Abhanga 2740
Granthāñce artha nēṇatī hē khaḷa — the wicked don't know the artha (meaning) of the texts; bahu anargaḷa jālē viṣayīm — they have become much anargaḷa (unbounded, unbridled) in viṣaya (sense-objects).
The verse
ग्रंथाचे अर्थ नेणती हे खळ । बहु अनर्गळ जाले विषयीं ॥१॥
नाहीं भेदू म्हुण भलतें चि आचरे । मोकळा विचरे मनासवें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे विषा नांव तें अमृत । पापपुण्या भीत नाहीं नष्ट ॥३॥
Literal translation
Granthāñce artha nēṇatī hē khaḷa — the wicked don't know the artha (meaning) of the texts; bahu anargaḷa jālē viṣayīm — they have become much anargaḷa (unbounded, unbridled) in viṣaya (sense-objects). Nāhī bhēdū mhuṇa bhalate chi āchare — saying no-bhēda (non-duality), he does bhalate chi (anything-whatever); mokaḷā vichare manāsavē — freely roams with the mind. Tukā says: viṣā nāva tē amrta — he calls poison amrta; pāpa-puṇyā bhīta nāhī naṣṭa — the naṣṭa (ruined-one) has no fear of puṇya-pāpa.
What it means
A short sharp-critique verse. Granthāñce artha nēṇatī hē khaḷa — bahu anargaḷa jālē viṣayīm — the wicked don't know the meanings of the texts — they have become much-unbounded in viṣaya. The diagnosis: misreading the texts produces unbounded viṣaya-engagement. The misread is operational: it produces specific-bad-behavior.
The second verse names the specific mis-read: nāhī bhēdū mhuṇa bhalate chi āchare — mokaḷā vichare manāsavē — saying no-bhēda (non-duality), he does anything-whatever; freely roams with the mind. The non-duality teaching (genuine in its place, see 2725's brahma vikāra-virahita) is mis-used as a license for bhalate chi āchaṇa (anything-whatever conduct). No-bhēda (the philosophical claim of non-distinction) is reduced to no-restraint (the behavioral claim of no-discipline). The bhakta-mind that should-have-been-restrained roams mokaḷā (free) manāsavē (with the mind).
The close: viṣā nāva tē amrta — pāpa-puṇyā bhīta nāhī naṣṭa — he calls poison amrta; the naṣṭa (ruined one) has no fear of puṇya-pāpa. The name-substitution diagnostic (compare 2649's surā-dūdhā-mhaṇatām kēvīm barā — calling-liquor-milk doesn't make it good): calling-poison-amrta doesn't change the substance, but the naṣṭa (one whose-discernment has been ruined) believes the new-name. Therefore he has no fear of puṇya-pāpa.
This verse pairs with 2725's brahma vikāra-virahita claim — providing the misread-warning to the very philosophical-claim it elsewhere endorses. The Vārkarī ethic: bow universally; discriminate qualitatively — the no-bhēda claim must not become license-for-no-discipline.
For someone today
A useful warning against non-duality-as-license. The wicked don't know the meanings of the texts; they become unbounded in viṣaya; saying no-bhēda, they do anything; freely roaming with the mind; they call poison amrta; the ruined have no fear of puṇya-pāpa. The diagnostic-test: does my non-duality-reading produce restraint or roaming? If it produces unbounded-viṣaya-engagement, the reading is wrong-or-fragmentary. If it produces bow-universally-discriminate-qualitatively (per 2725), it is right. The poison-renamed-amrta mode is the warning-sign of naṣṭa — substance-blindness.
Where this applies
- Recognizing no-bhēda-as-license-for-anything misread
- Diagnosing the unbounded-viṣaya-by-philosophical-confusion failure
- The calls-poison-amrta substance-blindness warning
- The pairing with 2725: bow universally; discriminate qualitatively