Abhanga 2778
Sadā sarva-kāḷa antarīm kuṭila — always-and-everywhere inside kuṭila (crooked); tēṇē gaḷām māḷa ghālūm nayē — such a one should not put māḷa (rosary) on the neck.
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 inside kuṭila (crooked); tēṇē gaḷām māḷa ghālūm nayē — such a one should not put māḷa (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 apply vibhūti (sacred-ash) on his body. Jayāsī na kaḷē bhaktīñce mahimāna — one who does not know bhakti's mahima (glory, greatness); tēṇē brahma-jñāna bōlōm nayē — such a one should not speak of brahma-jñāna. Jyāñce mana nāhī lāgalē hātāsī — one whose mana (mind) has not come to hāta (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 the bhagavā (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 structure-of-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.
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