Abhanga 2725
Avoiding wrongdoing isn't spite, since good and bad conduct, like raw and cooked grain sharing one name, remain genuinely different, and each deserves to be treated differently.
The verse
असंतीं कांटाळा हा नव्हे मत्सर । ब्रम्ह तें विकारविरहित ॥१॥
तरि म्हणा त्याग प्रतिपादलासे । अनादि हा असे वैराकार ॥ध्रु.॥
सिजलें हिरवें एका नांवें धान्य । सेवनापें भिन्न निवडे तें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे भूतीं साक्ष नारायण । अवगुणीं दंडण गुणीं पुजा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Asantīm kāmṭāḷā (avoidance-distaste of the asant (non-being, wicked)) — this is navhē matsara (not envy). Brahma tē vikāra-virahita — brahma isvikāra-virahita(modification-free, free-of-changes). Yet say — tyāga pratipādalāse (renunciation has been established); anādi hā asē vairākāra (this vairākāra (form-of-enmity/form-of-vairāgya) is anādi (beginningless)). Sijalē-hiravē ēkā nāve dhānya — cooked-and-raw is grain by one name; sevanāpē bhinna nivaḍē tē — in eating, they are distinguished. Tukā says: in bhūta (beings), Nārāyaṇa is the sākṣī (witness); avaguṇī daṇḍaṇa, guṇī pūjā — punishment in the bad-quality, pūjā in the good-quality.
What it means
A technical-defense verse for the renunciation-stance. Asantī kāmṭāḷā hā navhē matsara — brahma tē vikāra-virahita — the avoidance-of-asat is not envy — brahma is modification-free. The defense: when the bhakta avoids the asat (wicked, non-real), this is not from matsara (envy) — it is from recognition of brahma's vikāra-virahita nature. Brahma is not subject-to-modifications by association; the bhakta who participates in brahma-recognition therefore avoids what would modify-him.
The dhrūpada: tarī mhaṇā tyāga pratipādalāse — anādi hā asē vairākāra — yet renunciation has been established; this vairākāra is beginningless. Tyāga (renunciation) has pratipādana (foundation, support, established-position). Vairākāra (a difficult-to-translate compound — perhaps vairāgya-ākāra = form-of-vairāgya, or vaira-ākāra = form-of-enmity-toward-vikāra) is anādi (beginningless) — it is the original-disposition of brahma-orientation.
The second verse offers a striking image: sijalē hiravē ēkā nāve dhānya — sevanāpē bhinna nivaḍē — the cooked and the raw are grain by-one-name; in the eating, they are distinguished. The same name (dhānya — grain) covers cooked and raw, but at the moment of sevana (eating), they are clearly bhinna (distinguished). The principle: name-similarity does not eliminate operational-distinction.
The close offers a useful ethical-principle: bhūtīm sākṣī Nārāyaṇa — avaguṇī daṇḍaṇa guṇī pūjā — in beings, Nārāyaṇa is the witness; punishment in the bad-quality, pūjā in the good-quality. The bhakta-discipline is differentiated by quality: the guṇa (good-quality) receives pūjā (worship-honor); the avaguṇa (bad-quality) receives daṇḍana (punishment-restraint). And Nārāyaṇa is the sākṣī (witness) of all this in all beings.
This is a complement-and-correction to 2657 (bhakti = bowing to jīva-jantu-bhūta). 2657 says bow to all creatures; 2725 says but discriminate guṇa-from-avaguṇa — pūjā vs daṇḍana. Together they form a nuanced ethic: bow universally; discriminate qualitatively.
For someone today
A useful technical defense of the stance of renunciation. Avoiding the bad is not envy; brahma is free of modification; renunciation is anādi (beginningless); cooked and raw share the same name yet are distinguished the moment you eat them; in beings, Nārāyaṇa is the witness — punish the bad quality, worship the good quality. The lesson: discriminating by quality is not envy or narrow judgment — it is the recognition of brahma's freedom from modification and what that means in practice. Bow universally; discriminate qualitatively. The complement to bhakti = bowing to all creatures is discrimination in conduct based on quality.
मराठी: त्याग-वृत्तीचं हे एक चांगलं तात्त्विक समर्थन आहे. वाईटाचा त्याग करणं म्हणजे मत्सर नव्हे; ब्रह्म हे विकारांपासून मुक्त आहे; त्याग अनादी आहे; शिजलेलं आणि कच्चं धान्य एकाच नावाने ओळखलं जातं, पण खाताना ते वेगळे ठरतात; सर्व प्राण्यांमध्ये नारायण साक्षी आहे — दुर्गुणाला शिक्षा, सद्गुणाला पूजा. यातून हा धडा मिळतो: गुणावरून भेद करणं म्हणजे मत्सर किंवा संकुचित न्याय नव्हे — तर ते विकारमुक्त ब्रह्माची जाणीव आणि तिचा व्यवहारातील अर्थ आहे. सर्वांना नमस्कार करा, पण गुणांनुसार भेद करा. 'भक्ती म्हणजे सर्व प्राण्यांना वंदन करणं' याला पूरक म्हणजे 'गुणानुसार आचरणात भेद करणं'.
Where this applies
- Technical-defense of the renunciation-stance: avoidance-of-asat is not envy
- Bow universally; discriminate qualitatively — the complementary-pair with 2657
- The raw-vs-cooked image for name-similarity-doesn't-eliminate-distinction
- Punishment in bad-quality, pūjā in good-quality — bhakta's ethical-differentiation