-eater) - Muñjyā, Mhaisāsura — hē tōm kōṇa lēkhī pōrē — who-considers-them, kids (= unworthy of-adult-attention) - Vetāla, Phētāla — jaḷō tyāñchē tōṇḍa kāḷē — burn-their-black-faces
THE CLOSING: Tukā mhaṇē chittīm — dharā Rakhumā'īmchā patī — Tuka says: in the chitta — hold the husband of Rakhumā'ī. In-the-chitta — hold the-husband-of-Rakhumā'ī (= Viṭhṭhal).
HISTORICAL-SIGNIFICANCE: This is one of Tukārām's most-direct anti-folk-deity polemics — he names ~15 lower-deities (most of-them locally-popular in-Maharashtra) and explicitly-rejects-them in-favor-of exclusive-bhakti-to-Viṭhṭhal-Pāṇḍuranga. The polemic reflects the Vārkarī-tradition's positioning of-the-Viṭhṭhal-cult against the surrounding-folk-religion of-tantric-Śākta-cults (Raṇḍī, Chaṇḍī), Śaiva-folk-gods (Bhairava, Khaṇḍērāva, Gaṇōbā/Ganesha), and rural-ghost-cults (Muñjyā, Vetāla, Phētāla). Even Ganesha is named-and-mocked — surprising-for-Maharashtra.
[T]
For someone today
For today: not Jokhā'ī, not Māyarāṇī, not Mēsābā'ī; Paṇḍhari-rāva is Dēva of Dēvas; Śakti-deities beg liquor and meat; Bhairava-Khaṇḍērāva are bread-gods; Gaṇōbā is just lāḍu-eater; Muñjyā-Mhaisāsura — only-kids consider; Vetāla-Phētāla — black-faces; hold the husband of Rakhumā'ī .
Where this applies
- When you are tempted to chase many small transactional fixes instead of committing to what truly matters
- When you notice yourself giving energy to things that only take without giving lasting value
- When you are deciding what deserves your real devotion versus what is just a passing distraction
- When you want to simplify your focus instead of scattering it across many lesser pursuits