Abhanga 2744
You give unlimited effort to earn a living but your mouth locks up over the costless act of saying God's name, and Tukaram calls that out sharply.
The verse
पोटासाठीं खटपट करिसी अवघा वीळ । राम राम म्हणतां तुझी बसली दांतखीळ ॥१॥
हरिचें नाम कदाकाळीं कां रे नये वाचे । म्हणतां राम राम तुझ्या बाचें काय वेचें ॥ध्रु.॥
द्रव्याचिया आशा तुजला दाही दिशा न पुरती । कीर्तनासी जातां तुझी जड झाली माती ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे ऐशा जीवा काय करूं आता । राम राम न म्हणे त्याचा गाढव मातापिता ॥३॥
Literal translation
Pōṭāsāṭhī khaṭapaṭa karisī avaghā vīḷa — for thepōṭa(stomach), you dokhaṭapaṭa(hassle, fuss) the wholevīḷa(time); Rāma Rāma mhaṇatām tujhī basalī dāntakhīḷa — saying Rāma Rāma, yourdāntakhīḷa(jaw-lock, lock-of-teeth) sits. Harīñce nāma kadā-kāḷī kā re nayē vāche — why does Hari's name never come to yourvāchā(speech)?; mhaṇatām Rāma Rāma tujhya bāñce kāya vēchē — saying Rāma Rāma, what does yourbāña(father)vēche(lose, spend)? Dravyāñcyā āśā tujalā dāhī diśā na puratī — fordravya(wealth)'s desire, the ten directions don'tpurati(suffice) you; kīrtanāsī jātām tujhī jaḍa jhālī mātī — going to kīrtana, yourmātī(clay/body) has becomejaḍa(heavy). Tukā says: aiśā jīvā kāya karūm ātām — what to do with such a jīva now?; Rāma Rāma na mhaṇē tyāñca gāḍhava mātāpitā — one who doesn't say Rāma-Rāma — hismātāpitā(mother-and-father) are donkeys.
What it means
This is one of Tukārām's most-recited anti-name-laziness rebukes, daily-quoted across Maharashtra. The unrelenting-tone is the verse's character.
The opening line is famous: pōṭāsāṭhī khaṭapaṭa karisī avaghā vīḷa — Rāma Rāma mhaṇatām tujhī basalī dāntakhīḷa — for the stomach you hassle the whole time — but saying Rāma-Rāma, your jaw-lock sits. The diagnostic-image: dāntakhīḷa (jaw-lock, the locking-shut of teeth) — sits down when one tries to say Rāma Rāma. The body that works-tirelessly-for-the-stomach suddenly locks when the Name is requested.
The dhrūpada: Harīñce nāma kadā-kāḷī kā re nayē vāche — mhaṇatām Rāma Rāma tujhya bāñce kāya vēchē — why does Hari's name never come to your speech? Saying Rāma-Rāma, what does your father lose? The famous kāya vēchē (what is lost) line. Saying Rāma-Rāma costs nothing — not your wealth, not your inheritance (bāñce = father's-wealth). The cost-of-the-Name is zero, and yet the resistance is total.
The second verse extends the diagnosis: dravyāñcyā āśā tujalā dāhī diśā na puratī — kīrtanāsī jātām tujhī jaḍa jhālī mātī — for wealth-desire, the ten directions don't suffice you — but going to kīrtana, your clay-body has become heavy. The reversal of energy: for wealth, you traverse all ten directions tirelessly; for kīrtana, the mātī (clay, body) suddenly jaḍa jālī (becomes heavy). The body that can travel for money cannot travel for kīrtana. The asymmetry is unmistakable.
The close is the most-stinging: Rāma Rāma na mhaṇē tyāñca gāḍhava mātāpitā — one who doesn't say Rāma-Rāma — his mother-and-father are donkeys. The hard close — donkey mother-and-father. The kind of fajita (public-shame, see 2733) that Tukārām is willing to deploy when softer-correction won't work.
For someone today
The verse offers an unrelenting rebuke that is quoted daily. For the stomach you hassle all day — but Rāma-Rāma locks your jaw. Hari's name never comes to your speech — but saying Rāma-Rāma costs nothing. For wealth, ten directions don't suffice; for kīrtana, your body has become heavy. What to do with such a jīva? One who doesn't say Rāma-Rāma — his mother and father are donkeys. The verse is deliberately uncomfortable. Kāya vēchē (what does it cost?) is the central question; resisting something that costs nothing is the diagnostic.
You can use the verse as a self-test: do I have unlimited energy for the stomach but only limited energy for the Name? Does my body get heavy at kīrtana but light when chasing money? If yes, you're in the diagnosis. The verse's unrelenting tone is the medicine.
मराठी: हा अभंग रोज उद्धृत होणारा, कठोर फटकारा आहे. पोटासाठी तू दिवसभर धडपड करतोस — पण राम-राम म्हणताना तुझा जबडा लॉक होतो. हरीचं नाव तुझ्या वाणीत कधीच येत नाही — पण राम-राम म्हणण्यात काहीच खर्च होत नाही. संपत्तीसाठी दहा दिशाही तुला पुरत नाहीत; कीर्तनाला जाताना मात्र तुझं शरीर जड होतं. अशा जिवाचं आता काय करावं? जो राम-राम म्हणत नाही, त्याचे आई-वडील गाढव आहेत. हा अभंग मुद्दाम अस्वस्थ करणारा आहे. 'काय वेचे' (यात काय खर्च होतो?) हा मध्यवर्ती प्रश्न आहे; जे काहीच खर्च करत नाही त्यालाही विरोध करणं हेच इथलं निदान आहे.
हा अभंग स्वतःची परीक्षा घेण्यासाठी वापरता येतो: पोटासाठी माझ्यात अमर्याद ऊर्जा आहे, पण नामासाठी मर्यादित ऊर्जा आहे का? कीर्तनाला जाताना शरीर जड होतं, पण पैशामागे धावताना हलकं वाटतं का? उत्तर होय असेल, तर हे निदान तुलाही लागू आहे. या अभंगाचा कठोर सूरच त्याचं औषध आहे.
Where this applies
- When you find endless energy for work or errands but suddenly feel too tired for prayer or worship
- When a free and simple practice like repeating God's name feels harder than any paid task
- When you catch yourself making excuses to skip a kirtana or gathering you had agreed to attend
- When someone calls out your double standard about effort and the words sting because they are true