Abhanga 2761
Religious knowledge, ritual, and austerity are all false without real love, tears, and attention behind them, feeling is the test, not appearance.
The verse
लटिकें तें ज्ञान लटिकें ते ध्यान । जरि हरिकिर्तन प्रिय नाहीं ॥१॥
लटिकें चि दंभ घातला दुकान । चाळविलें जन पोटासाटीं ॥ध्रु.॥
लटिकें चि केलें वेदपारायण । जरि नाहीं स्फुंदन प्रेम कथे ॥२॥
लटिकें तें तप लटिका तो जप । अळस निद्रा झोप कथाकाळीं ॥३॥
नाम नावडे तो करील बाहेरी । नाहीं त्याची खरी चित्तशुद्धि ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे ऐसीं गर्जती पुराणें । शिष्टांची वचनें मागिला ही ॥५॥
Literal translation
Laṭikē tē jñāna laṭikē tē dhyāna — false (is) thatjñāna, false (is) thatdhyāna; jari Hari-kīrtana priya nāhī — if Hari-kīrtana is not dear. Laṭikē chi dambha — ghātalā dukāna — false is thedambha(religious-show) — setting-up-the-shop; chāḷavile jana pōṭāsāṭī — deceiving people for the stomach. Laṭikē chi kelē Veda-pārāyaṇa — false is the Veda-pārāyaṇa (recitation) done; jari nāhī sphundana prema kathē — if there is nosphundana(sobbing-overflow, choking-with-tears) ofpremain the kathā. Laṭikē tē tapa laṭikā tō japa — false is thattapa(austerity), false thatjapa(recitation); aḷasa niḍrā jhōpa kathā-kāḷīm — laziness, sleepiness, sleep at kathā-time. Nāma nāvaḍē tō karīla bāherī — one who dislikes the Name — drive (him) outside; nāhī tyāñcī kharī chitta-śuddhi — there is no truechitta-śuddhi(mind-purity) of his. Tukā says: aisīm garjatī purāṇē — thus the purāṇas thunder; śiṣṭāñcī vachanē māgilā hī — thevachana(words) of theśiṣṭā(noble-ones), those-ahead, also.
What it means
This 5-verse abhang is one of Tukārām's canonical anti-pretend-religion texts. The structure is built around five laṭikē (false) diagnostics — each naming a religious-form that is false without its operational-content.
1. False jñāna and dhyāna — laṭikē tē jñāna laṭikē tē dhyāna — jari Hari-kīrtana priya nāhī — false the jñāna, false the dhyāna — if Hari-kīrtana is not dear. The test: love of Hari-kīrtana. Without it, the appearance of jñāna and dhyāna is false. (Compare 2657's yoga-asādhya-bhakti-as-bowing, 2729's jñāna-gaḍa-not-reached-by-swaggering.)
2. False dambha shop — laṭikē chi dambha — ghātalā dukāna — chāḷavile jana pōṭāsāṭī — false is dambha — setting up the shop — deceiving people for the stomach. The image: religious-show set up as shop, deceiving customers for one's belly. (Compare 2630's narastuti-kathā-vikrā — praising-men and selling-sacred-stories.)
3. False Veda-recitation — laṭikē chi kelē Veda-pārāyaṇa — jari nāhī sphundana prema kathē — false is the Veda-pārāyaṇa — if there is nosphundana(sobbing-overflow) ofpremain the kathā. The test: sphundana-of-prema-in-the-kathā. The recitation that doesn't produce tears-of-love is false-pārāyaṇa. The image is specific — the sphundana is the choked-sobbing-with-emotion-overflow that genuine kathā produces.
4. False tapa, false japa — laṭikē tē tapa laṭikā tō japa — aḷasa niḍrā jhōpa kathā-kāḷīm — false is that tapa, false that japa — laziness, sleepiness, sleep at kathā-time. The test: staying-awake-at-kathā. One who is aḷasa (lazy), niḍrā-pravrtta (sleep-inclined), jhōpa (sleeping) during kathā cannot have real tapa or japa elsewhere. The mode-at-kathā reveals the actual-discipline.
5. Name-disliker should be driven out — nāma nāvaḍē tō karīla bāherī — nāhī tyāñcī kharī chitta-śuddhi — one who dislikes the Name — drive (him) outside; there is no true chitta-śuddhi of his. The harshest claim: the Name-disliker should be physically excluded from the gathering. He has no true chitta-śuddhi. (Compare 2733's karā fajita — do the public-shame.)
The close — aisīm garjatī purāṇē — śiṣṭāñcī vachanē māgilā hī — thus the purāṇas thunder; the words of the noble ones, those-ahead, also. Tukārām cites the purāṇas and śiṣṭā-vachana (noble-ones' words) as backing. This is not just his opinion; it is the tradition's.
For someone today
A useful canonical-test for any religious-form. False is the jñāna, false the dhyāna — if Hari-kīrtana is not dear. False is the dambha-shop that deceives for the stomach. False is the Veda-recitation if there is no sphundana of prema in the kathā. False is the tapa and japa — if there is laziness-sleep at kathā-time. One who dislikes the Name — drive him out; he has no true chitta-śuddhi. The purāṇas thunder this. The diagnostic test is love for Hari-kīrtana, tears of prema welling up during the kathā, staying awake through the kathā, and not disliking the Name. Each is a behavioral marker. The verse is sharp on the boundary: Name-disliker — drive out.
मराठी: कोणत्याही धार्मिक आचरणासाठी उपयुक्त अशी एक पारंपरिक कसोटी. जर हरिकीर्तन प्रिय नसेल, तर ज्ञानही खोटं आणि ध्यानही खोटं. पोटासाठी लोकांना फसवणारं दंभाचं दुकान खोटं आहे. कथेमध्ये प्रेमाचा उमाळा, स्फुंदन येत नसेल, तर वेदपारायणही खोटं. कथेच्या वेळी आळस आणि झोप येत असेल, तर तप आणि जपही खोटे. ज्याला नाम आवडत नाही त्याला बाहेर काढा — त्याची खरी चित्तशुद्धी नाहीच. पुराणं हेच गर्जून सांगतात. या अभंगाची खरी कसोटी अशी आहे — हरिकीर्तनावर प्रेम, कथेत प्रेमाने उचंबळून येणारं स्फुंदन, कथेत जागं राहणं, आणि नामाचा तिटकारा नसणं. प्रत्येक हा एक वर्तनात्मक निकष आहे. हा अभंग या सीमारेषेवर स्पष्ट आणि कठोर आहे — नाम आवडत नसेल तर बाहेर काढा.
Where this applies
- When someone performs religious rituals impressively but shows no real feeling for what they're doing
- When you notice you're going through the motions of prayer or study without being moved by it
- When you catch yourself bored or checked out during something meant to be sacred
- When you're evaluating whether your own practice is genuine or just for show