Abhanga 2778
Every religious symbol, from a rosary to a saffron robe, requires a matching inner quality, and wearing it without that quality makes it a hollow show.
The verse
सदा सर्वकाळ अंतरीं कुटिल । तेणें गळां माळ घालूं नये ॥१॥
ज्यासी नाहीं दया क्षमा शांति । तेणें अंगीं विभूती लावूं नये ॥ध्रु.॥
जयासी न कळे भक्तीचें महिमान । तेणें ब्रम्हज्ञान बोलों नये ॥२॥
ज्याचें मन नाहीं लागलें हातासी । तेणें प्रपंचासी टाकुं नये ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे ज्यासी नाहीं हरिभक्ति । तेणें भगवें हातीं धरूं नये ॥४॥
Literal translation
Sadā sarva-kāḷa antarīm kuṭila — always-and-everywhere insidekuṭila(crooked); tēṇē gaḷām māḷa ghālūm nayē — such a one should not putmāḷa(rosary) on the neck. Jyāsī nāhī dayā kṣamā śānti — one who has no dayā (compassion), kṣamā (forgiveness), śānti (peace); tēṇē angīm vibhūti lāvūm nayē — such a one should not applyvibhūti(sacred-ash) on his body. Jayāsī na kaḷē bhaktīñce mahimāna — one who does not know bhakti'smahima(glory, greatness); tēṇē brahma-jñāna bōlōm nayē — such a one should not speak ofbrahma-jñāna. Jyāñce mana nāhī lāgalē hātāsī — one whosemana(mind) has not come tohāta(hand, control); tēṇē prapañcāsī ṭākum nayē — such a one should not abandon prapañca. Tukā says: jyāsī nāhī Hari-bhakti — one who has no Hari-bhakti; tēṇē bhagavē hātīm dharūm nayē — such a one should not take up thebhagavā(saffron-robe) in hand.
What it means
A canonical 5-fold disqualification verse — who-should-not-do-each-religious-form. Each verse names an external-form and its required internal-condition:
- Mālā around neck ← required: not-being-inside-crooked-always-and-everywhere
- Vibhūti on body ← required: dayā-kṣamā-śānti
- Speaking brahma-jñāna ← required: knowing-bhakti's-mahima
- Abandoning prapañca ← required: mind-come-to-hand (mind-under-control)
- Taking up the bhagavā (saffron-robe) ← required: Hari-bhakti
The structure: external-form requires internal-condition. The absence of the internal-condition makes the external-form a false-display (compare 2761's dambha-shop, 2776's anti-tapasvi-display, 2767's royal-swan-called-cattle).
The fourth disqualification is unusual: don't abandon prapañca if your mind hasn't come to hand. This is anti-premature-renunciation. If the mind isn't yet under control, external-renunciation will fail; the renunciate-life will be a form-without-substance. Pretty early-stage practitioners should not renounce-the-householder-life.
The fifth disqualification — Hari-bhakti required for taking up the bhagavā — is the strictest. The bhagavā (saffron-robe of the renunciate) is reserved for those with Hari-bhakti.
For someone today
A useful canonical disqualification-list. The crooked-inside one shouldn't wear the mālā; the one without dayā-kṣamā-śānti shouldn't apply vibhūti; the one who doesn't know bhakti-mahima shouldn't speak brahma-jñāna; the one whose mind isn't under control shouldn't abandon prapañca; the one without Hari-bhakti shouldn't take up the saffron-robe. The logic running through the list: don't put on the form before the substance arrives. Each external-form is a signature of an internal-condition; wearing the signature without-the-condition is fraud. The anti-premature-renunciation note (4th) is especially-useful — if your mind isn't yet in-hand, don't try renunciate-life.
मराठी: एक उपयुक्त पारंपरिक अपात्रता-यादी. मनातून कुटिल असणाऱ्याने माळ घालू नये; ज्याच्याकडे दया-क्षमा-शांती नाही त्याने विभूती लावू नये; भक्तीचा महिमा न कळणाऱ्याने ब्रह्मज्ञान बोलू नये; ज्याचं मन ताब्यात आलेलं नाही त्याने संसार सोडू नये; हरिभक्ती नसणाऱ्याने भगवं वस्त्र हातात घेऊ नये. या यादीमागचा तर्क असा आहे — आतला गाभा येण्याआधी बाह्य रूप धारण करू नये. प्रत्येक बाह्य रूप हे आंतरिक स्थितीचं एक चिन्ह आहे; ती स्थिती नसताना ते चिन्ह मिरवणं म्हणजे फसवणूक. चौथी सूचना विशेष उपयुक्त आहे — अकाली संन्यासाविरुद्धची — जर मन अजून ताब्यात आलेलं नसेल, तर संन्यासी जीवन आजमावू नकोस.
Where this applies
- The canonical 5-fold anti-pretender disqualification text
- Don't-wear-the-form-without-the-substance general principle
- Anti-premature-renunciation: mind-in-hand before prapañca-abandonment
- The strictness of Hari-bhakti required for saffron-robe