Abhanga 2845
Outward purity gestures mean nothing if you inwardly covet what isn't yours and your mind is still ruled by anger; that is a costume, not real change.
The verse
परद्रव्य परनारी । अभिळासूनि नाक धरी ॥१॥
जळो तयाचा आचार । व्यर्थ भार वाहे खर ॥ध्रु.॥
सोहोर्याची स्थिती । क्रोधें विटाळला चित्ती ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे सोंग । दावी बाहेरील रंग ॥३॥
Literal translation
Para-dravya para-nārī — (after coveting)para-dravya(others' wealth),para-nārī(others' woman); abhiḷāsūnī nāka dharī — (having) coveted (withabhiḷāṣa), (he) holds hisnāka(nose, i.e., makes-a-show-of-purity by-pinching-his-nose-against-pollution). Jaḷō tayāñcā āchāra — burn hisāchāra(formal-conduct, ritual-purity-pretensions); vyartha bhāra vāhe khara — vainly (does) thekhara(donkey) bear (the load). Sōhōryāñcī sthitī — (his is) the state of asōhōryā(sō-hō utterer; aSō'ham-meditator, a yogi-grade); krōdhē viṭāḷalā chittī — (but his) chitta isviṭāḷalā(defiled, polluted) bykrōdha(anger). Tukā says: sōnga — (he is a)sōnga(disguise, costume); dāvī bāherila ranga — (it) shows only thebāherila ranga(outer color).
What it means
The 2nd-verse of the 4-abhang anti-fake-renunciate cluster (2844-2847). Targets the hypocrite-purity-pretender.
Para-dravya para-nārī — abhiḷāsūnī nāka dharī — (having coveted) others' wealth, others' woman — (he) holds his nose. The image: the man inwardly covets para-dravya and para-nārī, yet outwardly holds-his-nose-in-disgust-at-impurity. The nose-holding is a brahminical-purity-gesture of avoiding-pollution-by-smell-of-impure-thing. Tukārām calls-out the hypocrisy: the man pretends-fastidious-purity outwardly while coveting-others'-wealth-and-women inwardly.
Jaḷō tayāñcā āchāra — vyartha bhāra vāhe khara — burn his āchāra — vainly the donkey bears the load. The āchāra (formal-purity-conduct) is worth-burning. The khara (donkey) vainly-bears-the-load — the donkey carries-much-weight without-benefit-to-itself; so does the hypocrite-purity-pretender carry āchāra-rules without-spiritual-benefit. (The khara-image is a classic-Sanskrit insult for someone-who-bears-a-load-without-understanding-it.)
Sōhōryāñcī sthitī — krōdhē viṭāḷalā chittī — (in) sōhōryā state, (but) chitta defiled by krōdha. Sōhōryā — a sō-hō meditator, one-who-claims-the-advaita Sō'ham realization. But-his-chitta is viṭāḷalā by krōdha — defiled-by-anger. The advaita-claim plus anger-defilement is the diagnostic.
The close: Tukā mhaṇe sōnga — dāvī bāherila ranga — Tukā: (he is a) sōnga (disguise) — (which) shows only the outside color. The sōnga (costume, disguise) shows-only-outer-color; the inside is corrupt.
For someone today
This is Tuka's exposure of religious hypocrisy. Picture a man who secretly covets other people's wealth and other men's wives, yet outwardly pinches his nose in disgust as if he can't bear impurity — that contradiction is the classic sign of a fraud. His rule-following and rituals are worthless, like a donkey uselessly hauling a heavy load with no benefit to itself. He may even claim to be a realized meditator, but if his mind is still consumed by anger, the claim is false. In the end, Tuka says, he is just a costume — showing bright colors on the outside while the inside stays rotten. True change shows up in how you actually behave, not in how carefully you perform purity.
मराठी: हे तुकाराम महाराजांचे ढोंगी शुद्धतेवरील उघड भाष्य आहे. एखादा माणूस मनातून दुसऱ्याचे धन आणि दुसऱ्याची स्त्री हपापलेला असतो, तरी वरवर अशुद्धतेचा तिटकारा दाखवत नाक धरतो — हा विरोधाभासच त्याच्या ढोंगीपणाचे लक्षण आहे. त्याचे नियमपालन आणि आचार निरुपयोगी आहेत, जसा गाढव विनाकारण जड ओझे वाहतो. तो स्वतःला अनुभवी योगी म्हणवत असला, तरी त्याचे मन क्रोधाने भरलेले असेल, तर तो दावा खोटा ठरतो. शेवटी तुकाराम महाराज म्हणतात, तो केवळ एक सोंग आहे — बाहेरून रंगीत दिसणारा, आतून मात्र तसाच सडलेला. खरा बदल आपल्या प्रत्यक्ष वागण्यातून दिसतो, शुद्धतेचे नाटक करण्यातून नाही.
Where this applies
- When someone acts disgusted by others' faults while secretly wanting what those others have
- When a person follows every purity rule strictly but flies into rage the moment they're crossed
- When you meet someone who claims a high spiritual title yet clearly can't control their anger
- When you're tempted to judge someone's inner life purely by their outward fastidiousness or rule-following