Abhanga 2729
Chasing sense pleasure keeps you bound to death, and showing off borrowed learning or spiritual swagger never actually brings you closer to God.
The verse
विषय तो मरणसंगीं । नेणे सुटिका अभागी ॥१॥
शास्त्राचा केला लुंडा । तोंडीं पाडियेला धोंडा ॥ध्रु.॥
अगदीं मोक्ष नाहीं ठावा । काय सांगावें गाढवा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे ग्यानगड । सुखें देवा पावेना नाड ॥३॥
Literal translation
Viṣaya (sense-object) is in maraṇa-sanga (death-company); the abhāgī (misfortunate) does not know suṭikā (release). Śāstrāñcā kelā luṇḍā — śāstra has been made into aluṇḍa(severed-fragment); tōṇḍīm pāḍiyalā dhōṇḍā — adhōṇḍa(stone) has been put in the mouth. Agadīm mokṣa nāhī ṭhāva — kāya sāngāve gāḍhavā — in the utterly-low, mokṣa has no place; what to tell the donkey? Tukā says: jñāna-gaḍa — sukhē Devā pāvēnā nāḍa — the jñāna-fort — Deva is not easily reached bynāḍa(commotion, swaggering).
What it means
A sharp critique of jñāna-pretense. Viṣaya tō maraṇa-sangīm — nēṇē suṭikā abhāgī — viṣaya (sense-object) is in company-with-death; the misfortunate doesn't know the release. The viṣaya travels-with-death (maraṇa-sanga); chasing viṣaya is chasing-with-death. The abhāgī (misfortunate) doesn't recognize the suṭikā (release) that bhakti offers.
The dhrūpada has two striking images: śāstrāñcā kelā luṇḍā — tōṇḍīm pāḍiyalā dhōṇḍā — śāstra has been made into a fragment; a stone has been put in the mouth. Śāstra-made-into-luṇḍa — taking only selected fragments of the śāstra-tradition rather than its whole-teaching. Dhōṇḍā in the mouth — speaking-with-a-stone-in-the-mouth: heavy, mumbling, ineffective discourse. Both are images of bad-use of the tradition.
The second verse: agadīm mokṣa nāhī ṭhāva — kāya sāngāve gāḍhavā — in the utterly-low (place/person), mokṣa has no place; what to tell the donkey? The agadī (utterly-low) does not have mokṣa-place available; trying to teach mokṣa to the gāḍhava (donkey, fool) is futile.
The close: jñāna-gaḍa — sukhē Devā pāvēnā nāḍa — the jñāna-fort — Deva is not easily reached bynāḍa(swaggering-commotion-of-pride). Jñāna-gaḍa is a striking compound: the fortress-of-knowledge. Someone who has built a jñāna-fort — surrounded himself with the appearance of knowing — does not reach Deva sukhē (easily) by his nāḍa (swaggering-commotion). The bhakti-claim: Deva-reach is not via the jñāna-fort approach.
This verse pairs with 2657's yoga-asādhya and 2702's upadeśa-to-buddhi-hīna-is-poison — together forming Tukārām's critique of pretend-yogic-or-jñāna-credentials in place of genuine bhāva.
For someone today
A sharp critique-and-warning. Viṣaya travels with death; the misfortunate doesn't know the release; some make the śāstra into fragments and speak with a stone in the mouth; mokṣa has no place in the utterly-low; the jñāna-fort doesn't reach Deva by swaggering. The lesson:don't build a jñāna-fort and mistake the swaggering for nearness. Genuine-jñāna is not the same asthe appearance of knowing. The bhakti-route bypasses this entire-trap.
Where this applies
- Critique of jñāna-as-fort-of-pride — Deva is not reached by swaggering-commotion
- Recognizing that viṣaya comes in death's company
- Diagnosing the śāstra-made-into-fragment mis-use of tradition
- The pairing with 2657 (yoga-asādhya) and 2702 (upadeśa-poison) — full jñāna-critique cluster