Abhanga 2781
Because the divine dwells in every being, deliberately harming another person is an offense against that presence, and real devotion requires distancing yourself from active cruelty rather than tolerating it.
The verse
परपीडक तो आम्हां दावेदार । विश्वीं विश्वंभर म्हणऊनि ॥१॥
दंडूं त्यागूं बळें नावलोकुं डोळा । राखूं तो चांडाळा ऐसा दुरि ॥ध्रु.॥
अनाचार कांहीं न साहे अवगुणें । बहु होय मन कासावीस ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे माझी एकविध सेवा । विमुख ते देवा वाळी चित्ते ॥३॥
Literal translation
Para-pīḍaka tō āmhām dāvedāra — thepara-pīḍaka(other-hurter) — he is ourdāvedāra(legal-opponent); Viśvīm Viśvambhara mhaṇa'ūnī — because Viśvambhara (is) inViśva(all-things). Daṇḍūm tyāgūm baḷē nāvalokūm ḍoḷā — (we) punish, abandon, by force, don't look (at) with the eye; rākhūm tō chāṇḍāḷā aisā durī — keep thatchāṇḍāḷa-like at a distance. Anāchāra kāmhī na sāhē avaguṇē — anāchāra (mis-conduct, transgression), bad-quality — I do not tolerate; bahu hōya mana kāsāvīsa — the mind becomes muchkāsāvīsa(fevered, restless). Tukā says: mājhī ekavidha sevā — myekavidha(one-fold) sevā; vimukha te Devā vāḷī chitte — turn-away-from those who arevimukha(turned-away) from Deva in (your) chitta.
What it means
A sharp social-ethics-and-bhakti-discrimination verse. Para-pīḍaka tō āmhām dāvedāra — Viśvīm Viśvambhara mhaṇa'ūnī — the other-hurter is our legal-opponent — because Viśvambhara is in all. The opening-claim is striking: one who hurts others = our legal-opponent. The reason: Viśvambhara is in all-beings. Hurting any-being is hurting the Viśvambhara residing-there; therefore the para-pīḍaka is the Viśvambhara-side's-opponent. (Compare 2657's bhakti = bowing to jīva-jantu-bhūta and 2725's Bhūtīm sākṣī Nārāyaṇa.)
The dhrūpada gives the operational-response: daṇḍūm tyāgūm baḷē nāvalokūm ḍoḷā — rākhūm tō chāṇḍāḷā aisā durī — we punish, abandon, by force don't look (at him) with the eye — keep him at distance like a chāṇḍāla. Four-fold action: punish, abandon, don't-look-with-eyes, keep-at-distance. The strictness: like a chāṇḍāla (the avoided-caste in traditional-purity-system) — used here metaphorically for one to be avoided-by-the-eye.
The second verse names the somatic-effect of tolerating-mis-conduct: anāchāra kāmhī na sāhē avaguṇē — bahu hōya mana kāsāvīsa — anāchāra, avaguṇa — I don't tolerate; the mind becomes much fevered. The bhakta's mind cannot tolerate anāchāra (mis-conduct, anti-conduct). The somatic-distress (kāsāvīsa = fevered-restless) is the signal.
The close: mājhī ekavidha sevā — vimukha tē Devā vāḷī chitte — my one-fold sevā — turn-away from those who are turned-away from Deva in (your) chitta. Vāḷī chitte — throw-away in your chitta (keep them out of your inner-attention). The one-fold sevā (ekavidha) requires vāḷaṇē of vimukha-from-Deva people.
This is complement to 2657 (bhakti = bowing to all creatures) and 2725 (avaguṇī daṇḍaṇa, guṇī pūjā). The full Vārkarī ethic: bow universally, but punish-and-keep-distance from para-pīḍakas (other-hurters). The universal-bowing doesn't include active-hurters.
For someone today
A useful Vārkarī social-ethics statement. The other-hurter is our legal-opponent because Viśvambhara is in all. Punish, abandon, don't look with eyes, keep at distance like a chāṇḍāla. Anāchāra and bad-quality — I don't tolerate; the mind becomes much fevered. My one-fold sevā — turn-away from those turned-away from Deva. The structural-position: active-hurters of others are enemies of the Viśvambhara who resides within those they hurt, and thus our enemies. The strictness — don't even look with eyes — recognizes that mere-engagement contaminates. The one-fold sevā (singular-devotion) is incompatible with tolerating active-mis-conduct.
मराठी: वारकरी सामाजिक-नैतिकतेचं एक उपयुक्त विधान. दुसऱ्याला दुखावणारा हा आमचा प्रतिपक्षी आहे, कारण विश्वंभर सर्वांमध्ये आहे. शिक्षा करा, सोडून द्या, डोळ्यांनी बघू नका, चांडाळासारखं दूर ठेवा. अनाचार आणि दुर्गुण — मी सहन करत नाही; मन खूप अस्वस्थ होतं. माझी एकनिष्ठ सेवा — देवाकडे पाठ फिरवणाऱ्यांपासून दूर राहणं. यामागची भूमिका अशी — जे इतरांना सक्रियपणे दुखावतात, ते ज्यांना दुखावतात त्यांच्यात वास करणाऱ्या विश्वंभराचेच शत्रू ठरतात, आणि म्हणून आमचेही शत्रू ठरतात. डोळ्यांनीसुद्धा न बघण्याची कठोरता हे दाखवते की नुसतं संपर्कातही येणं दूषित करतं. एकनिष्ठ सेवा ही सक्रिय गैरवर्तन सहन करण्याशी विसंगत आहे.
Where this applies
- When you are deciding how much space to keep from someone who repeatedly and deliberately hurts other people
- When you feel physically uneasy or restless around cruelty and wonder if that discomfort is telling you something true
- When you are tempted to excuse harmful behavior in the name of being tolerant or spiritually broad-minded
- When you are weighing what single-minded devotion actually asks of you in how you treat others