Abhanga 2844
Real practice removes pride; if reciting scripture only stiffens your self-importance, it is as useless as a carrot carved into a flute that makes no sound.
The verse
गाजराची पुंगी । तैसे नवे जाले जोगी ॥१॥
काय करोनि पठन । केली अहंता जतन ॥ध्रु.॥
अल्प असे ज्ञान । अंगीं ताठा अभिमान ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे लंड । त्याचें हाणोनि फोडा तोंड ॥३॥
Literal translation
Gājarāñcī pungī — apungī(snake-charmer's flute) made-of-carrot (i.e., a useless-toy-flute); taisē navē jāle jōgī — such (worthless) have become the newjogis. Kāya karōnī paṭhana — what good was thepaṭhana(recitation, scripture-reading); kelī ahantā jatana — (by which) theyjatana kelī(preserved, kept-safe) theahantā(I-ness)? Alpa ase jñāna — (their)jñāna(knowledge) isalpa(little); angī tāṭhā abhimāna — in (their) anga (body) — thetāṭhā(stiffness, rigidity) ofabhimāna(pride). Tukā says: laṇḍa — (he is) alaṇḍa(rogue, scoundrel); tyāñce hāṇōnī phōḍā tōṇḍa — striking, smash histōṇḍa(mouth).
What it means
The opening verse of the 4-abhang anti-fake-renunciate cluster (2844-2847). One of Tukārām's sharpest polemics against the corrupt-jogis of his time.
Gājarāñcī pungī — taisē navē jāle jōgī — (like) a carrot-flute — such have become the new yogis. The gājarāñcī pungī — a carrot shaped like a pungī (snake-charmer's flute) — looks like a real-flute but produces no sound, doesn't work. The image: the new-jogis look like real-yogis but produce no real-spiritual-result.
Kāya karōnī paṭhana — kelī ahantā jatana — what good was the paṭhana — they preserved the ahantā. The diagnostic: reciting scripture, instead of eradicating ego, hasjatana-kelī(carefully-preserved) the ahantā. The paṭhana served-the-ahantā, not eradication.
Alpa ase jñāna — angī tāṭhā abhimāna — little is their jñāna — in (their) anga is the stiffness of abhimāna. The little-knowledge-much-pride diagnostic. Tāṭhā (stiffness) is a precise-image: the body is stiff-with-self-importance — the fake-yogi can't-bend, can't-bow.
The close: Tukā mhaṇe laṇḍa — tyāñce hāṇōnī phōḍā tōṇḍa — Tukā: (he is) a laṇḍa (rogue) — striking, smash his mouth. The verbally-sharp close — smash-his-mouth (so he-stops-talking-his-fake-discourse). This is Tukārām at his most-direct.
For someone today
This is one of Tuka's sharpest attacks on fake spirituality. He compares the pretend-yogis of his time to a flute carved out of a carrot — it looks like the real thing, but it can't make a sound. His diagnostic test: check whether your recitation and practice are actually erasing your ego, or just carefully preserving it. Little real knowledge combined with a stiff, prideful bearing is the telltale sign of a fraud. Tuka doesn't mince words here — he calls such a person a rogue and says smash his mouth so he stops talking, which shows this is not gentle criticism but outright protest.
मराठी: हे तुकाराम महाराजांचे ढोंगी साधुत्वावरचे अत्यंत तीक्ष्ण भाष्य आहे. ते त्या काळातील बनावट योग्यांची तुलना गाजराच्या पुंगीशी करतात — ती खऱ्या पुंगीसारखी दिसते, पण तिच्यातून सूरच निघत नाही. त्यांची कसोटी अशी आहे — पठण आणि साधना खरोखर अहंकार नष्ट करत आहे, की तो जपून ठेवत आहे, हे तपासा. अल्प ज्ञान आणि अंगात ताठा-अभिमान हे ढोंगी साधूचे स्पष्ट लक्षण आहे. इथे तुकाराम महाराज शब्द राखत नाहीत — ते अशा व्यक्तीला लंड (ठक) म्हणतात आणि त्याचे तोंड फोडण्याचे म्हणतात, यावरून हे सौम्य टीका नसून थेट निषेध आहे हे स्पष्ट होते.
Where this applies
- The canonical gājarāñcī-pungī anti-fake-yogi polemic
- Opening of the 4-abhang anti-fake-renunciate cluster (2844-2847)
- Recognizing paṭhana-without-self-eradication preserves ahantā
- The tāṭhā-of-abhimāna — stiffness-of-pride as fake-renunciate diagnostic