Abhanga 2740
A useful warning against using non-duality as a 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 test to apply: does my reading of non-duality produce restraint or roaming? If it produces unbounded engagement with viṣaya, the reading is wrong or incomplete. If it produces bowing universally while still discriminating by quality (per 2725), it is right. Calling poison amrta is the warning sign of naṣṭa — a blindness to what a thing actually is.
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 theartha(meaning) of the texts; bahu anargaḷa jālē viṣayīm — they have become muchanargaḷa(unbounded, unbridled) inviṣaya(sense-objects). Nāhī bhēdū mhuṇa bhalate chi āchare — sayingno-bhēda(non-duality), he doesbhalate chi(anything-whatever); mokaḷā vichare manāsavē — freely roams with the mind. Tukā says: viṣā nāva tē amrta — he calls poisonamrta; pāpa-puṇyā bhīta nāhī naṣṭa — thenaṣṭa(ruined-one) has no fear ofpuṇya-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 — sayingno-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 poisonamrta; thenaṣṭa(ruined one) has no fear ofpuṇya-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 using non-duality as a 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 test to apply: does my reading of non-duality produce restraint or roaming? If it produces unbounded engagement with viṣaya, the reading is wrong or incomplete. If it produces bowing universally while still discriminating by quality (per 2725), it is right. Calling poison amrta is the warning sign of naṣṭa — a blindness to what a thing actually is.
मराठी: अद्वैताचा गैरवापर परवाना म्हणून करण्याविरुद्धचा हा एक उपयुक्त इशारा आहे. दुर्जनांना ग्रंथांचे अर्थ कळत नाहीत; ते विषयांमध्ये अनिर्बंध होतात; 'भेद नाही' असं म्हणत ते वाट्टेल ते करतात; मनाबरोबर मुक्तपणे भटकतात; ते विषाला अमृत म्हणतात; नष्ट झालेल्यांना पापपुण्याची भीतीच उरत नाही. यासाठी एक कसोटी लावावी: माझं अद्वैताचं आकलन संयम निर्माण करतं की बेछूट वागणं? जर त्यातून विषयांमध्ये अनिर्बंध गुंतणं निर्माण होत असेल, तर ते आकलन चुकीचं किंवा अपूर्ण आहे. जर त्यातून (2725 प्रमाणे) सर्वांना वंदन करत असतानाच गुणांनुसार भेदही राखला जात असेल, तर ते बरोबर आहे. विषाला अमृत म्हणणं हेच नष्ट अवस्थेचं — म्हणजे वस्तूचं खरं स्वरूप न ओळखण्याचं — धोक्याचं चिन्ह आहे.
Where this applies
- When you catch yourself using a spiritual idea to excuse behavior you know is selfish or reckless
- When someone insists rules of right and wrong no longer apply to them because they feel enlightened
- When you are drifting toward indulgence and looking for a philosophy to justify it
- When you need an honest check on whether an insight is making you better or simply freer to misbehave